Thank you, Kale!

Mmmmm, kale. A healthy, fibrous green vegetable acclaimed by the health world as a "super food" and staple addition to a healthy diet. People in the health and food industry are always urging more people to eat veggies, "natural" products, that our bodies digest better and can be converted into healthy fuel for the body.

I agree completely. Eating more vegetables has helped me maintain and perform to levels I did not expect possible. Guess I should start eating more of this GMO.

Yes, GMO. Kale is a GMO. Genetically modified organism. And it's a damn good one. A few more of its vegetable relatives are too.

Kale: Another Fabulous Benefit of Genetic Modification (INFOGRAPHIC) from Food Insight

Kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower are just a few examples of vegetables that are genetically engineered for certain qualities we want. Many foods in nature today are not what they looked like many years ago. That's adaptation. Some of them, like the sweet potato, are naturally derived GMOs. Nonetheless, they are still good for you.

The term GMO gets a bad rep. Instead, first world people are obsessed with the terms like "organic, natural, gluten free", when those products may not have any other option to begin with. In today's age of technology, scientists and food production companies know the growing need for food diversity, instant meals, and more options to feed our extremely picky or extremely adventurous taste buds.

Human Health and Plant Health Require Multiple MOA

We are constantly scrutinized. What should we wear, what should we eat, what we should do for our careers, how we should act and what we should think. That's a lot of pressure. One area I have seen even more pressure is to eat healthy and be fit or in shape.

Why are we fat

Some statistics and facts about ag.

The continuous impression we received from news anchors, celebrities, athletes, doctors, friends and family is that American's are overweight. As stated in this November article by Business Insider, a study from The Lancet by the Global Burden of Disease found the United States as the fattest country in the world for 2014, with 33 percent of the population being defined as "obese".

This is not a good thing for our country, but it is does demonstrate other positive aspects we have in our country, being modernized, technologically savvy and full of resources. With all of these resources from food to electronics, it has become easy to overeat, spend more time staring at computer, tablet, and phone screens and become less "physical" in our daily routines. More people sit in an office or in a vehicle for their jobs because our society has become smarter and made it "easier" for us to work.

How can we "meat the myths"?

Today is the information age. For the agriculture industry, this is part of a 'moo'vement. Consumers want to know how their food is grown, what is added or used in the process from pasture to plate and what makes the food healthy or produced 'safely' in their eyes.

Along with this factual information, we commonly interact with more 'entertaining' information on the Internet. Buzzfeed is a website for this entertainment purpose. Have you taken a quiz during your lunch break to see "which state you should live in" or "which Ryan Gosling movie character should you marry?" I'll admit, I have! It's fun and gives you a brief reprieve from another task you may have been doing. The past few days, some of my Facebook friends were sharing a different type of post from Buzzfeed instead of the usual quiz.

At the Community on Buzzfeed page, the American Meat Institute shared "15 Common Meat Myths That Need to Be Crushed For Good." I highly encourage you to read through them. Growing up in ag myself and with livestock no less, there were a few on the list I was not familiar with. However, it was once I scrolled down to the comments section of the page that my interest peaked.

There were some readers who were pleased with the information shared. Many were from a farming background, but some were not. There were also critics who felt American Meat Institute was just 'tooting their own horns of the corporate world' and 'feeding consumers false information'. Yes, it explicitly says that the post was created by the user and not the Buzzfeed editors. However, why are readers taking this stance as inaccuracy?

Shorthorn cow and newborn calf on Weihl Farms.

How can we bridge that gap of concern and sometimes inaccurate thoughts? We can't sway the 20 percent of society who have already focused against the industry. But the 60 percent in the middle group who remain unsure and can be influenced are who needs our help as the remaining 20 percent for agriculture. We need to join the movement. Society needs not just sources like AMI sharing info, but farmers and growers in local communities to "meat these myths" and share them with the public. Trust is built quickly through personal relationships. Therefore, we need to build trust at farmers markets, grocery stores and on our farms and ranches to overcome the blurred lines of the food industry and mass media.

Just yesterday, I helped birth a calf in the pasture. That heifer will add to the food chain either by being raised for a beef heifer or to be kept for breeding and reproduce herself. Until she reaches that age of maturity at around 6 months, it is up to our family to help her and the cow adjust and grow to be a healthy heifer (young female bovine). It is humbling to be on the farm to witness this process and I understand that not everyone can have this opportunity. But, that makes it my responsibility and that of other agriculturalists to share it for those who can't witness firsthand.

How will you join in this 'moo'vement for agriculture?
What ways are you already participating?

Just call them the Energizer Dairy

In today's news, we have been hearing a lot of recent updates on energy creation. These topics range from wind and solar to shale and biofuels. However, all of them are focused on providing clean, renewable energy sources that can be used for years to come. Your stance may differ depending on the energy type discussed. But, it is up to us as consumers to look at all possible avenues of production to keep the lights on in our homes and the engines running in our automobiles.

I discovered an interesting article published by the New York Times about a new form of energy and fuel. Fair Oaks Farms of Fair Oaks, Ind. is one of the largest dairy operations in the country, with around 30,000 cows. They are showing innovation because they are not only inviting the public to join them on the farm to see their operation and participate in fun activities like cheese making, but they are using the other less-desired byproducts, manure, to create energy.

As mentioned in the NY Times, "the farm is running sophisticated $12 million “digester” facilities that process its overabundance of manure, capturing natural gas that runs electric generators or is pumped underground to a fueling station."

Any remaining manure byproducts are then spread on farm fields as fertilizer. With the fuel being produced directly on the farm, the farm owners were able to build two fuel stations and open them to the public. Because of these pumps, Gary Corbett, chief executive of Fair Oaks, believes they will substitute nearly 2 million gallons of diesel per year.

Think about all of the innovation that went behind this project. From planning how to use the manure, building the equipment and marketing the new fuel station, Fair Oaks has underwent much planning and marketing to make this new project a success. Being featured in the NY Times is a great publicity opportunity and is helping to advocate for new energy methods in the agricultural industry.

Do you feel these new energy outlets are being properly marketed? How do you feel other energy methods like shale, wind or solar compare to the marketing of biofuels and natural gases?