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Show Page 2, February 12, 2004 Farm & Agriculture A joint publication of the -Spanish Fort Press and SpringriUeJtteiahL Etoim'ti Mom By STEVE HARD MAN In a recent editorial, a newspaper accused Utah farmers farm-ers of being criminal in their use of water during a drought season. The editorial staff believed that the first thing to go in such times should be the farmer. It isn't Utahn's apparent appar-ent cultural fixation on green lawns that is to blame, but the gallon-guzzling farms. The newspaper also claimed that Utah agriculture is both archaic and outdated, with the cost far outweighing the benefit. bene-fit. Isn't that interesting considering con-sidering the total revenue of Utah farms in 2002 exceeded one billion dollars, according to the 2003 Utah Agricultural Statistics report. Utah County alone grossed over 106 million. The costbenefit argument only works when considering land and resources from a housing development standpoint. And that is who is crying the developers and their out-of-state immigrants. According to Hiram M. Drache, author of the the book "History of U.S. Agriculture and Its Relevance Today," the lack of appreciation apprecia-tion for agriculture, and the lack of understanding its role stems largely from the lack of knowledge of the history of agriculture, both nationally and locally. Winston Churchill once said, "The further back you can look, the further forward you are likely to see." Agriculture is the United States' largest commercial industry. The U.S. provides more than half of the world's shared food aid. Americans spend less of their income on food than anyone else in the world, and have the safest, most abundant and nutritious food supply in the world. This is the legacy we enjoy because of a "backward-looking" view. Now, I'm not saying that we all need to run off and buy boots and overalls or listen to country music, but I am suggesting sug-gesting that we need to change the way we look at agriculture. We need to realize that food doesn't just show up at the grocery gro-cery store. It comes from somewhere. some-where. We need to educate ourselves as to the concerns that producers produc-ers face, because it affects us also. How many of us have driven across town because milk was $0.20 cents a gallon cheaper? Or secretly shouted because of the price of eggs or cheese? Have we ever thought of 'why'? We need to partner with our farmers because it is a symbiotic symbi-otic relationship. If they prosper, pros-per, we prosper. If they don't ... Agriculture is our heritage -even if we don't know the difference dif-ference between a heifer and a Hereford and we need to protect it. To misquote Jaime Escalante, "We burros have ag in our blood!" Statewide livestock auctions AUCTION LOCATION Basin Livestock Auction Sales Roosevelt Cedar City Livestock Auction Cedar City Producers Salina Auction Salina Richfield Auction Company Richfield Smithfield Livestock Auction Smithfield Spanish Fork Livestock Auction Spanish Fork Utah Livestock Auction Co. Spanish Fork Weber Livestock Auction Co. Ogden PHONE (435) 722-5043 (435) 586-9312 (435) 529-7437 (435) 527-4226 (435) 563-3259 (801) 798-7466 (801) 798-6246 (801) 392-5656 DAYS .Saturdays . Thursdays Tuesdays Wednesdays Thursdays Wednesdays Saturdays' Tuesdays "The success of agriculture contributes con-tributes to the strength of this nation. It is in our national interests, in our national security interests, that we have a strong farm economy. And the farmers of America contribute to the values of our nation and to the generosity of our nation. "The farmers represent and preserve the values of our nation: hard work, risk-taking, love of the land. I always like to say people who own their own land understand the necessity to be good stewards every day is Earth Day if you own your own land. The farmers represent love of family and love of our country. And farming is our first industry, indus-try, the industry that feeds us, that clothes us and, increasingly, provides our energy." President George W. Bush at the Cattle Industry Annual Convention on Feb. 8, 2002 Registered Charolais and Angus Breeders Since 1968 U 33 Years Performance Testing 80 Bulls for Sale Private Treaty j ; . Hay Equipment and Pasture also for Sale i j : - ' Contact Shand Rasmusson at 435-340-7510 or Juel at 435-835-3991 in Manti, Utah |