I have been working on a presentation that I will be giving to a county farm bureau group next week.  I gave it the title Tell Your Story with the subtitle “You Are Your Own Reality Show”. The group will hear about how important it is for farmers to tell their story to combat all the attacks on agriculture one farm at a time. Farmers are the ones who need to tell their story. It cannot be left up to an organization or association. The public won’t give them a quick glance. But they will respect information coming from the producers mouth.People want to know how food is produced. They want to know how a farm operates. Thinking of this as a reality show, you’ll see people want the inside view. What is really going on. This is what everyone in the ag sector needs to capitalize on, making it personal.

I’ll go through all the websites that I have made, starting from our first basic blog to producing a podcast. And what I have learned in between. The group will build their own site like our farm’s website. They will make it their own with photos and information about their farms. By telling their story, farmers can put a face on agriculture and make it real for the consumer.

4 Predictions for 2011

These are my totally unrelated, random predictions for the new year. I am not one to believe in fortune telling. But at the close of next year you might be thinking, “That girl’s got a gift.” Or farmnwife needs some professional help.

New Tractor:

In the crystal ball, I see a new/used tractor chugging across our fields before we start planting in spring. William really wants to use planter shut-off on the units to save on seed.  He also wants to put the planting data on Green Star to add to the yield maps. We’ve got to keep up with the Niemeyers. our current planting tractor

Paleo Diet:

Okay. This one will likely make you scratch your head. This year the paleo diet will gain in acceptance directly taking on vegetarianism. I don’t follow this eating plan but I have listened to Robb Wolf’s podcasts. He is on to something even if he is a little out there.

Farm Land Prices:

Farm land prices here in the mid-west are the highest they have ever been, hovering around $9000/acre for good black dirt. William thinks it will go to $10,000. My prediction is it may get there, but the high will be in 2011. Prices will then slide south most likely because of interest rates and a few other factors.

Big Green Combine Blog:

Going out on a limb here. I foresee this blog hitting it big this coming year. Imagine it: National recognition, servers crash, speaking gigs, book signings, the O’reilly Factor. And I don’t even like him.

There you have it. I know what you are thinking. Did she really put all this on the internet? You betcha. Now I need to go write a book.

In the comments, tell me what you think of my predictions and what my book should be about.