AuthorRJ Gray, President & CEO The article “Colorado’s ‘rebel’ farmers – I’d like to see industrial farming go extinct” got my attention in Apple News recently. The article discusses Mr. Jake Takiff's "regenerative" farming practices and, on the surface, it seems that his views are pretty similar to every farmer I have met. He discusses the cultural values of living and raising a family on the farm, soil health, protein’s impact on the economic health of the farm, and the overall commitment and work ethic it takes to be a professional farmer.
In my almost 38 years of life growing up in and around agriculture – two decades of that, working directly with farmers and their farmer-owned businesses – I can honestly say that I have never met a farmer without those same concerns. They also believe that soil health is of the utmost importance to their operation; they believe proper, humane care of livestock is of the utmost importance to the financial growth and sustainability of their operation; and they also believe that farming is a way of life and teaches life lessons that our culture does not such as a strong work ethic, commitment, and managing multiple things at one time. I felt connected to Jake – right up until he alienated his peers. |