|
|
|
|
|
|
| Iowa sports, Farm Bureau launch ‘America Needs Farmers’ |
|
|
|
By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — In a collaborative effort to help consumers understand the immense challenges and opportunities of today’s farmers, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) and the University of Iowa Athletics Department earlier this month launched “America Needs Farmers (ANF).”
“We are honored for the opportunity to work with the Iowa Farm Bureau to help tell this important story,” said Kirk Ferentz, UI head football coach, at an Aug. 5 news conference with legendary UI football coach Hayden Fry and IFBF President Craig Lang.
Fry first thought of the concept during the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, which Ferentz has embraced today in this new collaboration. But it wasn’t officially realized until 1985 when Fry’s unbeaten, No. 1-ranked football team traveled to The Ohio State University for a nationally televised game against the Buckeyes.
When Iowa took the field that day with a yellow circle with the letters “ANF” affixed to the right side of their helmets, “America Needs Farmers” was born.
The logo became a topic of local, regional and national conversation the remainder of the season, a year that ended for the Hawkeyes in Pasadena, Calif., as the Big Ten Conference’s representative at the 1986 Rose Bowl.
“I was one of the luckiest young men in the world to be raised on a farm until 10 or 11 years of age,” Fry said.
“A lot of the things I learned on the farm I applied in coaching football and to the financial world.”
Fry said he recruited several players from Iowa farms who are “the salt of the earth. They wanted an education, they were hungry, they were well-disciplined, they were strong because they had been working on the farm, so I came up with the idea that America needs to know that the farmers need help.
“So I came up with the ANF decal – American Needs Farmers – and it was amazing the great response, not only in Iowa but across the nation,” he added.
Jared DeVries, former UI All-Big Ten defensive tackle from 1995-98 and second-team All American, grew up on his grandfather’s family farm of 2,000 acres near Aplington, Iowa. DeVries said he helped his father grow crops and learned values like hard work, dedication and determination, which he took to UI.
“I would help on Saturdays after high school football games,” he said. “I just enjoyed being out there helping my dad. I can still remember asking my dad, ‘What exactly is that ANF sticker (on the helmets)?’” he said.
“My dad said, ‘Well, it’s America Needs Farmers.’ I said, ‘Well, why do they have that on there?’” DeVries recalled his dad telling him, “Well, that’s what Iowa’s about, and that’s what we’re known for.”
He echoed his father’s sentiment about the importance of America’s farmers.
“If you ever meet a farmer, those are the most dedicated, hard-working people you’ll ever, ever come across,” he said. “And no job is too little, no job is too big. This is what I believe our country is based upon. It’s the farming; it’s the farming community, it’s the mentality of this country.”
To reflect that, the IFBF recently celebrated its partnership with the Iowa Hawkeyes through ANF activities at Farm Bureau Park during the 2011 Iowa State Fair, which ran Aug. 11-21 in Des Moines. Visitors at the fair’s Tailgate Toss had a chance to register to win $1,000 in groceries, a new riding lawn mower and other prizes, which included an “Ultimate ANF Fan Experience Package.”
In recognition of Fry’s leadership in support of America’s farmers, the UI will designate the space between the west and north grandstands of historic Kinnick Stadium “ANF Plaza” in Iowa City, which will eventually include a bronze plaque to describe the ANF initiative by Fry and continued today under Ferentz.
The UIAD will also create an ANF Wall of Fame inside ANF Plaza, which will honor student athletes at the UI in football who exemplify “the tenacity, work ethic and character of the American farmer.”
The UIAD has designated its prime-time Big Ten Conference home game Oct. 15 against Northwestern as ANF Day at Kinnick, expected to become an annual event.
The UIAD will also facilitate the creation of officially-licensed merchandise that features the ANF logo, the UI’s Tigerhawk logo and, in certain circumstances, the official logo of the IFBF. A portion of the royalties generated from the sale of such items will be directed to charitable causes such as food banks throughout the state.
“Farmers are glad to see leaders like Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz celebrate America’s farmers,” Lang said at the news conference.
“Together, we are proud to recognize the ANF initiative and what it stood for 26 years ago, and what it stands for today as a testament to the ‘Farm Strong’ families of Iowa: The men and women who go the extra mile to not only grow safe, wholesome food, but to protect the land and the legacy of rural Iowa and the American farmer.”
For more information about ANF, visit AmericaNeedsFarmers.org |
| 9/1/2011 |
|
|
