What does the consumer need to experience – healthy calves to pet, or dead cows to ponder? This is the question animal agriculture is being asked.

Agritourism has flourished in recent years. Farmers shine up their farmsteads, trim the fencerows and sweep the barn floor, making their livelihood as attractive as possible to their city cousins with sensitive smellers.

Passionate farm wives have developed school curricula, performed demographic research and have welcomed young consumers with open arms and knowledgeable, packed presentations. While children giggle with delight at bottle-feeding a small calf and concerned moms ask detailed questions about the safety of milk, there is another line of thinking that maligns the clean, sanitized farm approach.

Dr. Wes Jamison, an associate professor at the University of Florida, wielded a wild punch during his presentation at the recent Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference, when he said consumers needed to see the whole story on the farm, from life to death.
I realize we’ve gone down this path before, and we’ve been accompanied by Dr. Jamison. Animal rights is not a new phrase, but the tactics of those who think what animals do is good and what humans do is bad are constantly changing with an expanding bank account. (And no, these groups don’t need President Obama or his bailout to accomplish their goal of abolishing animal agriculture.)

While I could give you a four-point outline of why PETA and the Humane Society of the United States are so successful and why they believe what they believe, I’m more interested in our reactions as animal agriculturalists. What do we think? Has anyone bothered to ask us?

As farmers, we are constantly bombarded with what we should be doing. After we’ve gotten up at 3 a.m. to start our 16-hour day to provide the essentials of human life for the rest of the world – all while wondering how we will afford fuel for our tractors and food for our own families – we are supposed to take time to tell our story, show the outside world the inside of our farms and do so with open arms and barn doors.

Then, we are supposed to get on the Internet and post comments on every blog that spreads falsehoods about farming – and we have to do that not with our own words, but words and phrases that will be effective with our audiences so they’ll understand what we do and why we do it.

With these kinds of expectations, I often wonder if I’ll have time to milk the cows, feed the cows, bed the cows – and, oh yes, take care of my family.

Dr. Jamison concluded his presentation with this challenge: In the long-term, we need to come up with a moral argument that works. Meaning, we need to chuck our science and efficiency arguments for a moral plea that appeals to those who have humanized animals, but still want to eat meat and drink milk guilt-free.

The next morning I listened to a woman in agriculture explain in detail about the educational tours she hosts on her family farm. At the conclusion of a wonderful presentation, I asked her what she thought of Dr. Jamison’s ideas. She immediately thought she was doing her job incorrectly and said maybe she should’ve been more transparent.

Again, I go back to the question, who is right? What should we do? And has anyone stopped long enough to ask us … and have we thought about what we would say if they did?

I feel as though we are reeds blowing in the wind. We listen to someone with a little credibility and we automatically agree. Meanwhile, we work diligently to keep our farmsteads looking neat and clean. Why?

It’s simple. The American farmer is a proud person. He or she takes pride in their homes and buildings. They want clean surroundings and a neat yard. They like their fields weed-free and their barns trimmed up. When people come to visit, they prefer their guests walk on clean floors, not dodging manure piles.
The occasional dead animal is not something they want the rest of the world to look at simply because they themselves don’t want to stare it in the face. And what is wrong with this?
So, my challenge to us is this: What do we believe and why do we believe it? It’s a basic question for all of life that must be answered.

Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.