U.S. farmers thankful this season

Nov 21, 2018

Producers mentioned family and an end to harvest

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Americans are preparing to spend time with family and friends for Thanksgiving.

Before slicing into a moist turkey accompanied by a side of perfectly seasoned stuffing, many individuals will reflect on the year.

So, Farms.com reached out to American producers to find out what they are thankful for in 2018.

Grain farmers, like Randy DeSutter from Woodhull, Ill., are appreciative of how well their crops performed this year.

“I’m thankful we had the yields that we ended up with,” he told Farms.com. “We had some dry weather in the summer, but our soybeans ended up being the best we’ve ever had and our corn yielded well too. It was a good year on the farm.”

Dennis Gardner, a soybean producer from Croswell, Mich., is thankful that harvest is over.

Unpredictable weather made harvest a challenge, so he welcomes not having to think about it for a little while, he said.

“It’s finally over,” he told Farms.com. “It was a stressful fall, so I’m glad I get to just put that behind me now. But it was also a safe harvest, which is what farmers always want.”

Producers are appreciative of the industry in which they work.

A main theme around Thanksgiving is family. But operating a farm means producers get to spend time with family all year, said Kelly Reynolds, a dairy farmer and executive manager of the New York Holstein Association.

“Even in the challenging dairy economy we’re in, we get to work with our families on a daily basis and strengthen relationships,” she told Farms.com. “Not many industries allow for that.”

Gardner also expressed his gratitude for his family.

“I’ve got four daughters,” he said. “One is in college and another is in high school. It’s been wonderful to watch all of them grow up into the young women they’ve become. I’m definitely a proud father.”

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Farms.com!

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.