National Ag Day is observed March 18 to remind us that farming and ranching is essential to our daily lives. The adage is you’ll need a doctor and a lawyer at least once in your life, but you need a farmer and rancher three times a day. 

It is easy to forget food does not just appear on our plates or in stores, it comes from the efforts of other people. There are numerous people involved in its growth, harvest, sale, packaging, shipping, distribution, and so on. But there are two sides to the story of agriculture.

Farmers and ranchers are notorious for assuming people know what they do or insisting consumers should trust them without asking questions. Neither of those stances are healthy or helpful when most recent data show there are 1.9 million farms and ranches in the United States versus the 2.1 million a decade ago. As fewer and fewer people are directly involved in food production in the United States, it is the duty of farmers and ranchers to tell our stories in meaningful, approachable ways.

If Washington state is a microcosm of what is happening in the rest of the United States, our farm and ranch community has a long way to go to tell our stories. We need to share stories of purpose, stewardship, and familial devotion to the land, to our fellow workers of the fields, to our neighbors and friends. Few of the people responsible for crafting and passing the laws of our state have direct knowledge of food production and most are responsible to constituencies with little to no rural areas.

It is incumbent upon farmers and ranchers to take time away from the pressing matters of daily life to ensure they share their perspectives with people who are different from them. 

I grew up in Eastern Washington in a 1950s farmhouse with no air conditioning. Yet, once a week in the summers, no matter how hot the forecast predicted it would be, I helped my mom make cookies right after we finished changing water in the morning. About the time the first batch came out of the oven, our long-time crop consultant – called a field man back then – would show up for warm cookies, something cool to drink, and to check in with my dad and our crops. Even now, when he and my dad run into each other in town, they stop to catch up on each other’s lives.

While it is more difficult to build these kinds of relationships with people who don’t live in the same city, it is not impossible to create bonds that stretch beyond the borders of our own communities. Finding common ground with someone over a proverbial plate of warm cookies can be done if one party is willing to bring the plate to the table. Offering a story about generations of animal care or a fundamental understanding of soil amendments can be the bridge to a larger conversation about why local food production is the cornerstone of a healthier Washington.

But no one will know for sure unless our farmers and ranchers are willing to try. The public perception of food producers is persistently positive. People like farmers and ranchers. It is time for farmers and ranchers to believe they are liked and share their stories.

If you are a food producer, share something about your operations with someone new. Afterall, National Ag Day, and this whole week, is about reminding people that agriculture is essential to daily life.