I like how you think. You are looking past the day to day issues on the farm and are thinking about what the future holds for the farmer. The future of farming is not what color tractor you drive or what seed company you buy from. The future may be more about how you use that tractor and where you plant that seed if you can plant it.

Of major concern to me is who is making those decisions, a lot of time the people that are trying to tell you what is sustainable and how to farm come from the board rooms of big companies. They feel that they have a directive from the consumer to protect them from the farmers who don't care what they produce as long as it makes money. We as farmers need to be aware of what is going on around us and be willing to engage in the discussions of what sustainability is.

I have been a part of a group that has been working for several years on sustainability. It is farmer led with University direction and industry involvement. It is the National Initiative of Sustainable Agriculture, NISA. As farmers we know that everyone does not farm the same way, soil conditions, climate, as well as social issues affect how a farm is able to operate. We are working with all of agriculture, from cows and pigs to rice, corn and soybeans as well as fresh market vegetables as well as fruit crops.

It is a huge undertaking, the University of Wisconsin has been a major player in helping with the development as they have worked with potatoes and cranberries in the state. We have had some of the major companies at the table during the discussions, some of which are Walmart, Unilever, McDonalds, Bunge, Syngenta and John Deere.

NISA is the only sustainability effort that is farmer led and farmer driven.

http://nisa.cals.wisc.edu

Chuck