That's why I spend time on a lot of boards/forums/etc with people concerned about their food. No offense to any farmer here but talking to most farmers on the subject just irritates me because they either don't care or think the world is dumb and they are right.  There has to be a middle ground. You can't really understand where people are coming from without talking to them.  Asking the right questions and finding the right answers helps. A lot of people hear things 2nd hand or read an article and don't look into it any further, when you start asking them questions it makes them think. On the flipside of that, some have done their homework and they start drilling you back and it makes you stop and think. In the dairy industry things like tail docking and removing the calf immediately are concerns many consumers have, they don't understand why we do those things and its actually prompted a lot more research from both sides to re-evaluate a lot of animal care methods. 

Being a farmer i'm still biased no matter what, but I do try to keep an open mind and stay as nuetral as possible to a point.  The point where I draw the line is when people are just simply against animal agriculture as a whole.  I still deal with them somewhat because a lot of their followers only get to see their side of the story. I can try and show my side and maybe one or two people will reconsider. That's their choice, I won't tell anyone what to do but don't want people to be misled either.  It's tough with the animal rights activists though because they do not believe in a middle ground enough times.  They will not work with you to improve animal care, they simply want it eliminated and you are a cruel menace to society with a perverted mind that cannot be saved. Any time you try to show stats, facts, studies, and they have no rebuttal they resort to calling you a terrible human that exploits animals therefore you can't be trusted.  Some of their idealistic worlds just make no sense. I stick around because I try to understand them and what they want.  I'm not going to stop milking cows tomorrow, and you're not going to start eating meat and cheese but maybe in the meantime we can work together to improve things and learn more.  I always ask what we will do with the animals and many respond with their animal sanctuaries that are funded by people who "care". That's a great fantasy I guess, but I have to give credit to the one person who said that animal ag would have to be slowly phased out by simply not breeding anymore and letting the last of the animals on the farm go to slaughter.  If we had to quit animal ag in a year, that would make sense to me and be the way to do it.  Cow sanctuaries? Please. 

Nobody is ever nuetral, but some are more nuetral than others. I'm biased because I grew up doing it, but growing up I learned to keep an open mind and not do what all the neighbors do or what grandpa did. When I research a topic, I do actually look at both sides. Its far easier to research the opposing side because the population of farmers is small and the population of the on the internet is even smaller. Finding good data to support many things on the farm is sometimes harder. Most people that are vocal often have an agenda or point to prove, so you have to look into their facts and determine how relavent they really are and what is really behind the facts. I do have an agenda of my own and thats to explain to people why things are the way they are, why some people oppose certain things, what may be misleading and then encourage them to do further research on their own to draw their own conclusion. I'm not out to change anyones mind, just give them information and let them decide.

As for GMO's, they are like anything else. Its just a name that has gotten a bad rep from a lot of incidents with huge publicity.  There are good ones, bad ones, ones that need more testing, ones we can't live without, etc etc. Some people feel we can't farm without them, some feel they cause all the worlds problems.  Both are wrong IMO. Do GMO's make a farmers life easier? That again depends on the specific GMO. In the case of something like rbST when used properly, no it does not make your life easier. It requires even more herd management than before, if you aren't doing that then you are likely not really benefiting from it like you could anyways.  You don't just go in the barn and give every cow a shot to magically make more milk. We've used it in the past off an on, at times it paid and other times it didn't. Then there's the GMO's outside of fields and animals that people often forget about, the ones in medicine helping to save or improve lives. If someone wants to be against them, that's fine. I just hope its an educated decision and not marketing. There's a lot of misleading info out there, like Europe supposedly banning GMO's. They simply required more testing on them before they would be approved, since then they have approved many GMO's for use.

Then there's the organic side of things which is a huge nut to crack.  When people tell me they only eat organic, I always just simply ask why? Most feel its more "natural", no GMO's, no "chemicals" and/or pesticides, better for the environment, not "factory" farms, the cows get to be on pasture, its healthier, etc.  Then I like to ask where they buy it, and most people obviously buy it at some sort of grocery store.  That's the key part right there, if you only have 2 minutes to make an impression on someone, ask them how they know anything more about a food labeled "organic" than they do about something that is not?  Sure there are a couple regulations in place in order for something to be organic, many involve the honor system, many involve inspections and enforcement which requires people and resources which are often limited.  Overall they do a decent job enforcing some of the key organic rules, but the point is that they put their trust in that label for being better overall.  In the real world theres obviously good and bad farmers in both segments.  Not everyone gets into organic farming because they feel they are saving the world, its a niche market with a premium price. Its a great way to make money doing something different. The advertisers behind organic would lead you to believe everything is made on old mcdonalds farm with a red barn, a 460 IH and a mule, but unless you buy locally you just do not know anything more about that food than you do the conventional food.  Take milk again for example, the organic milk is supposedly free of antibiotics and rbST, the cows are fed organic feed and allowed pasture access for a certain amount of time when possible. We all know that conventional milk is antibiotic free also, but many people do not. Most don't know the testing procedures in place for antibiotics and how the farmer has to eat the load of milk if it is "hot". The difference is that the organic cows can never be treated (in US), they must suffer/die, go to slaughter or leave the herd to join a conventional herd. Outside of the US, organic farms simply have a longer with hold time than conventional milk.  How would you ever know the difference though? All milk gets tested for antibiotics, they are either there or they are not. Obviously the with hold times in place are adequate, hot loads generally happen due to an employee/farmer error. rbST use is strictly the honor system as there is no way to test for it, all milk has the same hormones in it which is also why they cannot label milk "hormone free". The pasture requirement just requires pasture access, there can still be a freestall barn for the cows and they get to choose where they would like to go. The studies that have been done just simply show a wash that makes little sense. Some cows would rather be outside, some like it inside. The only thing they found was cows would go outside at night when its cool and stay in the freestall barn during the day. Then comes winter time and they go back to a conventional diet of organic crops. I don't know why so many people believe organic producers cannot use chemicals or pesticides, there's a long list of products available to them, they just cannot use synthetic pesticides or anything else that is not approved. For awhile it was mostly old technology that didn't work too well but they are making strides. The point though is simply that so much of the stuff is truely based on an honor system, so it comes back to trusting a label. The organic label is the most regulated one out there at least but theres still only so much trust you can put into that label.  That's why I do actually encourage a lot of people to buy locally if they want to know more about their food.  Trusting labels in the grocery isle might make you feel good about yourself, but do you really know?  Thats not to imply conventional food is bad and all local food is organic.  I really think that for those concerned about their food, buying local is the most important thing they can do because seeing is believing, and having that connection with a local person can also give you a good perspective on the way they raise your food. Should everyone do this? No, that's another point I like to bring up. The majority of those who are spending the extra on these products have some disposable income and they take passion in knowing more about their food. Other people could really care less, and some are just happy to get a meal.  You're free to choose whatever you like to put in your own mouth, but if you start getting involved in trying to change the way food is grown, you need to really stop and consider everyone else that does not voice their opinion. 

I could go on forever, but need to get something else done.  The simple answer to most things is that there is no simple cut and dry answer, there's always more to the story. Your way, my way and the right way