Illinois Farm Families Blog

I was standing at the Farm King checkout, waiting for my husband to pay for our Plan B attack on a mounding mole problem, when a farm magazine with colorful cauliflower on the cover persuaded me to pick it up. No grocery store tabloid tempts me to the point of touching, but I’m a sucker for anything about farms and gardening.

I started reading an editorial authored by a person who worked multiple jobs and finally found farming was his calling. I can relate to that. I kept reading. My husband was yet to pay. In fact, I took great interest in the author’s words until he started to belittle the corn and soybean farmer, in a tone that indicated that type of farming had no feeling. No pride. To the author it seemed mechanical and monotonous.

My hands immediately closed and racked the publication. I’m proud to grow those crops.

I walked in silence to the van, feeling bullied and angered, but unsure of what to say. I process my thoughts slowly. (Good thing I’m not a farm broadcaster.) I need to chew on topics a while before I can reach a conclusion. So a few days later I sat over a bowl of soup made from butternut squash from last year’s garden bounty, still aroused by the unnecessary jab. And thought this: Who started filing farmers in categories?

Truth is, I’ve witnessed this desire-to-file twice in a month. Someone asked a question about how a family farm is differentiated from an industrial farm. The question was posed online through Illinois Farm Families, a coalition that encourages farmers to start conversations with consumers. (Go to www.WatchUsGrow.org to learn more.)

My first response: What’s an industrial farm? That phrase isn’t part of farm vocabulary, but rather seems a term coined to negatively label modern-day agriculture. I get this feeling that people who don’t understand farms and farmers are trying to figure us out, which I applaud. Yet placement in a category with an associated stereotype only muddies that understanding like a gravel road in the thaw of March. You don’t want to go there.

Here’s my take. Farmers, generally, are the same at heart, no matter their farm’s size, use of technology, or choices in pest control, crops grown or livestock raised. For a long time I have thought farming was like parenthood. Farmers parent the land until someone else becomes the caretaker. Most people can relate to that. Moms generally can relate to other moms, even if they have different lifestyles, approaches to child care or viewpoints on education. Farmers can have different styles, too, often reflected in their production practices. But at sunset, most all enjoy relaxation after a hard day and share core values: concern about land, resources, livestock, crops, their families and the future of their farm. Whether they’re in the business of farm-fresh eggs or field corn doesn’t matter in my experience. Farmers are about as proud and passionate as humans come.

Joanie Stiers
At The Farm Gate

From Doug Anderson, farmer from Albion, Illinois:
The answer to this question is much simpler than it may seem.  Ask yourself, “Who owns and operates the farm?”  Is it owned and operated by relatives of the same family?  If the answer is “yes” then it is a family farm.  Do not confuse the designation of “family farm” with a business model.  Farming is a small business, and many family farms are incorporated or set up as a partnership.  One common reason for incorporating the farm is so that ownership can be transferred from one generation to the next.  Another reason may be that the farm is owned by several family members, but only a few of them are actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the farm.  Regardless of how the farming operation is structured, it is still a family farm. 

John Kiefner, Kiefner Family Farm, Manhattan, Illinois:
To meet my definition of a family farm, a family must provide more than half of the labor necessary in the farming operation.  It is becoming more difficult to meet this criterion and remain profitable, because modern farming involves a wide variety of skills.  
My individual farm operation requires me to act as a mechanic, truck driver, grain marketer, agronomist, entomologist, and accountant.  Occasionally, I also perform the duties of electrician, welder, carpenter, and veterinarian.  Other skills that are helpful are communication skills, political activist/lobbyist, and legal expert.  I perform many of these jobs on a daily basis.
The challenge that is involved is being proficient at this diverse skill set.  It is not enough simply perform these skills; they must be performed well in order to remain competitive and profitable in this business.

Cyndy Monier, an Illinois farmer:
Sometimes the difference between a family farm and an industrial farm is in the words alone.  Large farms are generally family owned and operated in much the same way as a smaller family farm.  One may think that a 5,000 or 6,000 acre farm is a large industrial farm, but that farm may be supporting five or more households in a family.  That makes the acreage per family around 1,000 acres, not a large farm at all by today's standards. 
The use of the term "industrial" farm conjures up, in most cases, a negative image of modern agriculture that is simply not accurate.  The overwhelming majority of farms, large and small, are family owned, family run and have remained in the same family for generations. Prudent farmers take care of land and/or animal assets because it is the right thing to do, the best way to stay in business, and the best way to preserve the farm for future generations.  Therefore, the size of a farm is irrelevant, in relation to sound farming practices.

From Jessica Zobrist, Downalane Dairy Farm, Madison County, Highland, Illinois:
While the term “industrial” seems cold, pressured, and unfeeling, the term “family” invokes warmth, understanding, and passion.  I’m not so sure farms can always be clearly divided into one of these two categories.

Oftentimes, family farms are farms which have been passed on from generation to generation to generation by people who have a deep passion for raising animals, growing crops, and carrying on the family name.  This passion is reflected by how much they care about their livestock and their concerns about the ways they work their ground.  Most “family farmers” chose this pathway because it’s truly in their blood; they would choose farming as a profession regardless of the yearly salary and so-called benefit package.  They are environmentalists to their acreage and caregivers to their livestock.  This passion is often transferred, through the blood, to the farmers’ kids — thus continuing the Family Farm.

If the Family Farm is such a beautiful, caring entity, then is the Industrial Farm the bad guy?  Not in my opinion.  Industrial farms are often run by people who also care about their livestock and their crops. They have just taken a different path and ended up at a farm owned and operated as a company versus a family-owned farm.  Many farms that could be considered “industrial” are promoted as being family-oriented simply because the term “family” makes the general population feel as though the farm is being run by people who care; not just an Average Joe trying to bring in a paycheck.  But remember, the Average Joe may have just grown up in the city, accidentally fallen in love with farming during college, and ended up running an industrial farm, because there was no family farm to return home to.  He will still nurture his animals and crops!

For those of us passionate about farming, we hope that all farms are being run by those who care as much about the cows and pigs and corn and alfalfa as we do.  It doesn’t matter whether the farm is a family or industrial farm as long as there are people carrying out everyday activities who love what they do.  Whether you’re a banker, or a baker, or a boxer… whether your paycheck is signed by Dad or Mr. Smith… whether your son follows in your footsteps or blazes his own path… it doesn’t matter where you work as long as you can honestly say you love what you do!

From Bill Johnson, Professor and Agriculture Production /Swine Coordinator at Joliet Junior College:
What I teach our students is that a family farm is any farm where the majority of the labor and management is provided by members of the family.  The capital and land can be provided by someone else or be borrowed.  An industrial farm in my mind is any farm that utilizes modern technology on any scale.  A pre-industrial farm would use animal and human power and primitive technology.  Neither of these terms imply anything about size or scale except you cannot operate a large farm without using modern technology.

From Lance Taraochione, farmer from London Mills, Illinois:
The term “industrial farm” was created for the purpose of portraying a negative and scary image of large-scale, modern agriculture.   In any industry, there are family businesses. Some family businesses have grown into large corporations while others fit the stereotype of a small “mom and pop” operation.  Farming is no different. Some family farms are quaint, small and idyllic, while others are very large, specialized and progressive.  They may be very different in size and scale, but one is not inherently better than the other. I know some very large farms operated by families, but none of these operations are truly industrial farms.  I think we run the risk of legitimizing false and negative perceptions when we try to draw distinctions between family farms and something that really doesn’t exist – the perceived “industrial farm.”