I would like to start off with giving a quick disclaimer. Perry is the type of guy who is going to tell you exactly what he thinks and will not sugar coat it for you. Which I think is great and what the Ag industry itself needs more of.....transparency. So while you read his comments and answers to my questions please note that these are his thoughts and comments and not everyone will agree with him and that is perfectly fine. That is what this series is about. To get the views from all sorts of people across the country!
To begin: What is your favorite thing about the Ag industry?
He honestly said " My milk check and deer hunting, and probably my cows too.
Where do you see the industry in 10 years:
"I think it will all be bought and run by wallstreet. Investment groups are buying so much land these days so at some point small farmers will be gone. That's pretty much all we have left in the industry is land and food. What happens when these investors buy up all the land? There isn't much industry left that is independently owned. Many of us in agriculture are lucky to say that we are, but for how much longer I don't know."
Do you believe that there is a gap between producer and consumer and if so how can we help to bridge that gap?
"Yes there is a huge gap. Most people believe that their food comes from the grocery store. That is scary. It will be hard to bridge that gap because people are so far removed anymore. Back in the 60's probably 80% of people lived on some sort of farm. We are close to 3 generations now removed from the farm. That is what makes it hard. We do the Breakfast on the Farm which brings a lot of people out and we also do farm tours but do you think that is really enough?
I feel he has some good points and it would be great to hear some of your thoughts on these same great questions! Also if any of you would like to be the feature farmer or know a good candidate shoot me an email!
Have a great weekend!
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