This past weekend I took some time to visit friends in Maryland. It seemed so refreshing to get away from the busy-ness of life—planning multiple events, spring cleaning the house, and out to the serene countryside onto my friends’ farm in Montgomery County, Maryland. It seemed serene as I passed lush green pastures, wooden fences, horse farms, fields, and turned down the lane where Angus heifers stood grazing. Everything about my weekend destination seemed so peaceful, but in reality, I was just 22 miles from our Nation’s Capital and in a county that has a population of 1 million people. That’s right—1 million people take up residence in Montgomery County. I had to have Mr. Bob repeat this statistic on Sunday morning as we were visiting about farming, and how he was a third-generation farmer. In my native state of Nebraska, we don’t even have 2 million people in the entire state, and they cram 1 million folks in a COUNTY and still have a place to graze cattle and farm the land.
As you can tell, this population statistic really impressed me, and as I spent the afternoon exploring the farm some more, I realized that although ALL farmers and ranchers face so many challenges—the environment, activists, the markets, just to name a few—the reality of urban sprawl really slapped me in the face. I mean, tasks that my family takes for granted like moving a piece of machinery becomes a major headache on these highly traveled highways or narrow, windy roads in the East. And, land value is such that many landowners are selling land that has been farmed for years for development, leaving farmers without ground to work.
Now even though the friends I spent the weekend with have more neighbors than the entire state of South Dakota, they are still raising food for the folks that live in their county and elsewhere in a safe manner that is good for the environment. They are stewards of the land, and would never do anything to harm the land, because it really is our most precious commodity. They make sure the pastures are not overstocked and overgrazed, and yet the cattle have ample forage and water. They are concerned about predators, especially at calving time, and work to keep their cattle safe. They know if they take care of the land and livestock, they will take care of them.
I was impressed with their spirit; their roots run deep. Take Mr. Pete, a 94-year-old man who had worked on numerous farms in the area since his teen-age years. We visited with him while he recollected the farms he had worked on with pride. He displayed a wall of ribbons he had won showing Percheron horses. Later, we rode through pastures of baby calves to see the results of mating decisions and hear about the next crop of embryo calves as we read the recips’ tags with the matings she was carrying inside her. We went to the antique tractor and steam engine show, where we saw some really neat old tractors, and little tiny engines that were powerful enough to churn ice cream.
It was like a time warp—a little of the old tied in with a little of the new—steam engines and embryo matings from a national champion female. I experienced all of this less than 30 miles from where lawmakers are trying to regulate every move farmers and ranchers make. It all seemed so serene, and yet so much hustle and bustle takes place just down the road. Maybe just one day, those senators and congressmen will take the opportunity to share in this experience—to realize that there are multi-generation farmers and ranchers in Maryland and Nebraska and across the United States that are out there producing food and fiber for their family and yours. . .sometimes it just takes a different perspective. Sometimes you just have to be one in a million to appreciate it.
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