Farming is the eighth most dangerous job in the US. That’s why it is always important to employ proper farm safety. Although there wasn’t much farming done today, I still wait in great anticipation to pull out my good ole steel toe boots.

Something I am a little less eager to get a taste of is Precision Agriculture. Precision Ag is the use of software, added technology to existing equipment, and information technology in farming practices that aim to make farming more efficient. Better efficiency includes things like applying fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides more efficiently. There are even self-driving tractors and satellite imaging maps. My enthusiasm extinguishes because I am concerned about losing the people behind the crop. I have always known and associated farming as a talent, a skilled trade, and not something everyone can do, but I guess that is the problem. Talking with Professor Kevin Butt, Professor of Agriculture at Ellsworth Community College, who specializes in precision agriculture, I learned that one reason farming is becoming more technologically advanced is because there are no farmers. There are simply no people to do the work anymore, so to keep up with the demand farmers have to start picking up some of the precision ag practices.

So what happens if all the farmers run out? Will we be dependent on robots to grow and collect crops? Sure this may be the worst case scenario, but apocalyptic charged questions generally get people thinking. Where does our commitment to farming begin as a consumer? There isn’t room for everyone to grow there own corn or raise there own livestock, but what is our role in creating and retaining farmers over time? These are big questions I am grappling with, and hopefully over the course of three weeks I can discover more roles for all types of people in agriculture.

Farmers are biologists mechanics, veterinarians, business people, and so much more. There is space for everyone here, it’s just the task of finding your place.