Farm Progress

Stiles Farm Field Day, for more than a half-century now, has shown area producers and others interested in modern agriculture, how farmers are able to maintain the traditions of a rural lifestyle while  being progressive in adopting new, more efficient practices to feed more people and provide an abundant, safe and affordable supply of food and fiber.

Ron Smith 1, Senior Content Director

June 16, 2015

2 Min Read
<p>Texas A&amp;M AgriLife Extension Director Doug Steele</p>

Agriculture needs to reclaim its heritage from those who would besmirch the image of the nation’s farmers.

“We need to take our voice back,” said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Director Doug Steele during his keynote address, or as he put it, “just a few comments,” at the 52nd Stiles Farm Field Day Tuesday in Taylor, Texas.

“Others have taken the word sustainability away from us,” Steele said to a crowd gathered in the Knights of Columbus Hall, a plan B put into action as a tropical storm bore down on Central Texas and threatened to further saturate the Stiles Farm even more than recent rainfall had done.

The off-site, indoor venue did not dampen the enthusiasm of the field day participants  or the fervor of the speakers, especially Steele, who said agriculture’s critics  try to “turn agriculture into something evil,” when farmers “are the original conservationists. We are the Green Revolution. We need to reclaim that.”

For the latest on southwest agriculture, please check out Southwest Farm Press Daily and receive the latest news right to your inbox.

He said the Stiles Farm Field Day, for more than a half-century now, has shown area producers and others interested in modern agriculture, how farmers are able to maintain the traditions of a rural lifestyle while  being progressive in adopting new, more efficient practices to feed more people and provide an abundant, safe and affordable supply of food and fiber.

“U.S. consumers spend from 6 percent to 8 percent of their disposable income on food,” he said. “China consumers spend 29 percent, and some African nations spend more than 75 percent.  We produce safe food. We don’t produce cheap food but we are cheap compared to other countries.”

He said agriculture’s ability to change has been a crucial component in farmers’ successes. “Agriculture is in an ever-changing world. We have to keep an eye on tomorrow.”

He said the emergence of the sugarcane aphid in sorghum shows how the agriculture landscape can change in a season. “We had to change quickly,” he said, to manage that emerging threat to an important commodity.

“From 2011 to 2015 we also witnessed climate variability,” he said.

The Stiles Farm, “a not-for-profit, self-supporting institution established by bequest from the late J.V. and H.A. Stiles for the advancement of agriculture and the benefit of all Texans,” shows agriculture’s traditions and the opportunities to advance through applied research, Steele said.

“The Stiles Farm Field Day allows us to talk about the next best practice.”

About the Author(s)

Ron Smith 1

Senior Content Director, Farm Press/Farm Progress

Ron Smith has spent more than 40 years covering Sunbelt agriculture. Ron began his career in agricultural journalism as an Experiment Station and Extension editor at Clemson University, where he earned a Masters Degree in English in 1975. He served as associate editor for Southeast Farm Press from 1978 through 1989. In 1990, Smith helped launch Southern Turf Management Magazine and served as editor. He also helped launch two other regional Turf and Landscape publications and launched and edited Florida Grove and Vegetable Management for the Farm Press Group. Within two years of launch, the turf magazines were well-respected, award-winning publications. Ron has received numerous awards for writing and photography in both agriculture and landscape journalism. He is past president of The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association and was chosen as the first media representative to the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Advisory Board. He was named Communicator of the Year for the Metropolitan Atlanta Agricultural Communicators Association. More recently, he was awarded the Norman Borlaug Lifetime Achievement Award by the Texas Plant Protection Association. Smith also worked in public relations, specializing in media relations for agricultural companies. Ron lives with his wife Pat in Johnson City, Tenn. They have two grown children, Stacey and Nick, and three grandsons, Aaron, Hunter and Walker.

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like