PLAIN LIVING Jonathan Knutson
Reporting the changing face of Upper Midwest ag By Jonathan Knutson Agweek Staff Writer
When you work in agriculture, it’s easy to get wrapped up in short-term stuff. Caring for crops and livestock requires a gotta-get-done-today mentality. Marketing crops and livestock often involves changing-by-thesecond prices. When you’re an ag journalist, it’s also easy to focus on the short term. The day-to-day concerns of readers become our concerns, too. But sometimes ag journalists should take a deep breath, step back and explore big-picture, long-term trends affecting agriculture and the people involved it. That’s why I’ve been thinking for several years about doing a package of stories on the demographic changes in Upper Midwest ag. The gender change is obvious and reflects what’s happening in society overall. Women are playing an increasingly diverse role in agriculture, with more of them serving in positions once occupied only by men. There are changes in ethnicity, skin color and place of origin, too. All of us who live and work here know the Upper Midwest was homesteaded primarily by people from Northern Europe; their descendents are the folks running farms and ranches today. Most of the agronomists, salespeople and other in-the-trenches people
supporting ag producers grew up in the area, too. But that’s changing. Slowly, yes — but it’s changing. With few hard statistics to document it, yes — but it’s changing. If you’re involved in Upper Midwest ag, you know that. You’re seeing and working with more ag professionals who don’t have white skin or were born elsewhere or both. Not a lot more, but definitely more. I’ve been ambivalent about this package, however. We all have biases and preconceptions — it’s part of being human — and no doubt I have my share. But I try my best to be respectful to everyone, to treat everybody the same. So, while I’m happy to write about anybody regardless of skin color or gender, I’m reluctant to write about anybody simply because of their ethnicity, skin color or gender. I’m also ambivalent because I worry the stories might be drawn into the politically correct debate. (For the record: I dislike the PC police. I also detest racism and sexism.) Will the PC crowd send me nasty emails because I accidentally use a term they don’t like? Will people on the other side send me nasty emails accusing me of being part of the PC police because I wrote this package? Well, I swallowed my ambivalence and decided the topic’s importance warranted doing the stories. And
because agriculture and ag journalism ultimately are about people, I’ve focused on four talented agriculturalists who, in their own way, represent what’s happening. The three-part series begins in his week’s edition of Agweek and on AgweekTV, continues with the Aug. 6 issue and concludes Aug. 13. A plug for my employer: This series involved trips to four communities — Carrington, N.D., Jamestown, N.D., Hallock, Minn., and Hutchinson, Minn. — and the services of photographer/videographers Nick Nelson and Derek Fletcher (in Hutchinson.) That significant investment of resources is yet another demonstration of Agweek’s commitment to serving the region. And any journalist would appreciate the great flexibility and latitude I’ve had in pursuing this project. This series doesn’t pretend to be a comprehensive look at the demographic changes in Upper Midwest ag. The changes are too sweeping — and hard statistics too sketchy — to allow that. But I’ve included a few statistics and, more importantly, the stories of four people who live in the Upper Midwest and love agriculture. Individually and collectively, though incompletely, they reflect the changing face of area ag. I’d love your feedback on the stories and series, email me at
[email protected] or find my new Facebook page which I am learning to use.
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Monday, July 30, 2018 / AGWEEK
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