Celebration after a Cowboy touchdown during the 2010 homecoming game. Is is the work or the product that counts?

As a proud Oklahoma State Cowboy, this past weekend was especially exciting.  At the end of each October our university celebrates its favorite occasion: homecoming.  Entitled “America’s Greatest Homecoming,” brings the college town of Stillwater to life for a week as the population rises from approximately 40,000 to 100,000+ as the streets and sidewalks begin to bleed the colors of orange and black.  Though the weekend ended on a sour note with a loss to the ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, the overwhelming school pride seemed to overpower the negative results of the game.  This pride actually reminds me of the agriculture industry and may provide the members of the ag community with a valuable lesson.

In order to earn the status of the best homecoming, students from all aspects of college life work hard since the first day of classes in August to create floats, signs and (most importantly) house decs (walls of chicken wire with designs artistically made out of colored tissue paper in a process called pomping).  In fact, members of fraternities and sororities are required to log a certain number of “pomping” hours each week leading up to homecoming in order for all the preparations to be complete on time.  In addition, clubs take time to participate in chili cook-offs and window painting contests.

With all the effort put into creating such an extraordinary display for OSU students, families and alum, it is no wonder that students stay put at halftime to hear the announcement of the spirit awards.  After hours of hard work and dedication to increase school spirit, it is amazing to hear the stadium light up as the 55,000 plus fans literally fill the stadium with cheers and aplause for the home team.

So how does this relate to farming?  It’s obvious that farmers take pride in their work and strive to create the best product from their labor as possible – but what celebration is being done to honor their efforts?  When so much is being done to honor a group of people it is possible that the results of its labor, though important, can pale in comparison to the mere awareness raised in the process.

Demonstrating a high level of pride in all of the work we put into agriculture will not only help create a celebration of agriculture in farmers and ranchers, but also in the consumers.  What are you doing to celebrate your agricultural ties?

Guest Post by Laura Padgett

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