We’ve all heard the numbers (only 1.7% of the population is involved in agriculture); we’ve all read the headlines (GMOs Unsafe, Farmer Charged with Animal Cruelty); and we’ve all thought that someone should straighten out the facts and get the story straight.

You’ve likely heard “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” This is the foundation of agvocacy. Every farmer and rancher wants to combat the misinformation and tell the truth about agriculture. But the nature of the job is that farmers and ranchers are busy! We work 7 days a week, 365 days a year and sometimes more than 12 hour days. Who has time for agvocacy?

Debbie is a cattle rancher in the Flint Hills of Kansas. She and her husband raise 500 head of cattle and they have five teenagers! Their farm was homesteaded in 1890 by her husband’s family and they are proud to continue the heritage of ranching and conservation of the land.

“If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Two years ago, my husband’s second cousin brought her young family to visit us on the ranch for a week. She will one day be part owner in some land that we manage, due to the foresight of her great grandfather. He left the land in trust to his grandchildren. Today only one of the six grandchildren is actively involved in agriculture—my husband. This gal only visits the farm that her ancestors homesteaded; she brings her family “to the farm” for a vacation infrequently. Her roots are in this land and with the cattle on it, but she has no first-hand knowledge of what I do here every day.

Her questions about the safety of the beef and milk that we fed our families during their visit were the impetus for me to begin my blog. Like so many ranchers, I knew I needed to reach out to consumers to let them see how I raise cattle, but I couldn’t justify the time spent on something so frivolous as writing a blog or tweeting a photo from the tractor seat. But the same day her family left to return to their Denver home, I began to write about my life on a Kansas ranch.

I chose the title “Life on a Kansas Cattle Ranch” because that is exactly what I decided to write about. I began with, “I’m a wife, a mother to five teenagers and a cattle rancher.” I often remind people that I am no one special. I am just a cattle rancher, who happens to be a woman, and I love to write. So I have chosen that avenue to spread the word about how cattle are raised. I am only special because I have consciously chosen to spend time advocating for agriculture every day.

At an agricultural convention last year, a presenter discussed the importance of advocating for agriculture. He said if 40 people advocated 10 minutes a day, 6 days a week, it would equal the amount of time a full time employee would spend. That doesn’t seem like much time—10 minutes a day! You can do that from the tractor seat while feeding cows or from the truck while you take mineral out to the pastures or even while your family works to vaccinate the year’s calf crop.

Recently, I’ve been honored to be selected as a finalist for the Ag Woman of the Year for the AG CONNECT Expo 2012. I did not foresee this honor and am amazed that my name appeared on their website. As a finalist, I received a new Flip Ultra HD video camera and had to make a 3-minute video telling about my experience as an agvocate. Hope you’ll watch it and if you get a chance, please vote.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-IeQrZ9Ztk[/youtube]

Debbie is in charge of the day to day ranch responsibilities - her husband has a off-farm job. Voting for the AG CONNECT Ag Advocate awards runs November 24 through December 9. If you are interested in voting, go to AgConnect.com and click on the awards voting link.

I’m humbled by the videos of the other candidates and the finalists from all of the categories. There are some great agvocates out there telling our story. But we need more! There are so many activists and wingnuts with the goal to put us out of business – we must get the facts and the truth out there! If you have any interest in agvocating, do not put it off because you are too busy, or you don’t know how to start a blog. Don’t let Twitter or Facebook scare you! Jump in and give it a try.

Take 10 minutes a day to tell your story about what you do on your farm or ranch. Be yourself, don’t worry about trying to be perfect. The people who want to know, would like to see that we are human and we care about what we are doing. Don’t wait…start small and you can build from there. Take 10 minutes to post a facebook status that mentions agriculture…then when you have time, start a blog or open a twitter account. Connect with consumers—they are hungry for information!

~guest post by Debbie’s Lyon-Blythe of kansascattleranch.blogspot.com. Her twitter handle is @DebbieLB and the ranch’s Facebook page is facebook.com/kscattleranch.