| Farmers must speak up about issues that affect their
livelihoods or they could lose their voices, the national president of an
agricultural women's organization says.
With their numbers continuing to decline, it's more important now than
ever for farmers to communicate their concerns to lawmakers, promote their
products and educate the public about their businesses, Alice Dettwyler
said.
Dettwyler, a Salem, Ore., grass seed and strawberry farmer, was in
Grand Forks on Friday to speak at the annual North Dakota and Minnesota
Agri-Women's conference in the Ramada Inn. About a hundred women from
across North Dakota and western Minnesota attended the conference.
The North Dakota and Minnesota Agri-Women organizations are two of the
56 American Agri-Women affiliates across the country. The national
organization, formed in 1974, provides a forum through which its members
can unite and communicate with one another and with the public, according
to American Agri-Women.
Dettwyler, a 31-year member of Oregon Women for Agri-Women, knows
firsthand that speaking up about agricultural issues does have an effect
on public policy. She helped found the Oregon organization in 1969 because
legislators in her state were threatening to end grass seed farmers'
practice of burning stubble to reduce the spread of disease and insects.
At that time, burning was the only option farmers had for getting rid of
the stubble, so it was an important issue, Dettwyler said.
The Oregon Women for Agriculture persuaded members of the Oregon
Legislature to give it 20 years to come up with an alternative to burning.
Members of the organization worked to find other options, and now there is
an overseas market for grass seed residue, Dettwyler said. The baled
residue is shipped in containers to Japan, where it is used as a livestock
feed supplement.
The Oregon Women for Agriculture membership has grown to include women
who are involved in all types of agriculture and agribusiness, and is no
longer a group that's just made up of women in the grass seed industry.
Beefing up membership in American Agri-Women is one of the reasons that
Dettwyler accepted the invitation to speak at the North Dakota and
Minnesota Agri-Women's conference. More members in the organization means
increasing its diversity and including women who are involved in
agribusiness, Dettwyler said. The organization also is becoming active on
college campuses.
Another benefit of visiting North Dakota is that she will be able see
firsthand the challenges that are facing the region's farmers, Dettwyler
said. This weekend, she will be a guest at the farm home of Grafton, N.D.,
area farmers Jack and Rae Desautel.
General agricultural issues that the American Agri-Women are concerned
about include food and pesticide regulations and biotechnology, Dettwyler
said.
"The high cost of farming is going to continue to make it
important to go to Washington, D.C.," she told the North Dakota and
Minnesota Agri-Women. Representatives from the organization will travel to
Washington next summer to talk to members of Congress and federal agencies
about food safety, pesticide and biotechnology issues, Dettwyler said.
American Agri-Women members are working to ensure registration
decisions are based on what she calls "sound science," she said.
Because it costs so much for companies to register pesticides some are
abandoning production of certain ones used on specialty crops, Dettwyler
said. That is a problem for farmers because it reduces the number of tools
they need to battle crop insects and diseases, she explained.
Contrary to public perception, most farmers don't dump chemicals on
their land willy-nilly, she said.
"The farmer is the original environmentalist. We are good stewards
of the soil," Dettwyler said |