Sustainability in agriculture is being talked about everywhere these days, from the front page of The New York Times to the White House.  But what is often missing in these discussions is the voice of an actual, working family farmer.  That’s why I was so pleased to read the article by Missouri farmer Blake Hurst in The American, the journal of The American Enterprise Institute. 

Blake’s article, The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals, discusses biotechnology, organic and sustainable agriculture from the eyes of the farmer.  No matter what your view of the issue, Blake demonstrates that “sustainable” and “organic” aren’t necessarily synonymous. 

Take herbicides and biotech crops, two big “no-no’s” for the organic movement.  Here’s what he has to say about them: 

“The biggest environmental harm I have done as a farmer is the topsoil (and nutrients) I used to send down the Missouri River to the Gulf of Mexico before we began to practice no-till farming, made possible only by the use of herbicides. The combination of herbicides and genetically modified seed has made my farm more sustainable, not less…”   

 Whether we agree with that or not, it’s clear that the future of Ag sustainability lies in the hands of farmers like Blake Hurst.  With controversial issues the voice of those that matter the most are often lost in the noise. The farmer’s voice in Ag sustainability and biotechnology discussions is a perfect example of those important audiences we rarely hear. As the consumer, reporter, legislator or communicator, we need to listen to what they have to say.