An awesome responsibility.

It had been a while since I had made a farm visit. And there I was on the front porch with a young woman who shared stories about how she and her husband were planning to secure their future on the farm. Her husband works a full-time, off-farm job and is a full-time college student. Together they know that someday he'll finish school, quit the job and become a full-time farmer.

This young couple doesn't need your sympathy, only your support.

As communicators, we have the awesome responsibility of shaping public perception of the very exciting future agriculture has before it. Think about it:

* Ethanol plants have become the Midwest version of the California Gold Rush, with farmers, communities and investment bankers scrambling to be a part of the solution to this country's fuel shortage.

* Scientists labor in laboratories to create food products that will provide value-added nutrition to stabilize the health of third-world people.

* Food animals today are genetically bred to yield a more lean meat product to meet consumer demands.

* It's possible to create plants that contain resistance to specific insects and diseases.

* Kids today can eat their white bread and have their whole grains, too, thanks to a new wheat variety that produces white whole wheat flour.

And it all begins on a front porch somewhere in rural America.

So, the next time you're tempted to feel like what you're doing doesn't really matter, think again. We have a big job to do.

"Farmers, communities and investment bankers are scrambling to be a part of the solution to this country's fuel shortage."

--Carol Anderson

Carol Anderson, Anderson Kisner Fallon, LLC, NAMA Vice President.