Farm to Family Connection - Commentary

FARM TO FAMILY COMMENTARY
---Select commentary from a weekly column by Curt Arens published in the Cedar County News, Hartington, NE

October 2008

If a Farmer Were President

Dear Friends,
Spanning our nation’s history, several farmers, particularly in the early years, served as President. Our first three Presidents were all farmers. Washington and Jefferson were gentlemen planters, at the time, part of the elite class. Our second President, John Adams, was an attorney, but happily scraped out a meager living for most of his life from his little farm near what is now Quincy, Massachusetts.

The last guy to occupy the Oval Office with true agricultural roots and dirt beneath his fingernails was Jimmy Carter. He ran his family’s Plains, Georgia peanut farming business and warehouse, but one has to remember that before returning home to run the family farm when his father passed away, Carter was actually a naval nuclear engineer.

So, it’s been awhile since a practicing farmer lived in the White House. I wonder what a farmer might do if he were President today?

Most farmers, like myself, are introverts, so I’m not sure these big town hall meetings or staged rallies would be the most comfortable way to speak to voters. Maybe at the rallies, instead of the yellow caution tape to keep the crowds at bay, workers could install a barbed wire fence, complete with wooden fence posts, so the farmer candidate could lean across the fence to visit with potential voters. And if the fence was loose, the candidate could pull out his pliers and fence-stretcher and fix it up right there.

Instead of debates, a farmer candidate might challenge his adversary to a hand corn picking contest, a straw bale piling contest or a tractor driving obstacle course. I wonder if 60 million viewers would tune in to see that?

A farmer candidate might be most interested in policies and issues that don’t even come up on the radar anymore for Presidential candidates. He might make major speeches centered around food policy, farmers markets, farm bills and biofuels or beginning farmer loans and conservation programs. Of course, the majority of Americans would have no idea what he was talking about.

Then, during harvest season, he would have to send out his running mate and surrogates to do the campaigning, because he’d be home running the combine. He would just hope that harvest would go fast that year, so he could maybe get one good day or so in to work his cattle before the November general election.

If a farmer were President, all the Secret Service agents would be issued pliers and duct tape, just in case. His first cabinet appointment would be Secretary of Agriculture and the new Secretary would have to actually know how to drive a tractor or pull a calf.

Instead of heading to Camp David, a farmer President would probably have all the big foreign dignitaries come out to the farm for meetings. Of course, they’d probably have to do chores each morning while visiting, and most of the negotiating would get done while riding through the pasture checking cattle.

I’m sure that a farmer will one day occupy the White House again, and a horseshoe pit, rodeo arena and tractor pull track might replace the Executive bowling alley and driving range. It’s fun to think about how a farmer would change the White House?

On a final note, the long, historic campaign season of 2008 has ended, except for the never-ending post-election analysis. And remember, if you didn’t vote, didn’t participate in your most important privilege and responsibility as an American citizen, you have no right to whine about the results.

Hope you have a good week.