W.T.F.? – Where’s The Food and Where’s The Farmer?

It’s now been several years since the Ag market has seen better days – not only for the price of the crops or livestock, but also for the actual wellbeing of our farmers and ranchers themselves.   So many great family farms have come under a lot of pressure, sometimes in the form of added stress and strain, and definitely having to do a lot of extra hard work, to do more with less… only to see it all get literally washed away…  and in an effort to stay buoyant… (Pun intended!!).

  Add to that, the on again off again global economic uncertainties, plus extreme and often unpredictable weather events and we get a pretty wild and crazy recipe for a whole lot of uncertainty.  Which is probably humanity’s 3^rd greatest fear only after public speaking and death!

And now, (March, 2020) – what do we get?  How about global Pandemic?  Talk about evening out the playing field for almost every human being on the planet – literally!  I am pretty sure now, nearly everyone can have a front row seat to some of the stressors many farmers feel almost every day…   Can you relate?

Please don’t take this post in any “wrong” way.  It is not meant to be a downer — or even to be a discussion of any options or possible solutions or answers to anything.  Though it can certainly be part of a self-reflection process for stress-free solution seeking.   

I will admit that I do feel a bit overwhelmed by all the uncertainty and ambiguity, so, I thought I’d try to share some information or facts – that could possibly stir our individual and/or collective creative juices to seek out some innovative ideas and potential seeds to solutions.

On this first blog, post the declaration of the pandemic, which is now several weeks old, I wanted to try sharing some interesting, (at least to me), anecdotes or facts about our nationwide agriculture or farm industry…

In doing some research I quickly realized that there is a lot of information on the world wide web, which is easily accessible with no more effort than typing in a search string on google, bing, ask, yahoo or even baidu.   However, finding it and having it presented in a reader friendly and concise manner can sometimes be very welcoming and handy!

Team Perka, (Perka Hybrid Buildings), lives by our WHY (per Simon Sinek) of being Stress-free Solution Seekers Trusting Sincere Selfless Service.  And so, we thought to offer this information in a spirit of EASY ACCESSABILITY that fits inside our S.A.F.E.R. acronym! (Strong, Affordable, Flexible, Easy, Resilient).

After a couple searches of our own – we came across this link https://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/12/19/most-important-agricultural-product-from-each-state/2/.  In it you will definitely find more information than I am sharing below – but with a lot of ads and extra fluff to scroll through, which I find a royal pain!

For the sake of this particular post – below is an alphabetical list of the 50 States each with the MAIN agriculture product commodity that is their number one “CROP” along with the next three (if available) top crops for THAT state.  If you look this over and study it a bit – it is quite remarkable where a lot of our “Food” comes from!!  No, it’s not from the supermarket either!  Along with some interesting observations like 45 of the 50 states lists Cattle in their top 4 – which is probably the most “popular” crop in the country.  The answer to “where’s the BEEF” – is almost EVERYWHERE!! 

What other interesting correlations or trivia facts can you find?  One state list Blueberries as NUMBER ONE!? Who would have thought that?

1. Alabama: Chickens. Other major crops: Cattle, corn, and peanuts
2.  Alaska: Cattle. Other major crops: Potatoes, barley, and oats+
3. Arizona: Cattle. Other major crops: Lettuce, spinach, and melons
4. Arkansas: Chickens. Other major crops: Soybeans, rice, and cattle
5. California: Grapes. Other major crops: Almonds, other grapes, and strawberries
6. Colorado: Cattle. Other major crops: Corn, potatoes, and sorghum
7. Connecticut: Apples. Other major crops: Cattle, maple syrup, and apples
8.  Delaware: Chickens. Other major crops: Corn, soybeans, and melons
9. Florida: Oranges. Other major crops: Cattle, strawberries, and tomatoes
10. Georgia: Chickens. Other major crops: Peanuts, cattle, and pecans
11. Hawaii: Macadamias. Other major crops: Cattle, coffee, and papayas
12. Idaho: Cattle. Other major crops: Potatoes, barley, and corn
13. Illinois: Corn. Other major crops: Soybeans, cattle, and potatoes
14. Indiana: Corn. Other major crops: Soybeans, cattle, and tomatoes
15.  Iowa: Corn. Other major crops: Soybeans, cattle, and oats
16. Kansas: Cattle. Other major crops: Corn, soybeans, and sorghum
17.  Kentucky: Chickens. Other major crops: Soybeans, corn, and cattle
18. Louisiana: Soybeans. Other major crops: Corn, rice, and cattle
19. Maine: Potatoes. Other major crops: Maple Syrup, cattle, and apples
20. Maryland: Chickens. Other major crops: Corn, soybeans, and cattle
21. Massachusetts: Cranberries. Other major crops: Apples and maple syrup
22.  Michigan: Corn. Other major crops: Soybeans, cattle, and apples
23.  Minnesota: Corn. Other major crops: Soybeans, cattle, and chickens
24.  Mississippi: Chickens. Other major crops: Soybeans, corn, and cattle
25. Missouri: Soybeans. Other major crops: Cattle, corn, and chickens

26. Montana: Cattle. Other major crops: Barley, lentils, and beans
27. Nebraska: Cattle. Other major crops: Corn, soybeans, and potatoes
28. Nevada: Cattle. Other major crops: Corn
29. New Hampshire: Cattle. Other major crops: Maple Syrup
30. New Jersey: Blueberries. Other major crops: Peaches, corn, and soybeans
31. New Mexico: Cattle. Other major crops: Pecans, and peppers
32.  New York: Apples. Other major crops: Cattle, corn, and apples
33. North Carolina: Chickens. Other major crops: Soybeans, corn, and sweet potatoes
34. North Dakota: Soybeans. Other major crops: Corn, cattle, and canola
35.  Ohio: Soybeans. Other major crops: Corn, cattle, and chickens
36. Oklahoma: Cattle. Other major crops: Chickens, soybeans, and corn
37. Oregon: Cattle. Other major crops: Pears, grapes, and potatoes
38. Pennsylvania: Cattle. Other major crops: Chickens, corn, and soybeans
39.  Rhode Island: Cattle. Other major crops: Corn
40. South Carolina: Chickens. Other major crops: Corn, soybeans, and cattle
41. South Dakota: Corn. Other major crops: Cattle, soybeans, and sunflower
42. Tennessee: Soybeans. Other major crops: Cattle, chickens, and corn
43. Texas: Cattle. Other major crops: Chickens, corn, and sorghum
44. Utah: Cattle. Other major crops: Corn, cherries, and peaches
45. Vermont: Cattle. Other major crops: Maple Syrup and apples
46.  Virginia: Chickens. Other major crops: Cattle, soybeans, and corn
47. Washington: Apples. Other major crops: Potatoes, cattle, and hops
48. West Virginia: Chickens. Other major crops: Cattle, corn, and apples
49. Wisconsin: Cattle. Other major crops: Corn, soybeans, and potatoes
50. Wyoming: Cattle. Other major crops: Corn, barley, and beans

We are definitely realizing that we are ALL in this together…  looking out for each other is one of the strongest nudges many of us are sensing.   We are FAMILY!!  In fact, my dad used to often say — “when the going gets tough – KEEP IT SIMPLE & SAFE!”  (K.I.S.S.). How about we all keep looking out for each each in selfless service and as Stress-Free as possible too?  (Keep it Simple & StressFree?!)   

If you would like to find out more about how we can better collaborate together on this – contact us HERE and share any thoughts, ideas or suggestions!