Agricultural Stewards Feed a Fussy World

by Nate Smith, General Manager, Top Dollar Angus, Inc.

Stewardship is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” It is often the root word, steward, that we refer to when thinking of the action of responsible care. Therefore, let us focus on the definition of steward and the similarity to other roles we play in our daily lives.

Interestingly, in the same dictionary quoted above, there are four definitions of a steward. With admitted bias, my choice as “the” definition is: “One appointed to supervise the provision and distribution of food and drink.”

Wow! That implies an immense amount of responsibility for a steward. It is quite the weighty task, considering what this kind of stewardship centers around. Kind of like playing a parental role for the entirety of humankind. In the spirit of connecting two seemingly unrelated, sleep-depriving roles we play in life, we find amazing similarities.

Agriculture by nature appoints those that are ready to supervise but what if we aren’t ready? Prior to our son arriving, we received plenty of advice that focused on “you’re never really ready but you will figure it out.” That is the answer we give ourselves daily as stewards in agriculture, regardless of volatile markets or record-breaking weather events, we will figure it out.

It is also the same advice every parent gives themselves during tough days: the morning after three sleepless nights of teething, the daycare provider’s house flooding or my personal favorite, a toddler learning how to open bathroom doors. What do we as parents say? We will figure it out. To make the next connection between our two subjects, let us consider how farmers and ranchers are figuring out feeding humans all over the globe.

Top Dollar Angus Team

www.topdollarangus.com

Nate Smith, General Manager (620) 546-4839 nate@topdollarangus.com

Kaytlin Hokanson • (307) 461-7687 • kaytlin@topdollarangus.com

Andrea Rutledge • (406) 399-3993 • andrea@topdollarangus.com

Andy Albrecht • (402) 922-1000 • andy@topdollarangus.com

The world population is growing rapidly, in the time it takes to read this article, approximately 260 children will be born. As stewards, we feel the pressure to provide nutrition for these new mouths. It is part of our calling, so we find the solutions. In line with the original definition, we carefully and responsibly produce more because we have been entrusted with providing food and fiber to hungry mouths.

My previous articles have spoken to the roles of genetics and technologies that provide safe food for the world, but stewardship goes deeper than that. The real point of stewardship is creating trust. Today, more than ever, the world must trust that food will be available. As with a child, from time to time humankind throws a tantrum about what they are eating, completely disregarding the provider. The 1990s brought about changing consumer perspectives of beef that in turn provided a better eating experience. Last month brought the saga of a child learning to use utensils at mealtime to our house. We figured it out, we think.

Stewardship is so much more than just how we care for the animals and land use from a global perspective. It is caring for an entire, sometimes fussy, society. No one ever said it was easy or that recognition would be a given. Like parenting, however, the rewards can never be described. //