GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Warren Formo deals with farmers and non-farmers. And he has some suggestions for agriculturalists who want to convince non-farmers that ag isn't an environmental boogeyman.
"The concerns that people have are always legitimate, (though) they may be wrong," Formo said. "Don't be too dismissive of people and their concerns."
Formo is executive director of the Minnesota Agriculture Water Resources Center, a research and education organization comprised of the primary farm organizations in Minnesota. The organization describes its mission as "providing useful information to Minnesota farmers and ranchers."
Formo spoke Dec. 8 in Grand Forks, N.D., at the annual Prairie Grains Conference. The event was sponsored by eight ag organizations and crossed state and commodity lines.
Farmers often get a bad, but undeserved, rap on water management, especially from urban residents, Formo said.
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"I think farmers do very much care about water and make decisions very pragmatically about how we can protect water better, at a higher level than most urban folks," he said. "Yet they're the ones throwing rocks at rural folks."
Many in agriculture are optimistic that the November elections will lead to less regulatory pressure. But Formo cautioned farmers not to become "complacent" since much of the impetus for greater regulation comes from "career folks who have been there (in regulatory bodies) many years."
He had these suggestions for farmers and other agriculturalists concerned about public perception and water management regulations:
• Ask yourself, "How much of the problem might you actually be?"
• "Always highlight what you're already doing well. The best way to build on something is to acknowledge the good on what's already been built."
• "Continue to get better with nutrient management."
• Realize that members of the public "see trees (in windbreaks) coming down. They see grass waterways that aren't there anymore. I understand why windbreaks are coming out, (but) I encourage you as farmers to have a plan to address erosion ... These are the photo ops. We need to use them as positives. 'I'm out planting a windbreak. I'm maintaining, improving or extending a grass waterway.'"
• Urban residents "really don't care if you're making a living ... They really don't care that we're trying to feed the world. They want to know about safe, affordable (food) for their family."
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• Local water regulatory pressure is growing, "and you need to be engaged in that progress. When you hear rumbling of local rulemaking, you should engage. Talk to the people who are putting those rules and programs into place ... Realize you are an expert."
