All About You

Awaking early the silence is stark. So too the darkness. Outdoor shimmers remind a small city lies inches outside the windows. Brain is turning. Ideas float in and out of focus. One sticks out. A large group of people assembled in an auditorium. They are there to talk about their joint problems in business. They are farmers in a mostly rural state.

A man approaches the podium. The crowd does not pause its whispers and side comments to one another, so the murmurs become the background noise prominent to steal attention from the host speaker.

He speaks. “Good morning. Welcome to the Growers’ Forum. We will share ideas today of common concern and seek some answers that will make each of us stronger.”

Some are listening but most are not. Clearly emotions run high. This audience is committed to its pain and fear. They do not understand what is controlling their financial success in today’s turbulent market – the commodity markets, actually. Their expenses to run their farms are often fixed and many times soaring. What they sell their crops for is another thing entirely. Prices rise enticingly when supplies are low but slump quickly when supplies are ample. The speed at which prices change is dizzying. More so are the stubborn producer costs.

This reality means each farmer is committed to his crop come what may – drought, marshy rains, crop disease and insect damage. The equipment relied on to do the heavy lifting needs constant maintenance and attention to be reliable. Ready cash for farm expenses is a must but so too cash for family living expenses. Those are part of the overhead and cannot be easily ignored.

This is the constant context of being a farmer. That is why the state universities are important partners with farmers to help them make the most of their opportunities and work smart, not just work hard.

Today’s Growers’ Forum is sponsored by the state’s largest public university. It’s agriculture department is legendary. Inventions and discoveries which have advanced agriculture in the state many times over have propelled the state’s farmers to an enviable position of profitability and long term sustainability. These are hard won successes of the industry and its primary players. The farmers of course are in the primary position. So too their families who support the details of each and every farm. But the university is a key player as well.

The university continues its research on soil sustainability, enhancement, and pest controls that do not poison the product, its growers or users. Mostly the university endeavors to protect an industry vital to the well being of the region and nation. In doing this the university encourages and mentors farmers to do their best and feel proud of their contribution to the American way of life.

This is not always easy. Today’s audience is an indicator of this. Rumbles. Murmurs. Uneasiness and suspicion that all is not right and what will we do about it?

The host speaker raises his voice into the microphone. In a few moments he has audience attention and the room quiets. He clears his throat and says:

“The challenges you face today are the ones we face together. For the short-term it is about you; together it is about we.”

“At this moment you are looking at me standing in this spot at the microphone. Your focus is on me. But my focus is on you. In fact this entire program is about you and only you. I invite you to join with your fellow farmers and become a mighty we!”

At that moment, from behind the curtains, TV cameras scanned the audience, the curtains parted and unveiled large exhibition screens that reflected the audience back to the audience. They were looking at themselves.

The host went on to say: “This is what you look like as we.”

“You are the face and personhood of the agricultural industry in our state. You have brothers and sisters in all the other agricultural states. Together you are the national industry of growers. Together just imagine what you all do right now.”

“Our task today is to share our problems and challenges in a way that we can respond to with answers that will make our jobs easier and more successful. Our unity makes us ‘we’.”

With that opening, the conference went on to resounding success.

I wonder how many gatherings of me and you fail to become a we? If we could see ourselves as groups gathered as one and realize we are the industry, the corporation, the university, the whatever, would that change us and galvanize our abilities to make really exciting things happen?

If that is so, when will the energy companies realize they are not the owners of vast mineral rights but purveyors of energy in many forms? When will they realize that the gas and oil below the earth’s surface is not the long term focus or solution? Energy in its purest form is an element of physics. When will they broaden their scope and discover the energy forms that will transform the globe? And peacefully?

You and I are users of energy. We are not galvanized. We are not a ‘we’ yet because we don’t view ourselves in that way. But if we did I think the energy producers just might find their true mission in life and become a part of our ‘we’.

The time is now. Are you ready to make it happen?

October 23, 2014