Seeds of change

Steve Priest, the principal of Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School went to Ohio State thinking he was going to major in agronomy. His goal was to graduate and work for the seed company Dekalb.

"In high school I was interested in crops, crop science and seeds, and I knew that is what I wanted to study," Priest said. "Then my Ag teacher told me I should consider going into Ag Ed. Then, another Ag Ed teacher told me I should look at it, too, so I decided to consider it."

Priest was raised in central Ohio, about 45 miles east of Columbus where his family owned a farm.

When he went to college, he found out if he went into Ag Ed, instead of agronomy, he could still take all the classes he wanted, but he would be certified to teach science.

He realized he made the right decision after he had an internship with Monsanto in Illinois. Although he enjoyed working for the company, he said doing pure research was not something he enjoyed for a full time job. As a seed scientist, research work would have been a major work component.

"I said, maybe Ag Ed was really right for me after all," Priest said. "I went through and got Ag Ed degree and was offered an associateship position to go through and get my masters at Ohio State."

The associate position was in statistics, which Priest enjoyed.

"Analyzing data is something that comes easy to me because of my studies and internship," Priest said. "After I graduated with my masters, I got a teaching position in Utica, Ohio."

He taught Ag Ed and was the Future Farmers of America advisor for nine years in Utica. The town was in the same area that Priest had been raised.

Priest came out to Wyoming because Ohio had funding challenges to its schools. Since Ag Ed is not a core class, Priest said he could never be assured his job would be funded for the year to come. Priest was in no danger of not having a job, though, because he had a science certificate.

"It could be stressful not knowing if I was going to teach Ag Ed or not, year to year. I decided I wanted to go to another place where agriculture is important to the state and people who live there," Priest said. "So when we came out here, it was really neat to compare agriculture in Wyoming versus what I grew up with in Ohio."

Priest said there is a difference in what livestock is produced. He said there are more pigs, for instance, in Ohio. Another difference he noticed is the size of farms to the ranches in Wyoming.

"There are a lot of smaller farms in Ohio," Priest said. "Our farm was about a 100 acres, but that 100 acres could feed a lot more livestock than what a 100 acres feeds out here."

Another noticeable difference is that there is little irrigation on most farms in Ohio. He said that there is enough moisture, that irrigation is not really necessary.

"There are a few guys who do that in Ohio, but in general, mother nature is our water sprinkler," Priest said. "Wyoming, quite a lot of irrigation on its ranches."

He said Ohio used to have many more dairy farms, but due to urban encroachment, many had sold their land.

"Unless you are a really, really large operation, there just isn't as much profit in it any longer," Priest said. "A lot of dairy farms have gone to just crops and when I go back to Ohio, I see more and more urban encroachment."

He said he has seen it no only in Ohio, but also Illinois.

"There was a farm that was outside of Chicago some distance that the farmer was paid the price of a half acre that an entire farm used to cost," Priest observed. "This is hard to turn down and you see more and more farms being turned into subdivisions and honestly, I find this scary."

He said it has been a problem since he went to college.

"Farm land preservation is so important, because if you continue to lose farmland, how do we feed the consumers with an increasing population?" Priest said. "This could be a real problem as these smaller productive farms go by the wayside."

He said he doesn't see this problem in Wyoming.

Priest also said he doesn't see as much difference between farming and ranching as what some people may feel.

"Ranching might deal more with animals than some farms and farms may have more crops, but the concepts of agriculture is about the same," Priest said. "I think there might be a difference too about how people perceive genetic engineering if they are urban versus rural."

He said when people fear genetic engineering of seeds, Priest points out it has been going on for centuries. Selective breeding has led to hybrid corn, apple trees, other food crops and livestock. This is genetic engineering.

Farmers and ranchers know this and, since most farms and ranches are in more rural areas, genetic engineering is not usually seen in such a strong negative manner as it is by many urban dwellers.

He said because genetic engineering started going to the cellular level and finding the genetic code and cutting down time frames on creating strains, it has made people nervous.

"People have become so far removed from agriculture and the farm," Priest said. "Until recently, agriculture has done a poor job of advocating for themselves, but now people want to know how it was produced and what went into it."

Priest understands why consumers want to know all they can about agricultural products they eat, but some farmers don't understand why suddenly there is this movement and have not acclimated to it. He said for years nobody questioned them, so now some farmers feel a bit on the defensive although there is no conspiracy to keep genetic engineering a secret.

He said many large farms in Ohio are actually families that farm together.

This is not generally the case with the large ranches being formed.

Priest said there are large corporate farms, but he said they are not a prevalent as sometimes presented.

He said with all the changes going on in agriculture, whether you are talking ranching or farming, it is essential to understand how it works in our economy and society.

"I am encouraged by how many students in Carbon County take agriculture as seriously as they do," Priest said. "Learning as much as we can about agriculture will only serve future generations well as time goes by."