When I was just a freshman in college, I was ready to take the world by storm.

We start out our journey into the real world, and we see everything as black and white. In reality, so much of the world is gray.

One of the topics (out of many) I was very passionately set in my way about was conventional versus organic food and agriculture. I felt any group that did not have the same management practices and beliefs as myself was not supporting me as a conventional dairy farmer.

But, to be a total hypocrite, I truly believed that we need selection and choice for the consumer in the marketplace. When I think about that now, I just shake my head and chalk it up to being young.

Fast-forward a few years, and after meeting hundreds of different dairy farmers from across the nation and some major reflection, I have changed my tune. No, I am not switching to organic farming.

I still truly believe my decision to be a conventional farmer is the best decision for my family and myself. However, I now believe that each and every organic, grass-fed, conventional, etc., farmer has made the best decision for their situation.

For example, I have a friend who is getting into farming essentially by himself. He is starting his farm from almost nothing. He told me that his return on investment for going organic would make him more profitable.

When starting from nothing, he needs every penny he can get. I have another acquaintance who is an organic dairy farmer. They are so close to a city that going organic made sense when looking at it from neighborhood perception. The family has made their farm an agritourism destination and made a very successful side business.

When I looked at my own family farm, I realized I was a total hypocrite if I didn’t think organic production was supporting my ability to continue farming for the next generation. For the last 15 years, my family has believed in looking at and balancing micronutrients in our fields.

Which, until recent years, was an almost exclusively organic production practice. Another example is that the only antibiotic intramammary tube I have on the farm is my dry-off tube

. When we were smaller and in the parlor, it didn’t pay for us to have a cow being taken out of the tank for mastitis. So we used natural, organic therapeutic methods so the other three quarters would still be considered saleable.

It seems there are more people with my viewpoint, which is so refreshing. Recently, there was a group called GMO Insiders that attempted to petition Starbucks to change the milk used in their restaurants from a mixture of conventional and organic to all organic.

They used a hashtag and tried to make it trend on social media – not once but twice. But you know what? It didn’t work. Do you know the reason why? Because dairy producers stood together and said, “No, this isn’t right.”

Not just conventional producers, but there were organic producers right beside them sending the same message. That was inspiring and exciting to see that when we stand together as a group we can accomplish a lot.

It is always discouraging to watch one farmer discount another’s production methods. We are all trying to do what is best for our land, animals and the people we care about most. I want to see more examples of us not judging and just supporting each other in our love of agriculture. PD

• Ashley Messing-Kennedy

• Dairy Producer
• Bad Axe, Michigan