Here are student summaries of fall 2024 MCJD dialogical surveys with Willamette Valley farmers and ranchers. Click on any title for details, then return to see all titles.
Interesting Chat with Matt!
Event: Willamette Valley AgricultureInterviewer: Inara
Whom did you interview?
I talked with Matt, who is primarily a grass seed farmer but has several other crops such as onions.
How did your EcoTypes and SDG priorities compare?Matt’s Ecotype was Land Stewardship while I mine was Small Green Steps. We had many interesting conversations, but my favorite was our conversation about the phrase “nature knows best”. Matt said he likes to put faith in nature, but sometimes you can’t. He has to deal with invasive species all the time. Sometimes you need to have a firm hand on the ecosystem because we need to eat. It was really interesting to see how much closer to human place I was. Talking with Matt, and other farmers, has helped me see things in a more holistic way. We both got Integral as for knowledge suffix. We had an insightful conversation about technology while talking about this. Technology is here, there’s nothing we can do to change that. Instead, we should be trying to make the most of it and use it for good. Our SDG priorities were actually pretty similar. We both chose zero hunger and quality education, but while I chose health and well-being and strong institutions, he chose clean water and responsible production and consumption.
What larger MCJD lessons did you learn?It’s extremely important to talk things out instead of jumping to conclusions. Matt shared that he has had people scream in his face about how he’s destroying the environment when they know nothing about his operation. Matt believes that farmers are all environmentalists at their core. They have to take care of the land otherwise it won’t grow anything. This also goes back to why Matt, and I, chose quality education as an SDG. It’s not only about school, but also showing people what actually happens on farms, so people stop throwing accusations and regulations at and on farmers. Most regulations aren’t a problem, but there are some climate related regulations that just wouldn’t be helpful at all. We talked about electrifying tractors, and how batteries just can’t provide the energy needed so trying to go electric is just not possible, at least right now. If more people understand that farmers care also, we can create better solutions.