Farming. Roll Tide.

This week, Mr. William Lee spoke to us about his job and they way he conducts his business. Although he has not been my absolute favorite speaker, he did have a lot of good things to say.
First of all, Mr. Lee was a firm believer in hard work. That was something that was evident beyond his words. That was evident from the sun on his face and the assurance in his voice.
He is an Auburn graduate and now is a commercial farmer. I thought it was interesting that they grow non-perishable items, such as wheat, soy beans, cotton, and corn. This is smart because they can store it for a long time if it does not sell right away.

 He described the farming business as being labor intensive, but also something that requires thought and heart. He says, "It doesn't take a lot of people, but it does take good people." I think this concept can be applied to many tasks in life. Specifically, it reminds of one important organization that I am in on campus- the POD. Dr. Jones always talks to us about our values as a group. He talks about character, excellence, and the dedication it takes to do what we do. The thing I am most proud of is our size. Relatively, we are small for a college band. We probably could be bigger if we wanted. However, to practice and perform the way we do, we do not need those numbers. It is not about the numbers, it is about the quality of those numbers. In which case, the POD has a lot of. That is something we are proud of, as well as Mr. Lee.

A lot of the things Mr. Lee talked about were just simply not applicable to me. I could not relate nor understand what he was talking about. But, I could take the concepts he discussed and apply them to my life. He talked about how diversifying his crops made for much more certainty and production. This is the same in life. When we are only focused on one thing, it is much easier to fail. However, when we have backups and other interests, the liklihood at us failing at all of those things are quite slim.

Farming is a family business. Mr. Lee has been involved for a very long time. Farming also takes a lot of capitol or a lot of land to start. It also takes a lot of risks, knowing when and what to invest. With all of these challenges, Mr. Lee still holds strong to his original values and that is quite respectable.

I was curious about the plants themselves and I actually found out from Mr. Lee that most of what they actually spray on them is against weeds, not insects. The method he uses to farm also surprised me. The fact that they kill a whole field (pretty much) to farm something else shocked me. I wonder what are the reall effects, as Mr. Lee avoided many of those direct questions.

He also talked about the relation between farming and population growth. This reminded me of Makowski's class, as we were talking about the first days of farming and how it sparked population. I wonder if other developing countries are going through that same spark now with farming. It also makes me wonder if we ARE going to run out. There is only so much land on the earth. It reminds me of my hometown- good ole Hazel Green. Abbie was right. Many of the farming, cotton, fields are being replaced with subdivions. There is one big cotton field right next to my house and I wonder when the day is that it will no longer be there. It kind of makes me sad because one day the small country town I grew up might turn into a city with it's own WalMart.

Lastly, the question of success was brought up. What is the key to success? Mr. Lee says not only hard work, but to take advantage of technologies and know how to use them. However true this may be, it wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for. However, I assume that one word cannot answer that question. It also is different for every person. For me, I really don't know yet. I've tried a lot of things to be "successful" and I am not sure if those have worked yet. Check back in four years.

Does anyone know the answer to world hunger by the way? Just asking.

Later

Anna Goggans