There is a conventional wisdom that says young people are leaving the farm in droves, that there is nothing to keep them down on the farm once they’ve Googled Gotham City.In fact, the population of most rural towns in America has been dwindling for at least a half century.
That wisdom, though, often misses the surprising number of people that leave the farm for a few years then return to a lifestyle that they’ve missed.Or never quite get away from a lifestyle they grew to love. Running a ranch or a farm has a lot of things going for it, especially when it comes to raising a family and instilling some important values in that next generation.
Let me introduce you to Dan Smith, the product of five generations of Kentuckians who have always been tied to the land.The family farm is located in Stamping Ground, a central Kentucky town in the heart of horse country, just a half hour northwest of Lexington.
It’s not horses but cows that keep him busy – about 700 of them.He’ll add about three or four hundred stockers during the summer months, too.“We do raise some alfalfa hay for horses, and some corn and soybeans, too,” he said, “but this is a cattle business.”
To be sure, Dan never really left the farm.He attended the University of Kentucky and earned a degree in Animal Science in the late 1990’s. Rather than go back to the family business right away, he spent a few years working part time with Pioneer Seed.Full time farming started in 2001.
“I was involved with the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association right out of college,” he said as he explained how he eventually found himself serving on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board Health and Nutrition committee.“I was on the KCA nutrition committee for six years,” he said.
“When the spot on the Beef Board opened up last year, I was nominated to fill it and I was thrilled to be appointed to their Joint Nutrition & Youth Influencer Committee at the winter meeting in Phoenix.” Smith is the Chair of the committee.
“It’s a chance to talk about a nutrient dense food.Beef is an important source of iron and protein.We need to talk about its contributions to a balanced diet and refute some of the stories about heart disease, cancer and obesity.Research shows beef isn’t to blame for those problems.A good diet includes moderation and variation and beef should be included as an important part of it.”
Smith pointed to the Food Guide Pyramid as a good starting point for a healthy diet. “It’s the primary guide for the American diet and for school food service.It’s updated about every five years with the best current data and beef is an important part of the Pyramid.”
Smith is raising a family, possibly the sixth generation of Kentucky farmers.He and his wife, Alison, have a son - one year old Creighton.“I’m not sure if he’ll want to continue, it’s too early to tell, of course.But we want to give him that choice when time comes.”
Alison keeps beef in the family.She works for the Kentucky Beef Council, a group charged with marketing the products that come from the Smith Farm.
“I raise some cattle, she markets beef.It makes for some interesting dinner table conversations” he said.