By Carie Moore
As we get ready for Christmas, I can't help but think about the farmers who grow two North Dakota commodities that play a big role in our holiday meals. Many of our potato and sugar beet farmers in the Red River Valley, which is the eastern part of the state, have really struggled this crop year. They are a major source of our holiday mashed potatoes, our beloved French fries, and the sugar source for our holiday cookies and pies.
While folks were dining away at Thanksgiving, many of our potato and sugar beet farmers were stuck in the field, literally pulling, spinning, and yanking tractors, trucks and diggers through the mud and snow.
It ended up that much of the crop was left in the fields.
Potatoes and sugar beets are different than other commodities. They have specific contracts and companies and criteria that must be adhered to. Each farmer is a shareholder and gets paid based on the total amount of product that is harvested and brought in. It was very crucial that the farmers who could get in the field did so and got as much of the crop off as they could to make up for the farmers who couldn’t.
It will undoubtedly be a financially tough Christmas for a lot of farmers and ranchers, but this is why it’s so crucial to remember family, friends and community are more important, more special, and more meaningful than gifts under the tree.
I hope we all remember this holiday season that we need to appreciate the importance of our food supply and the families who grow it.