Does history hold us back?

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Does history hold us back?

By Holly Martin

I'm a lover of old homes and antiques. Not so much that I want only pre-1900 furniture in my home, but I like old pieces and I love the character of older homes. I have always marveled at those people who can combine antiques with new pieces into a home that has character, but is not dated.

I recently found a new television show, "Flip it back" that emulates "Flip that house." Investors buy homes, renovate or restore them and then sell them for a profit--hopefully.

One of the challenges, the restoring flipper said, was restoring the house with modern technology in mind. In other words, people like old stuff but they don't want to give up running water and electricity. They want modern conveniences in their kitchens and bathrooms. They don't want leaky windows.

In many ways the agriculture industry has this same challenge. There are some observers of agriculture, as well as producers, that would like to see the industry frozen in time.

They disagree over when that time should be--but most often that date is early in their lifetime. We should use tractors, but we shouldn't farm so much that we need the monstrosities that we have today. We should use higher yielding varieties, but skip biotechnology varieties. We should milk cows with milking machines but not treat them with hormones that help them produce more milk. We should use our knowledge of genetics to improve the tenderness of a steak, but not use pharmaceuticals to prevent disease. Others wish to go back to farm policy of yesteryear. They talk of parity and selling grain at local markets, and leaving puts and calls behind.

While I understand their wish to go back to "the way things were," it is simply not possible in today's world. We must use advanced technology to feed tomorrow's world. Period. There's no other answer. There's no other way.

Perhaps the "way-things-were" proponents are just afraid that the younger generation will forget the history of our industry. And it is important to remember the mistakes we've made and learn from them. But, it is finding the balance between history and advancement that is important.

Let's appreciate history, without letting it hold us back.

Holly Martin can be reached by phone at 1-800-452-7171 ext. 1806 or e-mail at hmartin@hpj.com.