I have started this website, Free to Farm, as a place to discuss the erosion of our freedoms as farmers and ranchers. In particular, NAIS, the National Animal Identification System. I am in my mid-forties, with a dream to raise my family on a farm. I am also a Christian, with the desire to obey and follow Jesus Christ.

Just a few months ago, I took up the opportunity to caretake a farm in southern Iowa. This is my family’s first step into farming. It is a grass farm with beef cattle. My goal is to eventually own a farm and raise livestock for sale. This livestock will consist of beef and dairy cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens. I believe in raising these animals in the open and feeding them what they would naturally eat. I also believe that the best defense against disease and poor health in livestock is good diet and nutrition. This belief is not based on my limited personal experience, but rather on the experiences of friends and farmers who do this already.

Beyond livestock, our farm plans include raising fruits and vegetables, in a natural and wholesome way. Our customers will be people we know in the region where we farm. This is commonly known as Community Supported Agriculture. I prefer to call it Relationship Farming, where the relationship between the consumer and the farmer is built on trust. My customers trust me to raise food in a natural, humane and healthy manner. I trust the relationship my family has with our customers to provide a modest living. Is this idealistic? Yes, perhaps it is. However, I believe it is a sound formula for prosperity, based on pastoral economics and the increase that God provides. It is a place where people can help each other and the wider community benefits.

This is where the “catch” comes in – NAIS. A soon to be mandatory national animal identification system, which threatens my privacy and my freedom to farm. I do not have a problem if farmers and ranchers participate in this program voluntarily. If it is a benefit to them, then they can choose it. However, I am constrained not to participate, both by my Christian convictions and my love of the principles of freedom that the United States of America was founded on. I will be expanding on this and other issues, such as patents on seeds. It is time for American farmers and ranchers to make their voices heard. It is time for us to stand up for our freedoms. The future of farming and our children’s right to do so is in our hands today.