Brad Paquette, R, represents the 78th District, which covers Berrien county. 

Over the last few weeks, I have had an array of new experiences that taught me some insightful lessons. In my classroom, I always had an adage posted — seek first to understand, rather than to be understood. In the classroom, when I understood more about the life of a young person, it changed the way I thought and enhanced my ability to connect with them. More than that though, seeking first to understand has brought sound guidance to my interactions with everyone I meet and revealed many valuable pieces of the bigger picture. No matter if I am touring the district, having a conversation with constituents or working on the budget with my colleagues at the Capitol, I always try to apply the same philosophy of seeking first to understand rather than to be understood.

Recently, I have been able to tour many family farms across southwest Michigan and learn more about the importance of agriculture to our state. Did you know agriculture contributes $101.2 billion annually to the state’s economy? Or, that of the nearly 52,000 farms in Michigan, 95 percent of them are family owned? Berrien and Cass counties alone have 1,861 farms that sell products valued at nearly $350 million.

During my visits and conversations with some of our local farmers I learned about many of the challenges they face in a profession where so much of their success is beyond their control. As farmers try to feed our communities, I can only imagine the stress of living and working off the land when they are dependent on the weather.

Being a farmer means wearing many different hats, such as being a:

• Mechanic when the tractor breaks down.

• Market analyst when tracking the market prices of the commodities they’ve grown.

• Lab technician when they’re testing soil conditions and water quality.

• Accountant to make sure the books are balanced…

• Paralegal to ensure they’re complying with food safety regulations.

These are just a few examples of the many roles they play on the farm.

One of the most important revelations I had was realizing that farmers are the first stewards of our environment. They care for and maintain it to provide for their families, but every farmer I’ve met treats it as a duty to leave the land better than when they began. It was fascinating to learn about all the different agricultural practices that have been adopted to make farming greener. That includes new practices to reduce the amount of fertilizer runoff going into our rivers and lakes, using innovative irrigation so farms use less water and partnering with institutions like Michigan State University to develop more drought and insect-resistant crops, so less water and pesticides are used to grow our food.

I would like to thank our local farmers who took time out of their busy schedules to show me around and have a conversation. Every visit was insightful and taught me something new. I certainly don’t consider myself an agricultural expert, but I do like to think I now see pieces of the bigger picture because I sought first to understand.

As always, connecting with you is my favorite part of the job.  Some of my best policy ideas come from brainstorming with constituents. Please feel free to contact my office at (517) 373-1796 or at BradPaquette@house.mi.gov to share your thoughts or to schedule a time to grab a cup of coffee. God bless and please keep me, and your neighbors, in your prayers.