It's National 4-H Week; we need a President and Vice President who embrace the values of that great organization

A guest column by Seth Watkins...

BY SETH WATKINS

GUEST COLUMNIST

SETH WATKINS is the fourth generation of his family to care for Pinhook Farm. Located in Southwest Iowa, the farm was established by Seth’s great grandfather in 1848. Today Pinhook Farm is home to a herd of Angus cattle, several hives of honey bees, a few chickens, and a recently acquired flock of Katahdin sheep. Seth attributes Pinhook Farm’s success to prioritizing stewardship over production by striving to build a system that works with nature. In addition to caring for livestock, Seth is a TedX speaker, serves as a United Nations Food Systems Champion, and is a part of a National Science Foundation funded program called BlueGAP that is working to help communities address nitrogen pollution.

This is National 4-H week. I have a special connection to this movement that has changed the lives of millions of American youth and stretches now around the globe. My grandmother was the founder of the organization. As we consider where we are in our country and our world, I’m drawing on those roots in considering my vote for president next month.

Our land, our schools, and our people are at the very core of the United States of America that we all hold dear in our hearts. I feel blessed to raise cattle on the land my Great Grandfather established near Clarinda, Iowa over 175 years ago. When I reflect on why I’m able to have the opportunity to be the fourth generation of my family to care for Pinhook Farm, it’s the leadership and values of the women in my family and generations of great teachers who deserve the most credit.

The Harris-Walz team embodies the values of my Grandmother Jessie Field Shambaugh. Her work in founding 4-H is the very essence of the power of equity. As County Superintendent of Schools in Page County, she saw that the kids in the country schools did not have the same opportunities as the kids in town. Like many wonderful teachers, she understood that the rural kids were every bit as capable as the kids in town. But they did not have the same resources. To succeed, they needed someone to meet them where they were with the resources they needed. Most of all she knew how important it is to invest in all children to unleash their potential to succeed. Her work proved that when we strive “to make our best better” our farms, our communities, and our Nation thrive.

I was asked to make a choice when I graduated from high school--go to college or farm. I chose to farm and have done so for nearly forty years. I love caring for the land and calving 500 cows every spring has taught me lessons I could never learn in college. But I also love that today young Americans have more choices.

We are at a crossroads in our clubs, our communities, our countries, and our world. That line draws on the 4-H pledge that has been a part of my family since well before I was born. We need to continue to choose greater diversity and opportunity, or we will decline. Our world will get narrower, meaner, angrier, and less productive. When we invest in our shared values, we get clearer thinking, greater loyalty, larger service, and healthier living.

With a Harris-Walz administration, I see the lessons my mother taught me “to always think of others” and embrace the values of gratitude and stewardship. Growing up in a rural community teaches you to care for your neighbor and your fellow citizens, even when you don’t always agree on issues. 

With Tim Walz I see the power of compassion that I’ve seen firsthand with my wife’s work as an early childhood special education teacher. Think of the impact good teachers and coaches have had on our lives. Imagine having a great teacher and coach in the White House, championing a good education for every child.

Most of all I see the hope a Harris-Walz administration gives my daughter’s future. By knowing that she lives in a country that believes in all its citizens and our ability to work together to make our best better. My daughter has more choices. She’s in college. She just might come home to Clarinda and take over the family farm. I used to be a Republican. I still share some of those core values. But I’m all in for Harris-Walz because I am a farmer, I know hard work, I believe in opportunity, and I love my rural community.

Thanks to Seth Watkins for sharing this column with us at Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture.

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I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our work here. Subscribe! Become a paid subscriber if you can afford it. Please and thank you. We need you. Thanks for being part of the team! Want to buy me lunch or a cup of coffee? Venmo @Robert-Leonard-238. My friend Spencer Dirks and I have a podcast titled the Iowa Revolution. Check it out! We can get ornery. And have fun! I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

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