Farmers Wave the Flag

September 25, 2001

Signs with "God Bless America" and American Flags are popping up throughout farm country in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. American Farm Bureau Federation's Stewart Truelsen says U.S. farmers and ranchers "stand solidly behind the nation in the fight against terrorism."

"I think it has brought people together everywhere--rural communities and cities, as far as their patriotism and mention of God," says David Lee, a corn and soybean farmer from southern Indiana. Lee and his son Aaron were harvesting soybeans, a key commodity in America's food arsenal.

The crops are good this year in Indiana, says Truelsen, and the Lees are hoping prices will improve over the winter months, but their attention, like that of other farmers and ranchers, is on what happened in New York City, Washington, DC, and western Pennsylvania.

"It's scary. We have been so secure here for so long. Everyone sees the violence in other countries and Third World countries and you don't think that would ever happen here and obviously now we've seen that it can," says Aaron. He also thinks some good can come out of this terrible tragedy. "We've come together. The country's got pride. The flags are waving everywhere. It's wonderful to see that. I've heard 'God Bless America' more in the last few days than I have heard my whole life, and I think that is wonderful."

America's agriculture is an important part of national security and a mainstay of the economy, Truelsen notes. And the country's rural communities are a reservoir of moral and religious strength.

"The terrorists struck a terrible blow at America's financial center and government. They destroyed thousands of lives. But the heartland of America beats stronger than ever. We didn't have people packing up their belongings and running for the borders. Instead, they wept and prayed for the dead and missing. They put out their flags, renewed their vows to this great nation and asked God to bless America," he writes in an article appearing on the AFBF web site.

Air travel, tourism and other industries have slowed, but crops in the fields cannot wait and the care of livestock must continue. "One way you can take the measure of a country is by how well it looks after its people, particularly how well it attempts to feed its people. Countries that support terrorism are never very good at growing food. Their governments only grow hatreds. They might be justifiably angry at America if we kept our food bounty for ourselves, but no country has been more generous with food and humanitarian aid than the United States," says Truelsen.

Truelsen is the director of broadcast services for the AFBF.