We bought a farm. A small farm. With years of work ahead before we will even begin to see its true productive potential. Nonetheless, we bought a farm. And we have moved one step closer to making the dreams we’ve only talked about become reality.

This purchase also moved us one-step closer to the heart of the “farm to table” conversations taking place across the agriculture industry and more and more among consumers and on mainstream media. I have been spewing thoughts from the sidelines about importance of ag advocacy for years. But when cows, pigs and chickens arrive on the farm in the spring, and the alfalfa field begs our attention, and the fences cry for repair, I will suddenly find myself in an opportunity to lend a first-hand voice on matters of animal care, production practices and environmental stewardship. 

We all know agriculture needs more voices. Voices from the ditches, fields and corrals to share the story of food production to an unknowing and increasingly curious and sometimes suspicious public. Voices to defend our safe practices and voices to stand up to fictitious and malicious attacks coming from radical special interest groups intent on ending production agriculture as we know it. 

Two weeks ago, I watched from my cozy, farmhouse living room as the presidential election results poured in and the conservative party’s hopes for the White House slipped away. One of the television pundits said the conservative movement needs a voice that can clearly articulate conservative values to the shifting American demographic. 

How ironic.

The conservative party – the Grand Old Party – has lost touch. 

Farmers and ranchers have lost touch. 

Conservatives, much like farmers and ranchers, are searching for voices.

Voices that can help a country enable free markets and empower business owners to pull us from the grips of recession; while the government watches from the sidelines.

Voices that can communicate the sanctity of life and the value of family in a time when four out of ten babies are born out of wedlock; a time when personal convenience outweighs accepting personal responsibility. Voices that can promote the dream of prosperity in America at a time when minorities are becoming the majority.

Voices that can give Americans freedom to reach their dreams by giving them a place to live that is safe and secure from the threats of an uncertain world.

The agriculture community has felt the weight of this new reality bearing down on us for the past several years. The threat of burdensome government regulation, or worse, market share lost to foreign producers, has forced farmers and ranchers to engage the new American demographic and to seek to educate without alienating. They have joined a conversation with consumers, explaining what they do, adapting to meet consumer demands and doing what they do but striving to do it better.

But the conservative party is still rubbing its eyes after a short night’s sleep on that first Wednesday in November.

The conservative party leadership – like agriculturalists – must find new voices and new messages. What they must not do is adjust their core principles. 

Modern society, technology at your fingertips and constant entertainment cannot overcome conservative, traditional American principles. 

The need to live in a food-secure nation must not be overcome by those generations removed from the farm.  

The Ten Commandments have not wavered in thousands of years. Bill Snyder has not let the power and money behind college football alter his approach to the game. Our great country has stood strong for 236 years because we have not compromised our founding principles.

America is a shining star among falling nations. But she cannot be something she’s not. Strong families, thriving businesses, vibrant economies and good football teams never go out of style.

My family and I are adjusting well to life on the farm. Dirt, boots, barns, chickens and prairie sunsets seem to suit us. When the work load picks up in the spring, we’ll have our chance at being a voice for production agriculture. And perhaps between fixing fences and tossing hay bales, we’ll pass down some good old conservative values to the next generation of Kansas agriculturalists.

Sarah Goss is a native Kansan and full-time mommy of four.  She and her family are making their home in rural Ellsworth County. Her children are her top client, but her devotion to agriculture and rural community development run a close second.