Diversification is an important farm management practice, any farmer worth anything will tell you that. You can’t rely on just one crop or one herd of cattle to make it.
Crops fail.
Cattle prices fall.
Relying on just one commodity opens you up to the possibility of loosing it all when prices fall. Diversification helps protect you when the market falls, and we all know that they will.
But that’s not why I like diversification.
I like diversification because it opens up new opportunities- new opportunities for people to be involved.
For the past few years Garrett’s primary focus has been row crops. He went from growing corn with our uncle in high school, to soybeans by himself and now cotton.
The row crops, that is his thing. I’ll go out and take pictures and help on the module builder but that’s it. Dad will help him during pickin’ time and Robin helps him all the time. But row crops are Garrett’s thing.
That is why I love diversification.
The row crops are the way Garrett specifically contributes to the farm.
While Garrett’s busy with row crops, Dad is focusing on the cattle.
Dad comes home from work and he spends his time, until supper, outside feeding cows, checking fences and fixing things that need to be fixed.
The cattle are the way Dad specifically contributes to the farm.
We all contribute together when we need to. We all work cows together. We all pitch in during pickin’ time to help get the cotton in.
The agritourism segment is the newest avenue for involvement.
Mom, Robin and I get to be involved in a more hands-on, creative way, and as someone who struggles with wondering where they fit in on the farm, I love it!
Us gals get to make the cows and row crops beautiful. Mom and Robin get together and make cotton wreathes and I use pictures and words.
I love that we have opened up the farm for people to come and take pictures in the sunflower fields in the summer and in the cotton in the fall. We have the opportunity to open up our gates and show people what we do.
I went to Auburn and got a degree in agricultural communications. I spent 5 years learning how to use journalism, mass media and public relations with agriculture. This is how I contribute to the farm.
I love designing graphics for print and the web. I love using words to share with others about the farm. I love designing and building our website, coming at you soon. I love taking pictures of what we do. I don’t want be tied to the seasons like Garrett is and that is the main reason I love doing communications.
With people wanting to know about where their food comes from, communications has never been more important.
On family farms, with multiple people, with multiple different personalities and talents, diversification is important, more than just by providing financial security. It helps keep each other connected to the farm and it helps each family member feel needed.
I love my family but they don’t all have an eye for design or for the written word, but I do. I don’t have the talent or interest in making cotton wreathes, but Mom and Robin do. I don’t have a passion for sitting in the tractor and planting cotton, but Garrett does. I don’t want to spend freezing, cold winter days being outside checking and working with the cows, but Dad does.
That is why diversification is so important. That is why I love it.
Dixon Farms 
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