Resilience is hard Goddamn work.

Pictured above is my Dad, with my three sisters, just before my time. Photo credit goes to Mom. Together they raised 7 of us in times of 18% interest rates on government loans. I like to borrow some of his descriptions from time to time when my own words fail me.

Resilience for lack of a better term is "hard Goddamn work."

We seek it out, we celebrate it, we lament when there is not enough of it to overcome. We've even selected it as part of the theme for our own conference. Have you ever really thought about resilience in the absence of something to overcome? What if we could spend more of our lives devoting that work to something, instead of tirelessly working against a system?

At the Intertribal Agriculture Council we have the opportunity to be inspired by our 80,000 Indian producers every single day. Despite the fact that they already carry a vast majority of the risk involved in feeding society, all of the blame for any financial hardship they experience, as well as the ire of a population that is certain they are destroying the planet; they persevere.

The burgeoning regenerative ag movement possesses a collective hope that their resilience is enough to overcome the additional difficulty of implementing long term solutions to promote soil health for the benefit of all. The trouble is, they are expected to do so within the same short term focused systems that are to blame for it.

Perhaps it's time we analyze the concept of resilience a little more closely starting with the definition. Oxford Languages dictionary defines resilience as "the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness."

I believe that without difficulty and resistance, our resilience can properly manifest itself as prosperity and innovation.

So it's clear there must be forces opposing our efforts, transforming them into resilience. I believe that without difficulty and resistance, our resilience can properly manifest itself as prosperity and innovation. Shouldn't we then, give our collective attention to eliminating the difficulties? In a previous visit, Suicide Prevention for Farm Policy?, we contemplated the largest of those stifling forces our producers face; the topic that comes up in every single conversation around agriculture, money. Let's continue to pull at that thread, but not too much. Here's why.

Our Ag Finance system wears a threadbare garment used and stretched well beyond its limits, resulting in the fabric tearing wide open in the 80's. New material, so desperately needed has only come in the form of countless tiny patches, leaving producers exposed, with no regard for the fact that a patch is only as good as the garment it's stitched to, and even then it's a function of the tailor. Who's doing the stitching? That's a subject for another visit altogether.

But it should be clear, this is the biggest difficulty that we're using our resilience against. A system that's pushed many folks to the breaking point and beyond. A system devoid of a next generation, fraught with increasing debt and bankruptcies; creating ever depleting soils expected to feed more people.

As we contemplate the regenerative agriculture movement that is growing, I challenge you to consider this question. If regenerative ag is such a good idea why aren't more people doing it? The answer lies in another question:

How many times have you heard mention of existing production income as the key to regenerative agriculture?

I'm guessing that number is extremely low. Why? There's none of it left at the end of the year. Ag Finance farms our producers in much the same way as our producers are forced to farm the soil. "What can I do to squeeze more out of this, by the end of this production year." The paradigm created by this circumstance leaves us with, at best, incremental adoption of the sensible and effective practices advocated for in the regenerative movement. Instead, we are forced to look to philanthropy or government resources to incentivize their adoption, while chasing that almighty dollar into off-farm employment just to provide our own livelihood. It's no wonder there's little resilience left to save our soil.

Maybe it's time for a new approach. Something that moves us away from short term perspective, and enables long term planning? We can't do that with 5 year terms on loans. Maybe agriculture should be looked at for investment opportunity it is, and our financial instruments structured to empower the producer? Don't think it's an investment opportunity? Check the balance sheet of your local or regional bank. Peruse the latest annual report of the Farm Credit Administration. Now imagine that "hard Goddamn work" being for something, instead of against a system that failed in the 80's and hasn't worked well for the masses since.

Prosperity and innovation pay long term returns and dividends . Let's eliminate the need for resilience, and move in that direction. Regenerative Agriculture will truly take hold when it becomes a system that enables diversion of existing production income towards the effort. We have to reform the Ag Finance system to do that. We're proving that it works. Let's visit.