A passion for farming was palpable at the Ohio Women in Agriculture event where I spoke recently.

Right before I was introduced a couple of women stood at the microphone and spoke with somber expressions as they told the women in attendance of Ohio’s budget cuts looming over agriculture. These cuts threaten to slash the Ohio State University Extension budgets.

This was not someone telling of a sick friend in the hospital. This was the announcement of a family member’s death. A family member who had been around for decades assisting the world of agriculture while enriching the lives of farm women and kids along the way.

As I sat and watched the reaction of the women around me, I wasn’t amazed at all with their response. The hair stood up on the back of their necks, these were fightin’ words, and my sympathy went out to the Governor of Ohio because I could tell he was in for the fight of his life.

The women in leadership positions didn’t let any grass grow under their feet. They made their feelings known about the impending budget cuts during a lunch with county commissioners and government officials earlier in the day.

That is what I found amazing. They weren’t waiting until the ink was dry, they were maneuvering a way to take the pen out of Gov. Strickland’s hand.

They weren’t going to throw a pity party after the fact to stomp their feet and yell their disapproval, they were lobbying before the changes were made to wake up their legislators. They were making a proactive move instead of ineffective reaction.

When it was my turn to speak, I urged them to make noise. I told them what had happened in our state, and that we are now paying a 4-H fee.

I went over to the tables of young ladies wearing blue FFA jackets and told them to get their pencils out and write letters to everyone they could because the youth of this country have incredible influence.

I ended by telling them that same phrase that I truly believe. “It doesn’t take a majority to change something, it only takes a loud minority.”

In Michigan we are facing the same types of cuts. But I don’t think the average consumer realizes impact extension has in their communities.

Most of us in the ag community know what extension means to us: 4-H, educational programming and farming resources. But do any of us know about the jobless, young woman who landed a job in a day care facility because of her training at a free childcare seminar put on through the MSU Extension?

Or how about the after-school programming with snacks, board games and healthy activities open to young children who need a place to go funded by MSU Extension? Or how about those Extension buildings that are used to facilitate the USDA distribution of food to the needy in inner-city communities?

You see, this is so much further reaching than the rural population. These kinds of cuts are intertwined into every community. I haven’t even covered the reduction of food safety inspections that will happen because of the governor’s slash to agriculture. Fewer food safety inspections affect everyone.

So basically, if you eat, you’re affected.

I can write column after column after column about the value of extension and research from land grant universities like Ohio State and MSU, but I’m only one person with one voice.

It’s time for those with an ounce of respect for the extension service and a flicker of passion for agriculture to simply write a note to your legislator telling them how you feel.

Be positive, factual and most of all let your passion pour out so it’s palpable. We can make the change that makes a difference ... believe it.