I would like to add to Sen. Roger Katz’ response (Sun Journal, June 24) to Gov. Paul LePage’s denigration of Rep. Peggy Rotundo as a “pig farmer.”
I, too, know Peggy Rotundo and find her to be a thoughtful, dedicated individual.
I also am a farmer, and this letter concerns the other part of our governor’s comment.
I haven’t always been a farmer; I have a Ph.D. in zoology, and taught college biology both in Washington state and in Maine before moving on to teach scientific writing for many years. But by far the most challenging job I’ve had — intellectually as well as physically — is farming.
In the course of one day, my husband and I may have to think through details of microbial fermentation (to decide when to bale the silage hay cut this morning), make medical decisions for several patients (calves with scours or cows with mastitis), consider genomic information from a dozen or more bulls (to choose sires for the cows in heat that day), and balance rations consisting of multiple ingredients to optimize milk production and minimize nutrient “spillage” into manure, which could lead to excessive runoff from the fields on which the manure is spread.
Thankfully, many Americans have become more sensitive to issues of gender and race. But class still remains the elephant in our collective living room. We may no longer use the “N word,” but most people don’t raise an eyebrow at the causal use of the word “farmer” as an insult.
Seri Lowell, Buckfield
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