Freedom: America’s Most Important Farm Input

Words starting with “F” are plentiful around the Fourth of July — fireworks, food, family, friends — but the most important one is freedom.

As our country celebrates 250 years of independence, and I near a milestone birthday, I find myself reflecting on freedom far more these days. Many of my core childhood memories are Fourth of July celebrations or family vacations taken that week.

These memories are part of my personal history, but now that I’m a parent, I’m responsible for creating memories for all of us. We like to host our friends, family and neighbors for a party, complete with a fireworks show. It’s flashy, and it’s busy — but it’s also quality time with people we care about on our terms.

That’s freedom, and that’s why this issue’s “Our Rural Roots” columns made me misty. I realized that I’m not alone in experiencing this sensation, that others struggle to fully comprehend the powerful force of freedom in our everyday lives.

After 250 years of freedom on America’s terms, it’s hard to genuinely, personally understand the magnitude of the American Revolution, and yet the story of America is woven deeply into our personal narratives. The common thread is freedom.

America’s founding fathers were much more than just revolutionaries. They were lawyers, businessmen and farmers. It’s easier to remember details of their public lives rather than their private lives and pursuits.

George Washington is arguably the most revered founding father, but few remember his agricultural bona fides. That’s why DTN Farm Business Editor Chris Clayton’s article on George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate and his farming philosophies is a refreshing read (see “America’s Founding Farmer” at https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/magazine or on page 40 in the Summer 2026 issue of Progressive Farmer magazine). As a farmer, Washington paid remarkable attention to the details of both production and markets, and made business decisions based on economics, soil health and moral convictions.

Farmers haven’t changed much in that regard in the past 250 years, but Washington wouldn’t recognize the world they operate in today.

Between the competitors vying to grow their share of global exports and the buyers who can decimate on-farm profits with their purchasing decisions, Washington would hardly conceive of the global grain market today.

He’d also be struck by the dramatic change in, and reliance upon, global trade flows for crucial inputs. The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has made fuel expensive and fertilizer downright unaffordable. Washington relied on animals for both. Tariffs have pushed up the prices of tractors, parts and other implements. Washington relied on enslaved labor.

He wouldn’t grasp how software can pose a risk to national security, how crop chemicals can be applied by a flying object or how those two factors could interact to create an opportunity for American businesses to innovate and compete. Yet, here we are, as Progressive Farmer editor Joel Reichenberger explains in “The Race for the American-Made Drone,” at https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/magazine or on page 20 in the Summer 2026 issue of Progressive Farmer magazine.

I imagine that if George Washington was a farmer today, he’d navigate these circumstances with the same attention to detail, creativity and boldness he demonstrated throughout his public and private careers.

Washington farmed through uncertainty, adapted when conditions changed and never stopped experimenting. Today’s farmers do the same: navigating volatile markets, geopolitical disruption and technological transformation with grit and ingenuity.

The pressures of a global market are complicated, but the freedom to compete, innovate and build something lasting is still intact. That’s the American advantage. If Washington’s example tells us anything, it’s that farmers who lean into that freedom will be the ones who define the next 250 years.

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— You may email Katie at katie.dehlinger@dtn.com, or follow Katie on social platform X @KatieD_DTN

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