Think about putting your farm on display in a museum. You can. The American Farm Bureau Federation is working with the Smithsonian to create a new exhibit focused on agriculture.

This spring, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is reaching out to farmers, ranchers and American agri-business to build a collection that reflects modern agricultural practices. Curators are seeking stories, photographs and ephemera to record and preserve the innovations and experiences of farming and ranching.

In partnership with the American Farm Bureau Federation, the museum is announcing this initiative to the farming community today during the AFBF’s 94th annual meeting in Nashville. The first donation will come from Tennessee Farm Bureau member Pat Campbell, of Cleburne Jersey Farm, a multi-generational dairy farm founded in the 1870s in Spring Hill, Tenn. Campbell will give a selection of photographs, a computer cow tag and reader unit to show the change in dairying from a hand-labor intensive process to a modern computer-run operation. The donation will also include his personal recollections about how changing technology has altered his work life and has led to greater efficiency and safety.

I visited with Patrick today to found out what he is donating to the collection.

You can listen to my interview with Patrick here: Interview with Patrick Campbell
Coinciding with National Agriculture Day on March 19, the museum will unveil a new Web portal where the public can upload stories about technologies and innovation that have changed their work lives; stories about precision farming, traceability, environmental concerns, governmental practices, irrigation, biotechnology and hybrid seeds. For details, visit http://americanenterprise.si.edu.

2013 American Farm Bureau Convention Photo Album