I was listening to Rural Route Radio this week, yes, I know it's a bad habit that I've picked up...I go to the computer....I think, I'll just see what their topic is for the day...and then I'm caught in the Rural Route Web and I can't escape....my children then start to holler..."Why do you have to have the computer so loud....who's on there.....that Trent Loos guy again?" I reply, "Yes, and I have to have it that loud so I can listen while I clean the house and fold the laundry!" So beware...if you begin to listen it will become a habit and then you'll have Trent and Kyle discussing the pressing ag issues of the day in your house while you clean or fold or dust or vacuum or whatever else you do in the privacy of your own home....:)
Anyway...boy was that a diatribe or what?
On Monday, Trent, Kyle and Hank were again, discussing the difficulties of young people breaking into farming. Of course it stirred up a lot of thoughts on the subject.
While I'd like to think that young men and women who say they want to farm are willing to put in the sweat and debt to get there, I am now wondering if they will do just about anything to farm, like they claim. Or are they donning rose colored glasses thinking of farming as a romantic lifestlyle. This lasts until they see how much debt they have to go into, how much sweat they have to produce for a pittance. AND if they have to relocate, are their spouses willing to follow them?
From inside the factory, farming looks grand as they watch the local crop farmer meet his buddies at the coffee shop every other morning or drive around in brand new pick up trucks, or head to the local tractor show with his newly restored John Deere B. Or when they see how much equipment they own without seeing the payment book. Or when they look at the century old farmhouse all decorated up with a spouse inside cooking a hearty meal with a smile on her face. No, they don't see what's behind the pastoral scene: the sleepless nights, the broken fingers, the dead animals, the broken tractors, the overdue notes and the aged face that is 20 years older than it should be.
As I look at what I just wrote, I wonder to myself why every morning and every night I head out to a hot barn full of hot cows to sweat like construction worker for not enough money to pay my bills at the end of the month. Why do I do it? I think it's simply what's in you...just like Hank Vogler says, that wonderful mutant gene that we have and can't amputate. It's in your blood that no blood transfusion can take care of. Part of it is that you just have it or you don't....the other part is the support you receive from you parents and peers and then consequently from your spouse.
The sky is the limit for a man with a good mom, OR wife behind him...supporting him, respecting him and loving him.
5 comments:
HOT,MUGGY BARN,HOT MUDDY COWS,NASTY TAILS IN YOUR FACE AND HAIR..2 TIMES A DAY, EVERY DAY-SUCH IS THE ROMANCTIC ALLURE OF DAIRY FARMING--BUT AFTER 33 YEARS I STILL LOVE IT..THE WONDER OF THE NEWBORN CALF STRUGGLING TO ITS FEET, THE SMELL OF NEW MOWN HAY, HEARING THE RAIN IN THE NIGHT AFTER THE WHEAT IS IN THE BIN AND THE STRAW IN THE MOW...BUT I DO AGREE - IT TAKES A DEDICATED WOMAN BEHIND THE FARMER MAN TO SUCCEED AT THE PROFESSION HE LOVES...SO MANY YOUNG FARMERS WE KNOW HAVE CHUCKED IT ALL BECAUSE "MAMA AIN'T HAPPY" NEVER MIND HOW HE FEELS...
Oh, yes, I forgot about all those wonderful sloppy tails smacking you in the face just when you're putting the milker on and can't protect your self except to squeeze your eyes shut and hope you don't get it too bad!
You are so right about mama ain't happy..it takes a very different kind of girl to put up with farming and all the toil and trouble that comes with it. And then she also has to find the joy in it too. I believe they are out there...maybe on their daddy's farm helping him out! Thanks for stopping in and putting in your thoughts there from the Shady Knoll. Are you getting any rain? We sure are!
I'd like to add a few more wonders of farming--the sound as you leave the barn of contented chewing and the sight of a clean well-bedded barn and all those contented cows working for you because you worked to care for them. We no longer milk and I still miss those dirty messy working girls!! I also remember with great pleasure the sight of heifers "dancing" in the fresh bedding as you spread it around. If you can't learn to love the little joys attached to the business of farming you've missed a whole lot of what makes that lifestyle so special. mom
Melissa, I loved your post and would like to share a comment I sent to Trent Loos on the very same topic. Allow me my soap box for just a minute...
I’m a cattle rancher studying Animal Sciences/Ag Communications at South Dakota State University. Although my parents farm isn’t large enough for me to return to, I hope to one day be able to have a farm of my own. There is simply no better way to raise a family, and providing food and fiber for the world is one of the most rewarding careers any kid could ever dream of doing.
Unfortunately, getting into farming and ranching is a greater challenge than ever before as small farms are sucked up by corporate operations making it seemingly impossible to get started in the business. Land prices have outrageously skyrocketed, operating costs have accelerated, and there are careers outside of this industry with greater earning power.
As a young person, I realize the challenges of getting into the agriculture industry; however, this is my passion. It is quite disheartening to hear from another farmer that greed outweighs the desire to help young people continue the American farming tradition. Trent Loos doesn’t need to use rose-colored glasses to recognize that there are young people out there with the desire to own a farm and there are aging farmers with the heart to create opportunities for us.
Regardless of the challenges facing young people with an interest in agriculture, we are the future of food security and we will take a role in its success. God Bless any veteran farmer willing to help.
Hey Amanda
You are a great testiment to the youth in agriculture out there, and to your wonderful parents. I'm so glad we are still raising kids on the farm with a passion and desire to continue to carry on the farm. You and others like you will be the ones to stick to the job, enduring and enjoying all the trials because you know it's building character and perserverance that will get you through the next trial and the next one after that. It's not easy...but oh so rewarding! Thanks for standing on your soapbox...there's always room for those who want to hop up and preach for a while...I welcome good preaching!
Keep on going Amanda!
Post a Comment