If I see one more Facebook comment or hear one more snide remark to the tune of "farming is just a job, there are more jobs," I am going to stomp somebody stupid. Because it is NOT just a job.
Farming isn't what we do, it is who we are.
Farmers can't clock out like people with "real" jobs can. It's a 24/7 commitment. Because guess what? When there is a sick animal, farmers get up every hour overnight to give them medicine. When everyone else is at the Memorial Day picnic, farmers are in the fields. Farmers live where they work, there is no "leave work at work" for them. But they will keep doing it against all odds, in the midst of low prices, and in the face of apathy from the rest of the country.
As someone who grew up on a farm and now has a farm of her own, I can tell you that the farm gets any extra money before we do. The feed bill is paid before the grocery bill. The livestock bedding is bought before new clothes are bought. Every cent that is for the farm is viewed as an investment, while every cent that is spent on family living is viewed as luxury. It's how we think.
Why?
Because farming isn't just a job. It's a way of life. Farming is a generational profession. Grandfathers hand it over to fathers who hand it over to sons and daughters. Sons and daughters gladly take the reins from fathers because they believe that the good things about farming outweigh the hard things about farming.
I am one of those who grew up on a farm. Was it hard work? Absolutely! Funny thing is, I remember more of the fun times than the work. Like water fights in the barn during a hot summer night milking. Like long Sunday drives to check on crops and then a stop for ice cream. Like having root beer floats at night after baling straw all day.
I remember when I was a kid, the biggest treat was getting to go with Dad when he went to run errands in Plainview because it meant that we would get a soda pop or other treat before we went home.
The old saying "you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy" is absolutely true. Even if farmers move on to a different career, they take that work ethic with them. They are the first ones on the job and the last ones to leave. They will likely work more than one job because they have to be busy all the time; they don't know how to be any other way.
I remember the first night after we sold our milk cows and Captain didn't have to do chores. "Chore time" rolled around, and all he did was pace from one end of the kitchen to the other end. He didn't know what to do with spare time because he'd never had it before.
Can farmers do other things? Definitely, because they have to be a little bit of everything in their operations. They are mechanics, vets, bookkeepers, truck drivers, plumbers, and electricians.
More than anything else, however, they are role models for the next generation. When those sons and daughters see their moms and dads give blood, sweat, and tears to keep their farm solvent it shows what hard work, dedication, faith, and family will get you.
If a brilliant painter lost the use of his arms for whatever reason, the public would swell with sympathy for him. If an incomparable composer couldn't make music any more, the world would mourn for him. Hell, when a damn football player blows out a knee, people cry and feel bad for them.
So why is it so few people seem to care that the men and women who are feeding them are in grave danger of losing not only their livelihood but their very identities? Someone tell me why?
But don't tell me "it's just a job."
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