Farming is not for the weak...

Farming by definition means; activity or business of growing crops and raising livestock

Being a farmer is not for the weak, nor the faint of heart. It is hard. It is long hours. It is no vacations. It is endless responsibilities. Countless frustrations. Trials and errors. Ups and downs. Good days, bad days. Births and Loss. Wins and fails. The emotions are ever changing for a Farmer and most days, they can all be experienced in no particular order, all in a days work.

There is no amount of money you could pay me to be a farmer, yet I married one. Sounds harsh that I say that? Well, allow me to explain. We are a team in this endeavor and that will always remain, but I am not the Farmer. I am a farmer's wife. Proudly. When the saying came out "...so God made a Farmer ", no truer words have ever been spoken. This job, this career, this lifestyle had to be a chosen one. God has to specifically design and make every single farmer so special. What they do, what they endure, there is no amount of money worth some of the trials and tribulations they have to go through on a daily basis. Living the lifestyle is hard. Very hard. There are many long days, late nights, dinners in the field, extreme expenses, contracts, deadlines, weather, break downs, broken parts, media and misinformation to battle. I could give a list that never stops of things that come into play on a regular basis. But hopefully, you get the point.

Building a farming business from the ground up as a first generation farmer is nearly impossible in today's world. Determination, patience, and perseverance are just a few of my Farmer's best qualities, and he used that to build his farming business. But why did I say you couldn't pay me enough money to farm. Because I am not made for that work. God created Mr. Farmer for that and he created me for his wife and partner. I help out where I am needed, and when I am able to be out with him, I go. I see first hand all the obstacles he faces on a daily basis. I hear the stories about his day while we sit together at the dinner table each night. Unless I am bringing it to the field, but regardless, dinner time is for us and talking about our day with each other. We are old school on that tradition and we will never part from that. That is our time. We talk. We communicate about our day. But I see and hear the stories. The countless trials and frustrations. Blood, sweat, and tears poured into every ounce of work he does.

Perfect example...weather. Ever changing. Your work schedule, your crops, your livestock, everything revolves around the weather. The weather determines you. What you will do, and when. How your crops will turn out. How your livestock live and eat. You have zero control over it. None. God is in control of that. You plant your crop, you spend thousands of dollars on seed, fertilizer, and weed control. No matter that expense, if it does not have equal parts of rain and sunshine, that money, hours of planting and tending the land.. is gone.. You plant and you pray for the Lord to give it all that it needs. Risky? Yeah. A lot risky, but it never stops them from doing what they are put here to do. Again, as I have stated before. It is a specially chosen position the Lord has created for you.

Aside from weather, there are countless other frustrations. Media and misinformation. You know, Google knows more than any science based degree or knowledge. You knew that right?! Yeah, that's my sarcasm at its finest. Farmers spend countless hours tending the land and putting food on America's tables, yet are attacked and made out to look like they are killing the world instead of feeding it. That's another entire blog post in itself, but it's true. This is something they battle daily.

So, tell me. Would you spends thousands and thousands of dollars to put seed in the dirt, over hundreds of acres, which require thousands of dollars worth of equipment to be able to plant those seeds over such a large area, and hope it grows so you can at least make a few bucks to feed your family and keep the bills paid? Would you work 365 days a year without a day off? No guaranteed pay day? You only get what the market pays, which is like a bouncing ball, and changes daily, with no regards to your production costs. No vacations? No time away because so much responsibility remains and has to be done. Not many would answer yes to these sacrifices. Only God's chosen ones do.

This past week, as I sat in the tractor to stay warm while Mr. Farmer did his thing, all of these thoughts raced through my mind. There was an ice storm earlier in the week. It left things a complete mess. Roads impassable. Yet livestock still has to fed. As he entered in the field to feed, the truck sank in a rut beneath the ice and snow. We were stuck. The tires almost buried. So, our only option was to walk to get the tractor, and pray it would start on this cold weather. Luck was in his favor that day. After multiple attempts, it finally started. All the commotion and out of normal routine was making the cattle uneasy. They were starting to leave. Truck unstuck. Yes. Now, to feed. But before Mr. Farmer could feed, he had to realign all the troughs. Daily chore. The cows move them every day while eating. So they have to be realigned before driving down the row and releasing the feed. Yet, with this weather, everyday on top of having to pull and tug and get them back I'm a single line, Mr. Farmer now has to get his scoop and scoop out each trough that is full of ice and snow. Finally. He could feed.

So many frustrations, yet he still loves what he does every single day......"so God created a farmer."

“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full." Deuteronomy 11:13-15

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