Farmers

This article speaks volumes. I blogged before about the plight of the family farmer.

My cousin Mike brought up a good point after that post. He said that many people are losing their jobs because of technology and outsourcing. He noted that not just farmers, but people everywhere, are looking at the destruction of their livelihoods and incomes because employers are sending jobs to other countries and utilizing sophisticated machinery that can work cheaper and faster.

And his point is well taken.

However, I've been doing some thinking, and I think that it's very different with farmers. There are farms here that are century farms (and I don't think it's just in Iowa). They are properties that have been worked and lived in and farmed by the same family for over 100 years. I was talking with our insurance agent, and he said that people take out life insurance policies, typically sons take the policies out on their fathers, and when the father dies, the policy pays the son and he buys the farm. (Maybe that's where the expression comes from??) Generations of children grow up on farms, and in rural communities, and they take farm-related courses in school. Their communities revolve around 4-H and Grange. They coordinate their social lives around the county fair and harvest times. This is not just a job; it's literally their entire lives, their family histories. Getting a "regular" job isn't about learning a new skill, it's the equivalent of moving to a new country.

And it's so different than a 9-5 job. It's such a different mentality that I can't imagine it would be easy to move from one to the other.

Farmers typically take out a large loan in the spring, buy their seed and fuel, make their repairs, put their seed in the ground, and then pray. Smaller farmers diversify, so they are busy over the summer with cattle and other livestock. Farmers are at the mercy of Mother Nature, they study the weather reports, and hope that no insects infest. They survey their land, watching it thrive or fail, knowing that there isn't one thing they can do except watch it do what it will. Livestock are susceptible to disease, to birth defects, to predators. I even saw in the news today that half of a farmer's herd of cattle was wiped out by lightning. For 16 cattle, he was out more than $15,000. He had insurance, but it didn't cover acts of God.

They endure the stress of the unknown-- will they reap enough to repay the loans in the fall? What if they don't? What if they have all or part of last year's loan to repay also?

The entire family helps. Our neighbors K&F both do the work. They are both in the field at the same time, each operating a different machine. They both move cattle, they both do the chores. They both stress when Mother Nature is in charge, and they have no control.

They have to wear so many hats. They have to be good at planning, good at finance. Every farmer I know is a good mechanic. They know about the moon cycles and phases, and the weather. They know about weeds and insects and sicknesses and vegetables. They are veritable chemists, veterinarians, conservationists, nutritionists. It can't be just a hobby-- their existence depends on being good at all of these things.

There are jobs in this world other than farming that are stressful. There are jobs that are nobler. But a farmer is in a completely different mindset than other jobs. It's not a 9-5 thing. He can't just go out for a beer on his way home from work and forget about his day. His problems don't go away by just getting a promotion, or a new boss, or a raise.

And they work so hard. They work rain or shine. Rainy days are good for fixing broken things. Sunny days are good for making hay, moving animals, working in the field, and a host of other things. No days off for a farmer. They probably make a few cents an hour, as it all works out. And of course, there is no extra pay for overtime and weekends and holidays. No vacation time or personal days, or even sick time.

And, when the season is done, all they want is the ability to pay the loan back and the chance to do it again next year.

I wanna be a farmer when I grow up. When that will be is anyone's guess. : )

Thanks, Mike, for making me think. : )

P.S. I asked K a few weeks ago what he would tell his 9-year-old son if he told him he wanted to grow up and be a farmer. He said, "I'd tell him to get a job in town." That's so sad. : (