People always ask us what does it mean to be a farmer and how do you farm. Seems like an easy question but in reality, it is one of the most complicated questions out there (I once spent an hour in college explaining how a combine works and why it is called a combine). With that disclaimer, this blog describes different aspects of being a farmer. If it intrigues you, feel free to leave a comment below!
The best part – Being in the field -> What seems like what we would spend the most time doing is actually just a portion of what we do. Farming in our eyes is being in the tractor planting, spraying, baling, or harvesting the crop. While out in the field, we are always monitoring conditions (can’t plant in mud or if disease or weeds are present) and making adjustments through the day to do the best job possible. There are thousands of ways to grow and care for a crop from no- till systems to full conventional tillage and every way has different benefits and costs with them.
Being Conservationists – Conservation is a relatively recent buzzword in the ag industry but our family has always used best practices to care for the land. Our livelihood is the topsoil, which is six inches of fine particles that can be washed away by rain or blown away by wind. As time has progressed, so have our farming practices to protect the land for future generations, our landlords, and our way of living. Today we implement cover-crops on certain farms, sub-surface and surface drainage to control erosion, and minimum tillage to lower our fuel usage and chance of soil movement.
From 90% Labor / 10% Business to 10% Labor / 90% Business -> Managing the farm as a business has became more and more critical as the years have progressed. My great-grandfather and his dad could always pull out a good living by just working harder and longer. In today’s world, you still have to work harder and smarter. We will spend one day per week doing paperwork like balancing the ledger book, marketing grain, doing crop insurance, providing documents to the USDA, ordering crop inputs, running budgets…. the list goes on.
Being a good steward of the land -> This is an older saying but it still holds true today that being a steward (taking care of) the land is more than just planting a crop, harvesting it, and leaving. We take pride in doing the steward projects like making sure roadsides are mowed, waterways mowed and maintained, spraying around brush to keep it from taking over the farm, light brush cleaning and removal, and if we are farming for a landlord, bringing to their attention any issues like the need of a dry dam to prevent erosion, a tree line to be cleared, or different USDA programs that may benefit the farm.
Mechanic, Electrician, Plumber, Carpenter, and all things in between -> We do the majority of our own work on the farm when it comes to equipment maintenance and tasks that keep the farm running. During the winter and summer we pull all of the equipment into the shop to look it over and fix any issues ourselves. We take great pride in having the ability to work on most things ourselves but we also know when to call in a professional if it gets too complicated for us to fix.
Everything Else – Husband, Son, Grandfather, Daughter, Mother, Wife, Community and Church Leader and everything in between -> Part of being a farmer is being in the community and giving back/ paying it forward. The farming families in our area form the backbone of many organizations and local governments that keep our rural communities together and prospering. Farming is a family operation, for instance my wife to be is a full-time nurse, but when we are planting or harvesting, she is always there to give rides and dinner to us. Keeping family involved makes all the hard times worth it, because you know that eventually your kids will have a chance to continue it and hopefully their kids.