“My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, and a preacher. But every day, three times a day, you need a farmer.” ~Brenda Schoepp
I grew up on a farm, helped in the crops, chased, er.. herded cows and sometimes sheep, bottle fed lambs, fed the chickens, carried in wood for the fire, drew water out of a cistern for drinking and washing, weeded the garden, picked fruit and vegetables in season, and helped put up that food for winter eating.
I even sometimes helped pack haybales to the truck or wagon to be hauled to the barn. My dad never had one of those new fangled round balers where the farmer can just roll up the hay and let it drop to stay out in the field or if they put it in sheds or barns, they pack it in with spikes on the front or rear of their tractor. That all came onto the scene after my dad was no longer farming. I’m not sure Dad could have farmed without the baling twine he pulled off the square bales and kept for various chores. I had to smile when I saw this quote.
“Baling twine turns every farmer into MacGyver.” ~Unknown
My dad mended fences with baling twine. He held various things together with twine, fastened doors and gates, and tied up whatever needed tying up. I have no idea all the things he did with baling twine, but it definitely was a farming essential for Dad. Something needed fixing, he’d send you after some baling twine hanging from a peg in the barn. Trust me, something always needs fixing on a farm.
You don’t see as many square bales on farms these days. Those big round marshmallow shaped bales decorate fields instead. My husband much preferred that way of haying although in his young days he spent a lot of summer days in hayfields and barns.
We still live on a farm but my husband and I are retired from farming. We’ve leased the farm land to a young man to raise beef cattle. He’s had some bad luck this year as every farmer does. Things even MacGyver couldn’t fix with baling twine. Farming is that way. Earlier this year he had a cow just up and die and it wasn’t even the one that had been looking poorly.
He had rain come down on his hay before he got it rolled up into those hay bales. That can ruin a lot of winter feed. The baler had some kind of problem and then the wheel broke off his tractor while he was bush hogging the pastures. Wheels aren’t supposed to break off tractors.
But a farmer can count on having machinery trouble. My dad mowed hay with a sickle mower. I don’t think he ever mowed down a field of hay without having to work on that mower. And he and my husband had plenty of tire trouble through the years, but nothing exactly like this. Theirs were more in the flat tire area, but a flat on one of those big tires can be a major hassle that requires specialized help. You can’t just pump them up. They have fluid in the tires. One of my dad’s early tractors had metal wheels. By the time I came along it was a field decoration. But I’m sure those iron tires didn’t give a soft ride.
Then to top off the troubles of the summer, army worms invaded one of the pasture fields and made short work of the grass. Cows need grass. In drought years, a farmer has to worry about his grass lasting for his herd, but Kentucky had much rain this year. Grass has grown like crazy. A lawnmower is roaring along somewhere in the neighborhood all the time. But along comes these worms that don’t just mow the grass. They eat it down to the roots. Quickly. They are said to be able to turn a football field brown in a couple of days. They certainly did a number on the pasture.
So with all that going on for him and you know other farmers are having some of the same kinds of troubles, you have to admire a farmer’s persistence and determination to raise crops and livestock.
“The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” ~Will Rogers
So if you know a farmer, if you enjoy those three meals a day, thank a farmer who keeps on keeping on in spite of all the bad days that come along. Being that optimist, he’s always sure tomorrow will be a better day. But mostly, he’s happy to be out in sunshine or rain to raise whatever crop his land will grow.
“We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the highest order, a kind of artist.” ~ Wendell Berry
Did you grow up on a farm? Still live on one? Know a farmer?
Comments 24
I didn’t grow up on a farm but my mom grew up on dairy and tobacco farm in south central Kentucky. And I spent every summer on my great grandparents farm. I also have great uncle who raised pigs and dairy goats. And on my dad’s side his cousin still farms land that been in the family in Kentucky since before statehood. My farming roots run deep in the Kentucky Soil. And even though I live in a suburb of a major Kentucky city I have chickens and plant a garden every year.
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Sounds as though your a farm girl at heart, Carissa, and you certainly have a family farming background. That’s neat that your family still farms land that has been in your family for so many years. Chickens are beginning to be a city animal and everybody loves a garden. Well, sometimes the neighbors love your garden when you share. 🙂
I remember working in the hayfield with my grandparents on their KY farm many years ago. The mowing machine and hay rake were powered by 2 faithful mules. When the hay was dry we used pitchforks to pitch it into the bed of the big farm truck. Most of the hay was then assembled around poles to make haystacks. This work was done with the help of neighboring men as it was a hard job. Some of the hay was pitched up into the barn loft. As that ran low , the hay stacks were then used. I also remember riding on the back of the mule for hours as grandpa plowed tobacco . This was about 60 years ago. Speaking of hay bales ; we just had 100 bales delivered for our goats . Farming is much different today with all of the modern equipment. I cherish my memories of farm life on our old family farm .
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I don’t remember my dad using horses, but my husband’s father was still using work horses when my husband was a teen. I’ve heard about people stacking hay and sort of remember a haystack when I was little. I think I remember because it caught on fire. Doing hay was a lot more work back then, Nancy, but life was good on the farm.
I love this post. I’m the granddaughter of Wisconsin dairy farmers (they retired when my mom was a senior in high school) and grew up on farm stories. There are still farmers in my family and others who work(ed) somewhere along the dairy food chain. So very grateful indeed.
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Glad you enjoyed the post, Danielle. I admire dairy farmers. My dad milked cows before I can remember and at the time they separated cream and sold it. I never knew exactly the method for that but there was an old piece of equipment on our back porch that was the cream separator. My husband’s family always milked cows. Up early every day to milk and then milking again at night. Couldn’t take a day off from that.
I grew up on a farm, but it belonged to my grandpa on my mom’s side and he did the farming. He raised beef cattle, corn and soybeans, mostly at his home farm. Sometimes there were cows at our place, but mostly just crops. My 4 sisters and I would line up on the fence during haying when grandpa and the neighbor teen boys would bring wagons of hay over to put up in our barn, just to watch (and drool 🤣). Thanks for the memories!
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Those are some fun memories, Kathy. Those boys were surely flexing their muscles for such an appreciative audience of girls. 🙂 You had the best of both worlds there. Living on the farm without having to be the one to chop out the corn or whatever. Thanks for sharing that memory. I can see you girls standing at the fence. Of course, I made it a wooden fence so that you could climb up on it and be looking over with the breeze blowing your hair. A little fictional license there.
Yes it was a wooden fence, Ann. And we were sitting on the top rail! We did have to chase cows occasionally. I remember the day my youngest sister was born: the neighbor’s cows were out, in our front yard. Grandma and grandpa were staying with us, and they and the older kids had to go help chase them home. As the oldest, I stayed in with the 1 year old. So I was the one who got to take the call from dad that we had a new baby sister! I was so excited! That made 5 girls and 2 boys.
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Sometimes there are advantages to being oldest. And fun that you were excited about another baby sister. What a great family you all must have had.
I didn’t grow up on a farm unless you count the huge garden we use to have. My mom and dad both grew up on farms and at the time I married my husband he had been farming all his life but was getting ready to change to a job with the forest service. I live in a farming community and know there are a lot of ups and downs for the farmers. Too much rain or not enough rain and tornadoes can be huge problems. I really appreciate the farmers, if not for them, we would get mighty hungry.
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Growing a huge garden can make you feel like a farmer, Connie. I think people who grew up on farms and depended on gardens and what they grew to have food for their tables have a hard time not growing a garden. Sounds like you have plenty of farming history in your family and you are so right about the weather always having a great impact on how the year goes for a farmer.
I grew up on a huge dairy farm, milking up to 500 a day depending on the time of year. When my Dad first started farming we had two work horses that were used to plow fields and bring in the crops. When my Dad’s Father and Uncle both retired from farming my Dad inherited two iron-wheel tractors and the work horses got to enjoy retirement except for plowing the house gardens in the spring and riding horses for me. Two of my brothers now have the tractors which still run to this day. They are now mostly used to keep generators going and pulling floats in the various town parades.
You are right Ann the ride is not as smooth as the newer tractors with tires and air conditioning, but the iron-wheel tractors have outlived everyone of their newfangled rivals.
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Wow, milking 500 cows a day, Adriann. That’s a lot of cows and milking. But it’s thanks to farmers like your dad that some of us without cows can enjoy milk in our cereal and so much more. I know some of the dairy farmers have had some rough years lately.
Interesting that your Dad’s inherited iron wheel tractors are still running. I know they must be real eye catchers at parades. I’ve never seen one running. My husband never had the air conditioned cabs on his tractors, but he sometimes thought how great it would be to have one of those.
Fifty years ago this suburban southern California girl was visiting her cousin who lived in the country in NW PA. Along came a boy from a neighboring farm. The rest is history. I learned so much about life on a farm from that boy I married and my in-laws. I miss hearing the cow bells as the cows headed down the hill to the barn, helping load those square bails onto the trailer behind the tractor, eating all the homegrown meat, eggs and vegetables. My husband grew up milking the cows, feeding the pigs,and tending the garden. I provided much entertainment for my father-in-law, who couldn’t resist teasing this gullible girl. Thanks for the memories, Ann.
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Thanks for sharing your story, Vicki. I’m thinking that farm boy must have stolen your heart pretty fast for you to exchange southern California for NW Pennsylvania. Sounds as though you turned into a real farm girl/farmer’s wife in spite of your father-in-law’s teasing.
I grew up on land that was once part of my great-grandfathers farm. He divided some of it off for his daughter and 3 of his grandchildren, including my mother. He and my great-grandmother took care of a farm, raised my mother and two of her siblings and both worked factory jobs at the same time. I don’t know how they did it all. By the time I was old enough to remember they had moved out of the farm house and into a trailer on part of the farm and my uncle had taken over farming-while also holding a full time job. I don’t think farmers get much rest and we should all thank them. I don’t think a lot of people think about or realize they would have no food at the stores to purchase without the hard work of a farmer.
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What’s that old saying? No rest for the weary. But farmers keep on working to take care of the land and grow their crops. Especially when you have animals to care for, a farmer has a hard time taking a day off. I agree, Hope, that many people don’t think about where the food comes from in the grocery and the farmers and field hands that make our good eating possible. Many who complain about various farming practices just don’t understand that it takes a lot for farmers to make a profit and bad weather, insects, frost, and so much more can impact their ability to make a living.
One set of my grandparents had a farm. They had beef and dairy cows, serving milk and cream to the folks in town. And chickens, hogs, tobacco, corn for feed as well as for the market, and for a few years even sugar cane. There were a few maple trees for maple syrup and sometimes we made snow cream candy by pouring boiling syrup over fresh snow….yummy! Nothing went to waste and summers were busy canning and preparing for winter.
I married a farmer but we only had beef cattle, tobacco, hay and a garden. Everything depends on the weather when you’re a farmer. Some years were good, and others not so good. But I’m thankful I was able to raise my kids on a farm, where they learned the value and reward of hard work. Even now that they’re grown and have other jobs, they still have gardens and work those hay fields.
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I’m with you, Lavon, in thinking it’s good for kids to grow up on a farm where they have to work with the family to get things done. That gives them needed experience in the value of work for the rest of their lives. Makes them feel more necessary to the good of the family, I think. Plus they get to enjoy the fields and woods and see the stars. I would miss being able to see the stars if I lived in a light filled city.
My husband is a farmer. A lot has changed in the 33 years we’ve been married. It is hard work, more than most people realize. People ask us all the time what we do in the winter. We don’t have animals, so winter is the time to do maintenance and repairs. Thank you for recognizing the farmer today. I hope your tenant has better luck the rest of the year.
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Definitely, always something to do on the farm, Elizabeth. Most don’t realize the hours farmers put in. Many farmers in our area have a public job as well as the farming which means many evening hours and weekends and even vacation days are used to keep things going on a farm. I used to joke when my husband was farming and had that other job too that he needed a job to support the farm since there are always unexpected expenses with equipment or livestock.
I grew up on a dairy and tobacco farm. It was hard work but I miss it from time to time. I still prefer cows over most animals.
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Most dairy cows are easy going, April. I’ve known some beef cows that can be a little less so. And I’ve had some cow encounters that have been, let’s say, interesting. So I let the cows have their side of the field while the dogs and I stay on ours. 🙂