“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.
“Bailing 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?