When God threw Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, He told them they would have to earn a living by the sweat of their brow from then on. Mankind has had to grow or raise its own food ever since.
For generations, farmers and herdsmen all over the world have fed people and put clothes on their backs. Farming, and even religion, have played a major role in forming the world as we know it today.
American farmers have probably fed more people than anywhere else in the world, although the numbers of farms have been steadily declining since the 1950s.
It’s sad, but a lot of our young society thinks food is grown in the back of a grocery store. We need to educate these young minds with hands-on experiences of how it is working on a farm.
Nowadays, our small farmers find it hard to compete with the big-government supplemented multi-million dollar farm operations. An example of this is you can buy five ears of corn in the grocery store for one dollar. There is no way I can buy the high-priced seed and fertilizer, keep up my equipment, and irrigate, and expect to make a profit against those low prices. Also, have you considered how low the price of a gallon of milk and eggs stays these days? Folks, I fear that soon inflation, greed, and supply and demand are going to take a big toll on our people’s pocketbooks. If you have bought any lumber lately, you have already seen it!
For generations, farmland was passed down from father to son or daughter. This was true until after our soldiers came home from World War II. Seems our service men wanted a different lifestyle, so they moved to the big cities and got blue-collar jobs. This transition of young labor soon caught up with our aging farmers. With no one left to work the farms, they divided up the land and sold it piece by piece.
Today, what used to be farmland, dairies or timberland has been sold to build shopping centers, subdivisions, and highways. Not that these are bad things, but eventually our food and product supplies will start to suffer and the prices get higher. Mark my words!
Farming or gardening is hard and hot work. Some folks that were raised on a farm don’t want anything to do with it anymore, while others just can’t quite get it out of their system. Old folks used to say that it’s in your blood. The saying that “Old farmers never die, they just go to seed” is not far off in my case.
Farming can come in many forms. First, you have your large operations like chicken, hog, cattle and timber operations. In some areas of our country, fruit and vegetables are raised in large quantities to be sold commercially.
Then you have your mini-farms and backyard gardeners. These folks are usually retired or just do it for a hobby. It is good exercise, plus a good way to relieve stress and get some vitamin D. This type of farming can include raising flowers, fruits and vegetables, and even birds and animals.
There are many factors that can affect the operation of any farm. Weather, pest control, disease and cash flow are just a few. In a recent dry spell, a local gardener told me that the only water his garden had seen had come off his brow.
Life on any farm can teach us many lessons. It is a schooling in patience: you can’t hurry the crops, make a tree grow, or hatch the eggs in two days. Another lesson is in endurance: learning how to pace yourself both physically and mentally because you can’t get it all done in one day.
A farmer needs to be an optimist, or he wouldn’t still be a farmer. In other words, a farmer wants the glass to be half-full and not half-empty. A farmer just can’t say, “Woo hoo, it’s Friday, I’ve got the next two days to do what I want.”
So folks, next time you meet a farmer, thank him for doing his part in feeding and clothing our great country and even the world. Without our farmers and many other essential workers, where would our world be?
J.A. Bolton is the author of “Just Passing Time,” co-author of “Just Passing Time Together,” and recently released his newest book, “Southern Fried: Down-Home Stories,” all of which can be purchased on Amazon. Contact him at ja@jabolton.com.
