Farming: How Does It All Start?

It was a Saturday afternoon and we, no shock, were out at the farm. The farm office is right next to all the kid toys. My husband and dad were looking at milk prices chatting about prices and how much to sell. As they are having this discussion I slowly see my 2 year old son leave his toy tractors to make his way to the opposite side of the room to listen in.

As I watch this scene play out, I think about how many houses this has happened in. How many little boys and girls absorb the farming lifestyle just by watching the generations before do it and then something magical happens and farming becomes their first true love. It’s a passion that is so strong many times they would rather not go to school and just stay home and farm.

It’s a passion generations before have had and continue to have with the goal of one day passing the love of farming to the next generation. It’s a family thing. A legacy that is learned from almost day one. They simple watch mom, dad, grandma, grandpa work on the farm, grow the garden, take meals out to the fields, help run errands or sort cows. A scene from The Grinch Stole Christmas where the heart grows and grows and grows.

This love affair is not one that is taken lightly. It’s a never ending, but sometimes heartbreaking love. One where you have to watch your favorite cow pass away or the year the rain just won’t come and all your crops, your livelihood is gone. And to think it all starts with watching our family and saying “I want to do what my family does.”