Farming: A Labor of Love

Farming is a job, a hard, dirty, laborious, stinky job that I love.

I wake up every morning to the roosters crowing and drink my coffee as I watch the farm come alive. Cows love the cool summer mornings as they peacefully graze on the grasses in the fields. Chickens scratch and peck looking for the next delicious grub to grab and the broody ducks, chickens and geese wonder off their nests to fill their bellies with food from the earth. It is a wonderful way to begin a day that is sure to be full of challenges and delights.

Daily chores begin early in the morning to beat the summer heat. Animals of all sorts need to be feed and cared for, eggs need to be collected and packed and cows need to be milked. The garden needs to be tended to, tomato plants need to be suckered and hung, weeds need to be pulled and the fruits of our labor need to be harvested.

Barns need to be cleaned, barrels need to be washed, milk tank needs to be sanitized, coolers need to be rinsed and organized, laying boxes need fresh shavings, parlor needs to be swept, trailer needs to be hosed down and watering tanks need to be scrubbed. Cleaning, organizing and preparing for the week to come is a necessity in daily farm life.

Trips to the processors, loading animals, unloading animals, moving animals to new pasture, picking up feed and hay, fertilizing the fields with the manure collected daily, seeding for new grasses, helping cows calf, moving pigs about to give birth, building and fixing fences, trouble shooting on why the tractor isn’t working and the list goes on and on are additional chores that consume the time of a farmer.

Farming is a labor of love, a dying trade, a passion and an obsession. And although farming is not always pretty and has its sad days, hard days, days where you wonder why you are doing what you are doing it is the most rewarding and fulfilling career. Being able to grow and raise the food that feeds my family and our community is priceless, an accomplishment I am proud of!