As I relaxed in my easy chair the other night, I could hear the constant hum of the tractors planting soybeans in the field behind the house.

 

As a tractor got closer, the sound got louder and the lights flashed through the windows as it turned around and headed to the back of the farm.

It was a nice night for planting. No rain in sight, and since they had been forced out of the field all last week, they were making up for precious lost time. I finally climbed into bed, only to hear the tractor and planter continuing to move through the fields. I was watching the news on television and the headline of the night was the firing of former FBI Director James Comey.

As I listened, I wondered, does James Comey know that even though he lost his job, he will not starve because of the men in the tractor outside my window producing the least expensive, safest, most plentiful food supply in the world? Do those reporting the news know that when they get off their late shift they will be able to grab something to eat at a trendy restaurant because the man in that John Deere tractor, planting late into the night, ate his dinner in the dusty confines of a tractor cab?

I just wonder if those waking up this morning going off to their jobs in highrise office buildings and Wall Street banks know there were men and women who rolled out of bed several hours before anyone else to fill the seed hoppers and fuel tanks and plant thousands of acres across the flyover states, before most people had their first sip of joe fixed by their favorite barista.

And this evening, parents will get off work, head straight to their son’s baseball game or end-of-theyear awards banquet, while the dust will continue to fly in the heartland as the best stewards of this land keep putting seed in the ground.

And while they climb in and out of their tractors and make sure every detail of their equipment is working, they will also be praying for a good crop so they can continue to support their spouses and children who will miss them on the sidelines of their baseball game.

Thank you, farmers, for your passion for growing and nurturing the raw materials that keep the world fed.

Thank you, kids, for sacrificing your parents’ attention to your accomplishments to make sure all of the children can eat.

And thank you, wives, for keeping the plates spinning so everyone gets the love, attention and nourishment they need in order to nourish the world.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.