Over the expansive Straits of Mackinac to the rolling hills of Appleton, Wis., to the dusty show arena in the foothills of the Appalachians in Liberty, Ky., I have covered a few miles in the last two weeks.

I spend a lot of time in the passenger’s seat looking out the window as the landscape changes from rural to metropolitan, and from flat farmland to hilly pastures. And last week, as I looked, I saw the tenacity of the American farmer come to life right in front of my eyes.

While this spring has kept tractors in the pole barn and farmers nervously drumming their fingers on the parts counter at the local equipment dealership, they haven’t given up just yet. Through the wet farmlands of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, where I thought they put their planters away for the season and gave up their crop ground for a loss, quite the opposite was happening.

I saw farmers in their true colors, in full force, planting as quickly as they could. On June 29, when they would normally be out scouting their knee-high corn, they were just getting the seed in the ground. Where they would normally be looking for bugs on their beans, they were making tracks across the heavy clay and sandy soils.

Where some folks would roll over and play dead, these farmers refuse to tap out and pop back up after every blow to their livelihood.

Last week, I heard one of the candidates running for president of the United States say people don’t want to watch politicians have a food fight, but they want to know how the politicians will put food on their tables. I mean no disrespect, but if we are waiting on Washington, D.C., to feed us, we will starve.

You see, while everyone else is basking in the sun on a beach or enjoying a latte in a corner coffee house, your farmer is getting his hands dirty, sleeping few hours, and eating dust-laden meals on a tailgate to make sure there is enough food and fiber to feed and clothe a hungry world.

And at the end of an extremely long day, when the last cow is milked, he’s sitting in an office wondering how he’s going to market a crop that may not even mature and how he’s going to afford the feed that he needs to get through the next year.

While the rest of the world enjoys summer vacations, farmers are not only working through their daily routine, they are doing it with a faith that is strong and an outlook that is optimistic. Planting your crop with a shortened growing season requires the faith of a mustard seed, and he has it.

Waiting for seeds to recover after torrential rains requires the steadfastness of a giant-killer, and he has it. Taking a chance on weathering through a cool, wet spring that never seemed to end requires the foresight of a prophet and the tenacity of Job – and he embodies them both.

This spring has tested everyone in agriculture, and we aren’t done yet. Stay on your knees, pray without ceasing, remain resilient, and when we are through being tested, we shall come forth as gold.

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.