55 Years And Counting From The Tractor Seat

By Bill Whitman 

There’s an old joke I’ve heard many times where people were talking about the plight of farming and a teacher overhears and says, “I don’t need farmers, I get my food from Kroger.” Of course, this refers to the ignorance of the general public about where their food comes from. The sad thing is that this is far closer to the truth than we want to believe. Most people have no idea where their grocery gets the food the store sells them.

Farming and ranching are two of the only industries where we have to invest everything we have, or ever will have, in order to have a job. Also, one of the very few businesses where the market dictates what we’ll be paid for our crops, dairy and livestock, regardless of what it costs to produce them. Several years ago, I was working with some businessmen who were wanting to invest in an agriculture related business. When we were discussing how a $5 margin per ton was considered good, one fellow looked up and asked, “why would anyone do this? That’s less than a 5 percent margin that isn’t even guaranteed. Commercial businesses don’t work on anything less than a 20 percent margin.” The answer to this question is what separates the men and women who make their living in agriculture from the other 99 percent of the population here in the United States. The answer is why American agriculture out produces every other country in the world.

I’m guessing there are more century plus farms and ranches in the United States than all the other businesses combined that have operated for a hundred years or more. So, for such a little margin on very large input dollars and harder work than most jobs, no protections, responsible for all your health care costs, and most of all, responsible for every one of your mistakes… why do we do it? I can only describe it two ways. First, when I see a calf or foal born and taking its first steps, I’m humbled to be part of new life. Second, when we work the soil, plant the seed, and nurse a crop to harvest, and smell the harvested crop in the air, I’m filled with a sense of wholeness. We witness life, first-hand, up close and personal. It gets in our souls and never leaves.

People don’t get to experience these feelings because each one takes time and this world runs 90 miles an hour. Today’s world demands immediate gratification, with the day ending at the end of eight hours and the requirement of recreation every weekend. I have yet to be able to get a calf or foal’s birth set to my schedule or have a growing season that didn’t require changes in the plan based on either too much or too little rain, storms, and natural disasters.

One of the reasons why the average age of American farmers and ranchers is 63-64 years of age is because most of us can’t imagine doing anything else. I was talking to a good friend recently who just turned 84 and, along with his wife, still runs a farm of 100 or so cows, a herd of sheep, goats and donkeys with only occasional part-time help. I was sharing that neither my wife or I have thought about retirement and he remarked (19 years my senior) that he and his wife never considered quitting. They only try doing things more efficiently and hopefully with enough profit to keep pace with inflation. This caused me to think of all the farmers and ranchers I have met and know across the country… and how many have retired. I could think of only one, the rest are looking to the next calf crop or ways to grow more corn… next year.

IndianaAg@bluemarble.net