The Depths of Farming

What does it really mean to be a farmer?  Is it simply living a rural life style and homesteading?  Do you need to have animals that include equine or some type of cattle?  If I don’t use a big tractor or even a small tractor, can I still claim my farmer card?  We love western movies, values, and imagery, but I think many of us become accustomed to thinking a farmer is someone who only fits some of the above criteria. My family has found after reflecting on the past year that being a farmer has a lot more to do with your character than your circumstances. 

              I hope everyone has listened to Paul Harvey’s, So God Made a Farmer.  You’ve probably heard it play during the Ram truck commercial during the 2013 Super Bowl, and if not, I recommend you listen to the entire thing.  Paul Harvey is one of the greatest orators to ever be recorded.  In the speech Harvey mentions tractors, horses, and crops.  These are all certainly tools of the farmer, the commerce of a farmer, and farming most certainly involves working with your hands and having a rugged frame.  However, as you listen in to Harvey’s story about being a farmer, it is not the tools or animals the farmer works with that make them a farmer.  Harvey does not make reference to how big the equipment the farmer uses is or how vast the fields are but rather his connection with the space.  A man of God is the first reference to the farmer, a care taker, active community member and neighbor, patient, strong, and honest are the qualities of the farmer.  Being a farmer seems to be much more about values and who you are in the community rather than how much land, equipment, or money you have according to Harvey.

              This past year put a hurricane in our back yard, showed a strained economy, and that money will overcome the common good of a community if left unchecked by the people who live locally.  After the Hurricane, we witnessed some beautiful moments when people came together to help neighbors at no personal gain but rather just to help.  We saw people exploit others because they had the equipment to clean up the big mess, the jobs were often done quickly, poorly and at great expense.  As the shipping backlog began to catch up with orders, product came in all at once.  Some companies demanded payment on delivery of huge orders that should have been separated into several smaller orders while others were aware that times were not normal and allowed flexibility with payments to be fair and helpful to many businesses.  We have seen developers push into the rural areas of the state with no ambition to preserve the natural beauty that was there.  The drive for maximum profitability and complete neglect to the wellbeing of the community has become insulting and evident in plans submitted by developers.

              Farmers are not made, they are grown.  It takes a lifetime to build the character of a farmer, living a life of serving others first, respecting what you have, and caring about more than just your property but those around you as well.  A farmer is the person who grows veggies for the family to save money each week so their little girl can afford a 4-H project for the year.  Farmers show up to help their neighbor because it’s the right thing to do, not because they were asked.  Farmers fight for the community and show up to the county meeting that threatens the community’s way of life even though it doesn’t affect them directly.  Farmers salvage every old tool, scrap, and bent nail to make a new table or animal pen they need to grow their business.  It’s not what farmers have that makes them special, it’s how they use what they have.  They make their community a better place and in doing so, grow their business.  Farmers turn an old collapsed barn into a pig pen that can earn them money to build a new barn.  Farmers help fix their neighbors tractor and when the day comes that they need to borrow a tool they have that relationship and friendly neighbor who will loan it to them for free. 

The word farmer in Merriam-Webster dictionary is, a person who cultivates land or crops or raises animals.  It’s time for that definition to be updated, farmers are growers of things yes, but those things are not limited to live stock and crops.  Farmers played a crucial role in the foundation of the United States from 1783-1815 and Thomas Jefferson was an advocate for the United States to be an agrarian society.  Also defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, Agrarianism is a social or political movement designed to bring about land reforms or to improve the economic status of the farmer.  Why did Jefferson think it important that “farmers” who work the land, and build character in doing so, should be leaders and hold high economic standing in society?  Our opinion is that Jefferson wanted leaders who had built relationship with the land and community, someone who would feel obligated to attend city council meetings and school board meetings after working a 60hr work week.  Someone who did not crave power or responsibility but respected and understood its purpose.  Jefferson wanted a “farmer” to be a leader in the community because growing up in a farming environment conditions a person from childhood to understand responsibility, accountability, respect, and trust.  Farmers in the traditional sense of the word are vanishing form today’s societies.  Very few family farms are bridging the gap between the traditions of farming and modern commerce demands and expenses.  The next generation has to send someone to school not only to learn what it takes to produce a profitable yield but also become a business person in a corporate run, ad driven, and constantly evolving market. 

              The farmers of modern day American still grow food, crops, cattle, ranches, even ornamental horticulture to landscape all those new homes being built.  There is one part of the “farmer” definition that stands out however, to cultivate.  A person does not need to grow one piece of food to cultivate their community.  We have educated members of our community who share wisdom, time, and energy every day to make sure our community leaders are operating by the guidelines Jefferson wanted: responsibly, respectful, trustworthy.  These community members are perhaps retired farmers, teachers, truck drivers, mechanics, businesspeople who were raised right.  The guiding light of the farming lifestyle that instills these hard-to-find values in people are what truly define what a farmer is.  Someone who cultivates their society, grows relationships, nurturers of the nation.  When we think of a farmer the first image is most definitely John Wayne or John Dutton, depending on your age, riding across a beautiful field.  However, when I think about what a farmer is, I see a little league coach, a member on the school board, a deacon at the church, or a speaker at the county commissioner meeting.  We will never lose our infatuation with the persona of the farmer; we do hope that everyone sees the character of the farmer though.  Despite wearing sneakers with a fishing shirt and cowboy hat, we hope you see the genuine care that makes the farmer special.  If you have a roof over your head, food in your belly, and clothes on your back… thank a farmer.