Recently, I was reading some blogs and websites of organizations and individuals that oppose farmers. These websites have “facts” that are outrageous. Luckily, these facts have “sources” attached….that link back to their own website. Anyway, it’s humerus to me, and gives me ideas for my blogs. And let me tell you what. I am fired up.
There was a sentence on one of the websites (which no I will not link to their website) that stated:
“Farmers are awful people that often take advantage of underage children, often their own, forcing them into a life of work and learning of inhumane ways.”
Let me tell you something. With the exception of the “inhumane ways” addition, that statement is damn true and I am darn proud of it.
Yes, growing up on a farm my parents made me work. The second I could walk I was carrying bottles to baby calves, mending fence before grade school, and could deliver a baby calf before middle school. I was driving a tractor long before I was legal to drive, and no, I’ve never once been paid money for all my work.
I’ve stood embarrassed at the edge of the elementary school as my dad pulled up in a farm truck with a trailer load of cattle leaving poop in our school parking lot. I’ve begged to have a family vacation that was always denied with the reason “we can’t leave the farm that long”. I’ve worked cows in the sun so long I’ve been sunburned an uncountable amount, and have an almost permanent ‘farmers tan’.
Yes, my parents made my brother and I work. No questions asked. And know what happened? Character.
The daunting task of feeding calves EVERY SINGLE night taught me responsibility.
The unforgiving smell of manure on my tennis shoes in math class taught me humility.
The field full of hay bales that had to be loaded on a trailer then unloaded in a barn taught me work ethic.
The stubbornness of cattle not wanting to move pens taught me the value of team work.
Newborn calves born in the snow who just didn’t want to eat taught me gentle patience.
Sorting 2,000 pound bulls before I got into kindergarten taught me courage.
And, at the end of the day, the sunset beaming streams of warmth down on a green field full of cows taught me happiness.
Growing up on a farm, children are able to learn valuable character traits that are becoming a rarity in today’s society. Out here not everyone is a winner, not every harsh truth is shielded from our innocent minds, and to earn something you have to first work for it.
Additionally, I would also like to point out that the same websites that claim “underage working abuse” also claim farmers and ranchers are cruel to their animals. Somehow I fail to see the connection considering we were all taking care of animals.
It was the way things were done. We were all needed to take care of our animals and ensure that each animal was well taken care of. Our animals were, and still are, given precedence over our own comfort. Farmers and ranchers love their animals, love their profession, and have a passion for cows, and a passion for passing it on to the next generation. In fact, of the 97% of family-owned farms in America, over half have been in the family for more than three generations. As a fifth-generation farmer, I can attest to the fact that farming is in our blood.
In any light, however, my conclusion is this: yes, as a child I was forced to work on my family’s farm. Looking back I wouldn’t have it any other way.
And one day I hope to raise my children the exact same way.
