Farming

Farmers are the heart and soul of this country. In the settlement years of the heartland, more people worked as farmers than any other occupation. As the years passed, farmers began leaving the land; now, less than 2 percent of the American workforce farms.

The values and beliefs held by farmers who settled the region, and the children and grandchildren who followed them on the land, forged the basic foundation for today's heartland people. Some modern-day folks claim farmers and farm life are historic relics, replaced by high-tech, modern-day agriculturists who farm thousands of acres, milk thousands of cows, fatten thousands of beef cattle in feedlots, and raise thousands of hogs and poultry in confined operations. Those who say this are likely not aware of the much smaller farming operations, many of them organic, that are rapidly growing in number in this country and in many ways resembling the family farmers who worked the soil during pioneer days. Family farmers are a special people. Famed Tuskegee educator Booker T. Washington wrote in 1895, "No race can prosper till it learns there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem." That advice still holds.

Here is a sprinkling of farm wisdom:

• A farmer recently won the lottery. When asked what he was going to do with the money, he replied, "I'll keep farming until the money runs out."

• Anyone can farm, but not everyone is a farmer.

• In the business of farming, it's not so important who gets there first as who gets there at all.

• An old horse, an old dog, and an old farmer have much in common: they are slow but wise.

• If you must sing, do it when you're after the cows. Cows don't care if you can't carry a tune.

• Look down when walking in a cow pasture.

• Attention to detail makes all the difference, whether it's plowing a field, building a fence, or teaching a calf to drink out of a pail.

• When cultivating corn with a tractor, keep one eye on the corn row, one eye on the cultivator, one eye looking out for stones, and one eye on the fence at the end of the field.

• Bigger is not better when it comes to farm size. Ability to care for the land ought be a guide, not whether a person can negotiate a loan to buy more.

• Books do not begin to contain what is necessary to become a successful farmer.

• Farmers, more than anyone else, know the meaning of hope and patience — waiting months for a crop with the hope that it will amount to something.

• Farmers produce food and fiber, not products. Products come from factories. Food and fiber come from the land.

• Farmers seldom have good years, only some years less bad than others.

• Farming is like playing five-card poker with four cards.

• Happiness for a farmer is a barn roof that doesn't leak, a pasture fence that isn't broken, and a daylong rain in May.

• Farming is more than making a living; it is about living and the connection of people to the land.

• Few occupations blend art and science as well as farming — adding a little religion also helps.

• For a farmer, next year will always be better.

• Most farmers know they can make a small fortune in farming, if they start with a large one.

• No machine, no piece of technology can replace the eye of the farmer in caring for animals, producing crops, or appreciating the land.

• Successful farmers know the beliefs and values that made their parents successful, and they try to follow them.

• Successful farming has more to do with values such as hard work, cooperation with neighbors, frugality, caring for the environment, and common sense than with science and technology.

• There is reason to suspect the sanity of a farmer who does not complain.

• Today many farmers produce more to earn less.

• Every year is a good year; some are just better than others.

• The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence, but it doesn't matter if you're not able to climb over.

The Land

Land is essential for farming. It is also the basis for all life on this planet; it is just as important as air, water, and sunshine. On it grow the crops that feed the living creatures of the world. Yet, we too often take the land for granted. We form and re-form it; we dig holes in it, pile it, level it, pour water on it, and drain water from it. We call it dirt when it finds its way into our homes and despise its very existence.

We sometimes attack the land as if it were the enemy — not our friend and ally — not realizing how important it is to the future of all humankind. Farmers know all this. They may not talk about it, but deep within them they know that their livelihoods depend on the land. They know how to listen to the land — most of them, anyway. They listen for its subtle message, for the land is alive with a past, a present, and a future. Farmers and their descendants, and that includes most of us, are people of the land.

• Caring for the land is one of the most important things we can do.

• Destroy a piece of land and you destroy a piece of the future.

• Humankind has been given an allotment of land; what we have is all there is.

• Land is more than an economic asset, for it provides a spiritual dimension to the lives of those who work it and love it.

• No one understands the land as well as farmers, for the land not only supports them but nurtures their souls.

• The history of the land is etched in the faces of the farmers who till it.

• Love the land; it is the foundation for everything.

The Family Farm

When I was a kid, family farms, many of them 80, 120, or 160 acres, were everywhere. A family farm is one on which husband and wife and their children earn a living from the land. They may milk cows, raise hogs, keep sheep, graze beef cattle, sell cash crops — such as potatoes, cucumbers, or green beans — or do some or all of this. They work together as a unit, children and parents, often for long hours, to make sure the animals are cared for and the crops are planted and harvested in a timely manner.

• A family farm is where the entire family works together, plays together, and makes a life together.

• Children growing up on a family farm know where their food comes from and take pride in the fact that they helped produce it.

• Children growing up on a family farm learn the importance of cooperation, of each one pulling a fair share of the workload, and helping each other when necessary.

• Family...