Since moving to the farm, I’ve realized how incredibly hard farmers work and how little I knew–and know–about farming. I’m learning more because I now live here and I see farming up close, but I still have a lot of questions. Sarah in Illinois is back today to share some of her experience living with a farmer and some of the lessons she’s learned so far.
Growing up in a farming community, I have always been familiar with some aspects of farming. I could always identify a corn field from a soybean field and a tractor from a combine. I knew that farmers put seeds in the ground in the spring and harvested crops in the fall. But what else did they do all year?
Why did they always seem so stressed about the rainfall, the wind, and the temperature when there was nothing they could do about it? What were all those other pieces of equipment that traveled up and down the roads and slowed me down?
When Steve and I started dating he was working for a company that sold seed and chemicals and applied chemicals to fields. And I was fascinated with what he did. I asked questions, and more questions, and more questions. And after 6 years, I realize that I still know so little.
What else do farmers do all year? They watch their fields for weeds, fungus, and insects and then treat accordingly. They maintain their equipment, they keep the ditches mowed, they clean out grain bins to prep them for harvest, and I am not even talking about the farmers that also have livestock.
Why are they so stressed about the weather? Well, there are some obvious reasons, but they also have to be concerned whether the root system of the plant is strong enough to hold up against a bad windstorm. Did they plant the seed too deep? Not deep enough? Did they apply the right chemical, fertilizer and at the right time? And all of those pieces of equipment? I am still learning their names and what they are used for.
Now that Steve is finishing his second season working for himself, and we have crops of our own, my questions have only multiplied.
Every one of those decisions, every single factor affects the quality and the quantity of the harvest. Should we have put on more fertilizer? It may make more bushel, but will it be worth the cost? How much damage have wild turkeys and deer done to our field? (This year, we had a fair amount of damage.) And now that Steve has harvested, should we sell right away? Or store it and hope prices go up? And if we store it, since we don’t own any bins, will the price go up high enough to offset the cost of storing it?
I saved our first ear of corn!
But even with all of those scary decisions and all of those risks, all of the evenings I spend home alone because Steve is in the fields, all of the stress wondering if we are making the right decisions, I still love that we are taking a leap into farming.
We are growing crops that feed people, feed animals and produce fuel. There is so much to learn. My questions to Steve will only increase.
I never tire of watching a tractor driving through the field turning over the ground or the combine cutting beans and unloading them into a waiting truck.
I hope that we are able to grow our business, rent more acres and even buy some when possible. And I hope to continue to learn all I can about farming!
Thanks so much for sharing your questions (and some of the answers), Sarah. I learned some new things. When it comes to farming, I find there are lots of things I’ve never thought about before–like root systems.
What about you? What questions do you have about farming? Or any surprising lessons you’ve learned?
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