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Do you know anyone who is
“just a farmer”?
An older
gentleman was at a social affair. People were
introducing themselves to each other. This man
said, “I’m just a dirt farmer.”
That
troubles me. Don’t get me wrong. Humility is
wonderful thing. What bothers me is that some
of our farmers have a poor public image and act
as if there is something demeaning about the
profession.
They
should be proud of what they do and who they
are. I can’t think of a profession that
deserves more honor than this handful of people
who feed half the civilized world.
Thanks
to our farmers, we don’t have to worry each day
about where to find enough food. That’s not
true in all parts of the world. Indirectly we
owe all our quality of life to the proficiency
of our farmers, because hungry people don’t have
time for other things.
Besides
the fact that the rest of the people depend upon
them, farming is a unique business in many ways.
First of all, not everyone can do it.
In the
old days maybe just about anyone could be a
farmer. That’s not so any longer. A new
tractor is likely to have more instrumentation
and electronics than an airplane did not too
long ago. We have plenty of respect for pilots.
The
farmer is often skilled in welding, electrical
wiring, carpentry, animal husbandry, a little
soil science, some mechanical engineering,
inventing new solutions, child rearing,
baseball, hunting, fishing and coffee shop
talking.
However,
most important of all, he is skilled in making
things grow straight and tall, whether they are
crops or kids.
It has
been said that the people of the Midwest and
Great Plains are the backbone of the American
society. I think that’s probably true.
This is
where society learns about the value of hard
work, honesty, independent thinking, strong
families, and the real ability to appreciate the
natural gifts of productive soil, clean water
and healthy animals.
They
say, “Only God can make a tree.” That may be
equally true of a field of wheat. Both are just
another renewable resource. The difference is,
farmers help with the wheat field.
I think
we are the weavers of the moral fabric that
holds our nation together. I can’t think of
anyone who should be more proud of it than our
farmers and ranchers.
In many
parts of the world, farmers are at the bottom of
the social ladder, because they are the least
educated and largely grow food for their own
use. That’s not true here.
Anyone
should be proud to say, “I am an American
farmer”.
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