THE HARDEST HARVEST

 

Another year’s harvest is in the books for us and many others are getting close. Though anyone who knows farming, knows that no two years are alike, this one has definitely been different.

Farmers in east central Indiana have been blessed with the perfect crop, or as near perfect as you can get. Crops got in at the right time in the spring, the rains came at the right times and fall provided a bigger share of sun-kissed days than normal to get the crop out.

Ron has been farming for more than 40 years and he said this may have been his best corn crop ever. There were other changes too. Harvest even looked a little different this year since he invested in a grain cart instead of solely relying on wagons to get the crop in. The whole idea was to make life a little easier. Of course, that depends on if you ask him or the grain cart operator, but that’s another story.

But there were other changes too. Harvest is every farmer’s payday, the time when a year’s worth of efforts pays off. When they climb in the combine, it’s like a kid at Christmas. Though this year I didn’t see that happy on Ron’s face. I felt the same echoes from other farmers too, “It’s just not fun anymore like it used to be.” What gives?

Farmers our age are seeing spouses, friends and others retiring from their life’s work and moving to the next chapter. Most of us make that decision and never look back. It’s not as easy for farmers. Part of their soul is tied to the land that has been part of them most of their lives. At the same time, they are feeling the urge that maybe it’s just time to hang it up. However, that is easier said than done.

Farms, like so many other enterprises, has moved into the big business league. Sad to say, the family farm that has been passed down from generation to generation is disappearing. Volatile grain markets, the price of new machinery to stay on top of the game, mounting repair bills on older equipment and the price of fuel, seed, fertilizer and chemicals have decreased farmers’ profit margin. The younger generation, as much as many of them would like to stay on the family farm, is forced to find other careers to support their families.

By the time Dad is ready to retire, the next generation is already established in other careers. So, what does Dad do, sell the land that he has connected with for so long and made it what it is today to a stranger? Of course, there is always the option to rent the land. The only problem here is that most famers make the worst landlords, a few pull it off, but not many.

There is the right way, the wrong way and then each farmer has his own way. No one, I repeat no one, would ever farm the land, work the land, love the land like the farmer himself. There is that tie to the land that can’t be broken…by anything or anyone.

 

I know this feeling. All of us kids had other lives but when it was time to sell Mom and Dad’s farm, the same land that we helped work growing up, it tugged on our heart strings. We all looked at so many different scenarios on how we could keep the land, even though we all knew that the best option was to sell it. Being reasonable doesn’t make it any easier to let go.

 

Farmers never really retire anyway. Have you ever ridden anywhere with one? Did they notice the new house going up on the corner? Nope. But they noticed the condition of every crop, how far every farmer is along in planting or harvesting, if they got new machinery or if their grain cart is bigger than their own. What about the new Subaru in the Harris’s driveway? Nope, but they noticed that the corn is starting to tassel.

Perhaps the one defining factor for every farmer is that they have always been their own boss and made their own decisions, right or wrong. There are so many variables that they deal with daily; the weather, the markets, new technology and many other factors that will decide how their land will produce in October. There is power in this, in being your own person.

There is also power on the flip side. The culmination of all those decisions, year after year, has made their land what it is, each year striving to make it better. Putting their heart and soul into it all those years has made them a kindred spirit with the soil. It is never “just dirt” to them.

Farming doesn’t care what your age is or how many years you have been working the land. The same grace that lets you decide where, when and how you till the soil also doesn’t release you from that stewardship, but rather makes you a prisoner of it.

 

 

I love my little piece of heaven on earth here in Michigan. But, I also love Ron’s slice of heaven. Although I have only known it for five years, the rolling fields, the woods, the grasslands all hold a special place in my heart. It all goes back to whenever you dig in the dirt, it becomes part of you, no matter where that dirt is.

 

 

So, this is truly a hard harvest for many farmers our age, even though it may be their best producing year yet. They are no different than any of us. They want to travel, to pursue some hidden interests, to take it a little easier. They want to actually enjoy the spring and the fall instead of always having it be their busy season. They have reached the age where they have earned that right. They just don’t know how to do it.

It’s probably the hardest decision they will ever make. I daresay that every farmer that has raised a family has gotten married twice, once to his wife and once to the land. I would also be willing to bet that, no matter how strong of a bond there is between a farmer and his spouse, the bond with the land is stronger.

This is also a lone decision that every farmer has to make for himself. As hard as it is, I would hope that each one appreciates what a privilege it is to be able to go out on his/her own terms. In the last few years, many farmers have been forced to sell because of circumstances beyond their control.

This is also why my hope for all farmers is that when they do make the decision to hang up their work shoes, they do it in a good year. Only then will they know that it is truly their decision to move on and not just that they are a victim of circumstances.

Ron has always said that for every farmer there will be a crop that doesn’t get in or one that won’t get out. Every farmer will have their own year that is their “hardest harvest.” The only saving grace is that when they have that year, they make the decision for their life instead of life making it for them. I wish each and every farmer all the best.