"You look at that field that you tilled. You planted that seed, you watched that crop grow - there's no feeling of satisfaction like seeing that. Or raising a calf to be a cow that produces milk. You think about those things when you make your career choices." - 34:15, Cherie Anderson, Ask a Farmer: Family Farms, Family History
Way back in 2016, my mom and I were invited to be on a panel at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History about multigenerational farms. I remember a lot about that day, but today I watched the video to hear exactly what my mom said about the satisfaction of farming.
Why? Because we had our corn planted - we hired our custom harvester Pat Feldpausch. He is currently having some health issues so his son PJ did it.
Then we patiently (Kris) and impatiently (me) waited for it to pop up.
We plant corn that in 107 days comes out of the ground and towers over our heads. I worry the entire 107 days about rain. Is it enough? Is it too much?
This is the reason I didn't want to farm. I didn't want to be like my parents, willing it to rain when the corn got dry, since your livelihood depends on feeding your cattle.
However, with 15 years of farming under my belt - the benefits outweigh the emotional cost. I absolutely love watching this all happen. We're ready for another year of growing corn!
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