Re: Jobs

Posted by Buzzman72 on February 13, 2004 at 06:24:38 from (67.241.50.240):

In Reply to: Jobs posted by youngster on February 12, 2004 at 12:29:11:

I'm not a farmer, but I grew up in a farm equipment business, so I can tell you plenty about farmin'. First thing is, if you say that word with a "g" on the end of it' it's a dead giveaway you've never done any of it.

Second thing is, there are three kinds of farmin': raisin' livestock, dirt farmin', and some combination of the two. To be a successful farmer, you have to realize that everything that determines the success of your operation--with the exception of how hard you work, and how many hours a day you put in--is out of your hands. Land prices, livestock prices, seed prices, tractor and implement prices, grain prices, weather conditions and their impact on your operation...these are all things that you have no control over. Equipment breakdowns and livestock illnesses are areas where you still have no control, but sometimes there ARE some preventative measures that might help (proper shots/medications for animals, preventive maintenance on tractors and equipment).

Is there any money in farmin'? Well, I've known a lot of farmers who have PUT a lot of money into it, but the returns were more along the lines of satisfaction than monetary in nature [except for a couple of local guys in the early '70's who got mostly out of livestock to raise corn and soybeans...bought a lot of new equipment, and paid it ALL off when beans hit $12 a bushel that year...and beans have NEVER been that high since, as far as I know. Now THAT is the farmin' equivalent of HITTING THE LOTTERY JACKPOT.].

Most farmers locally have a 'real' job in town, so they can afford to farm...or their partner [usually a son or a brother] works in town so THEY can farm full-time...or the wife teaches school, or something else of that nature.

The hours are lousy, as you're usually up at the crack of dawn--or before--so you can get an early start, and most farmers I know work as late as they can when plowin'/plantin'/pickin'/combinin' has to be done [see above reference to "weather, lack of control"].

And then there are the jobs that are less than pleasant...like handling manure, or dealing with bankers and lawyers [sometimes they're related tasks].

That's just some of it. If you STILL think farmin' is cool, then you're probably related to someone in farmin'...which would mean, you are correct. As a kid whose family ran a farm equipment repair shop, we nearly starved to death...but what we had, was because of the farmers out there...and God bless every one of 'em!

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