[Moocowman123]

Have to write a paper a out farming and give a description of why I like it. I need help for ideas. Thanks!

 

[CAjerseychick]

Well what do you like about it?
In my imagination (cant say I am really a farmer) I think I would like being able to be independant work schedule (I have to punch in and out on a timeclock, how ridiculous is that?), working on my land, and having a close relationship with my animals and understanding how to be self reliant, and being able to make a living in this manner, etc....

 

[enchantedgoats]

4-h project. Teach children responsinility. Have our home grown food and milk. The excitment of having new babies. Teaching the children about the birds and bees and the circle of life. Keeping the children out of trouble. I like that if the children needed to they could grow their own food Idk why do you farm?

 

[springkids]

I love farming because its such a good feeling to do things for yourself. I work a full-time job and we have a small farm only raising goats now, but over the course of my life its been tobacco, sugar cane, livestock, and about anything else you can think of. Of course, the livestock is my favorite and goats are #1 to us. The don't judge you by looks, money or anything else like people do. When you've had a hard day and need a break - there is nothing like a goat herd to do the trick. You feel better real soon. So this is why I like farming. I hope this helps.

 

[ciwheeles]

I like seeing my horses in my backyard, getting excited over the coming kids, and taking care if all the animals. It's different and gives me pride to take care of something and look after things.

 

[Moocowman123]

Thanks. Well actually I am only 15 but we live on a 400 acre farm with cows and my goats that I have had for a year. So I wouldn't really say I am a real farmer Wich is why I am asking you guys! Thanks!

 

[MsScamp]

For me it is the independence and the satisfaction of seeing the results of a job well done. When I was working in the corporate world I rarely saw the results of what I did. Employee evaluations were once or twice a year. I have pretty much immediate results with farming and ranching. Farming and ranching also tests my mettle and challenges me to overcome obstacles, problems, and set-backs. Because of that it is a growth experience, provides a deeper level of self understanding, teaches me new things about myself, and forces me to constantly reach for a higher plane of understanding and thinking outside the box.

 

[mhoward2]

I farm because I love it, it's a big stress reliever for me. I grew up farming with my grandfather and I have lots of great memories working with him. It's something he loved to do and he passed that love on to me.

 

[Axykatt]

I want to be as self-reliant as possible. The more I can make for myself, the less I depend on an ever changing society. It is also becoming important for me to know where my kids' food comes from. When we grow it all ourselves we know that there are no harmful pesticides on the produce, that our eggs come from happy chickens, and that our meat animals were happy and healthy before they became dinner.

 

[NubianFan]

I like that is is more natural and back to our roots as a nation. I like to be able to produce as many of the things I need as possible. When I was eleven my father became very ill and had to quit working. We literally lived off mom and dad's savings for a while. I had to wear hand me down clothes to school with holes in them, but we never went hungry. We always had plenty of good food to eat. We grew a garden and mama canned and froze items for winter. We had chickens for eggs and meat. We had cattle for beef and we sold some for extra money. I think we would have been much worse off without the farm. It is a kind of self reliance that few know or understand now. While I have certainly become soft in my adult life, I still understand raising the things you eat and working to have food. I continue it on a smaller scale with my own daughter because I feel it teaches responsibility, and independence. I also really enjoy animals and nature. It is peaceful and relaxing to me.

 

[cteague]

I enjoy farming because it is a way to relieve stress after a days working with the public. I can have a bad day at work and get out on the farm and relax. Even though sometimes the work is hard it is still relaxing in a way. It also feels good to have animals run to u excited to see u. And its the joy. of being outside doing some thing and looking around at what God has made. Its beautiful. Someone said it in a post before me and i agree its getting back to our roots.

 

[kccjer]

Well, speaking as someone who grew up on a fairly large working farm....let's see. Long hours...rain, shine, snow, wind...don't matter, work has to get done. Your life gets put on hold during certain seasons. I can remember many years of watching 4th of July fireworks from the harvest field. Watching your crops all get hailed out in a 5 minute storm....yep. Planting season....praying for rain to bring the seed up and praying it waits til you at least get the seed planted and basically trying to run 24 hours a day to get it all in. Harvest....praying no hail hits to ruin your crop that has hopefully had enough rain to actually make a crop, praying for no rain so that you can get in the field to harvest whatever is there. You notice we do a lot of praying about rain??? LOL Keeping equipment running for whatever process we were in the middle of. Do you realize what NEW equipment COSTS???? Like my dad told someone one time....there's a tractor and a combine: that's 500,000 right there. And there is no equipment with it so you can't do anything with it until you spend more money to get the pieces of equipment you need. And repairing it isn't cheap either!!

So...let's move on to livestock. We had 45 head cow/calf operation. Calving season....2 hour checks day and night in miserable weather to make sure no one was having any problems. Worrying about that rain again, cause calving in rain and mud is no fun and not super easy on the babies either. Hoping that it IS only rain and not snow and ice! Praying for rain to come at the right time so the pasture is good and green and has enough grass that we don't have to start buying feed too soon. Checking animals daily to make sure no one is sick or out of the pens. Having to bring in sick animals (that really don't want your help) in order to take care of them. Feeding in the winter...snow, wind, blizzards, etc. The animals have to get fed. Get sick??? LMAO Yeah, you don't have time to get sick and if you do, you still have to take care of your crops and your animals. Period.

Why do we farm??? Heck after reading that I dunno! Seriously tho. There is nothing like looking at a field of fresh growing wheat and knowing that YOU made that happen (with a lot of help from nature) Watching it grow and mature into a beautiful ocean of amber grain (you know...amber waves of grain) Same with corn...watching those rows of corn growing and maturing. Knowing that YOU are helping feed the world. The smell of freshly turned dirt, the smell of freshly harvested grain, the smell of fresh mown hay. That first time in wheat harvest when you pick a handful of wheat out of the truck and chew it into "gum". Looking at a herd of healthy animals and watching the babies run and play!

Farming is HARD work, no matter how you look at it. Yes, you are your own boss. That also means that it is all your responsibility too. If you don't plant, you won't reap. Period. You have to be willing to give up a lot of other things because planting, harvest etc don't wait for you to decide you have time or want to do it. I can remember my dad being a little upset that I was pregnant and due during corn harvest! We planned weddings around planting and harvest. It's a lot of long hours for little money (one of the first years that I rented some land and farmed along with my dad and brother I made a whopping $25 at the end of the year on my tax forms!!!) Would I trade growing up that way? Nope. Not for anything. I learned responsibility. I learned how to be a steward of the land. I learned about birth, life and death. I learned to appreciate the beauty in all of nature. I learned where our food truly comes from and what it takes to put it on the table. I also learned how to do without and that life wouldn't end cause I didn't get to go to the fireworks display!

 

[kccjer]

I might add that "hobby farming" and farming for a living are 2 entirely different things. Right now, I "hobby farm". I don't rely on my "farm" to make a living. I have my animals....goats, chickens, horses, burros, geese, ducks, a potbelly pig...and love them all. But they aren't my only income or I would starve to death. When you are farming for a living, decisions are way different. They have to be. Everyone thinks it would be so easy to change how we farm so that it's "better for the land, environment, animals, etc" but unless you've been there you don't realize what the cost of it all is. One farmer feeds 20+ people! If we were to go back to the old days and not using chemical, etc we would only feed less than half that number. We all like to talk about self-sustainment and relaxing and "knowing" where our food comes from, etc. But the reality is far different. None of us are truly self-sustaining. Most people really don't know where all their food comes from or the reality of getting it to the market and on the table. Relaxing? Yep, if you're a hobby farmer, it is relaxing. If you are farming for your living, it's a stressful and hard life