The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography quotes Thomas Jefferson as saying, “Farmers are the greatest gamblers of all time.” This one simple quote speaks volumes for the agricultural industry as a whole. Our days are constantly consumed by risks and faith. Every time we sell an animal, ship our milk, plant a crop, harvest the fields, or get on a piece of equipment, we take risks. We don’t know if we’ll make enough money off the cattle or milk; we don’t know if the crops will grow and provide enough to feed our livestock, much less ourselves. We don’t know if the tractor will work or break throughout the day. Still, we believe in ourselves enough to have a little faith and keep going.
“The hard part” is a cliché name for this blog, and I’m well aware of that. There is no specific “hard part” of farming, but rather, there are multiple hard parts. We are gamblers, which means, as Kenny Rogers so eloquently put it, we have to know when to hold them, fold them, walk away, and run. Cattle, crops, equipment, and mental health are ambiguous topics to say the least, but they all are categorized as “the hard part.”
The hard part is when you buy the overpriced seed to plant a crop that will help provide essential nutrients to animals and/or people. The crop costs more than your mortgage, and there is no guarantee the weather will allow it to flourish and survive. The water could be left on, leading to flooding which, in turn, can and will lead to root rot, which results in a replant. The water could also turn off, leading to a drought where nothing will grow. The risks are insane with crops, but farmers have the faith and determination to carry on.
The hard part is when folks think you are callous for selling an animal. What they don’t see are the tears you cried knowing it was time to let them go. What they don’t see is the feed bill that costs more than a car every month. They don’t see the animal’s quality of life diminishing slowly day by day. They don’t see us hoping and praying we made the right choice and that we will be able to cover the loss of that animal financially and physically.
The hard part is when a piece of equipment breaks or falters and you know it’ll cost thousands in repairs, but you must have it. The relief of knowing no one was hurt during the breakdown makes it somewhat okay. Relationships with the dealerships and mechanics help make the fix go smoothly, but you’re also praying it all works out.
The hard part is keeping your head up. Farming is hard. We gamble a lot every time we step out the front door. We depend on faith to get us through and pray to the rain gods that we will be okay. We may have many hard parts, but the easy part is when we keep our heads up, stick together, and feed the world. Stay safe out there, folks.
The author is a sixth-generation farmer and fifth-generation dairy producer in southwest Virginia, where she and her family own and operate a 145-head Holstein dairy. Courtney is involved in agriculture organizations throughout her community and is a graduate of Virginia Tech.