Farmers are happy in our neck of the woods because it is planting season. Spring is the time farmers focus on getting seed in the ground, either as feed for their cows or for a cash crop. As we get closer to the first day of planting, the anticipation is building. There is a lot of effort that goes into planting, and it is more than just putting seed in the soil.

The planning starts months in advance. Most times, the corn seed salesperson is knocking at the barn door the day after harvest to seal a deal for the following year. The months and weeks leading up to planting are not dormant as some may think. Manure needs to be spread at just the right amount to ensure the ground has the appropriate nutrients available to grow crops. Equipment is prepared and fine-tuned to make sure everything is in working order.

However, nothing can grow until the seed is put into the soil. That first day is always a celebratory day for farmers. Planting seeds is an interesting concept in a world of such fast-paced lifestyles where waiting for things to come to fruition is not the norm. We anticipate everything to happen quickly. More and more, I find myself defining efficiency by the amount of time it takes to get my task completed.

Waiting for growth is a good concept for us to hang onto in a world of fast-spinning expectations. There is not an app that can make the corn grow faster, a computer program that we can plug into the field, or a website that can promise overnight delivery. Sure, that is the world spinning around us, but it is not the pace that farming follows.

We plant the seed and then we wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. We are totally out of the control for speeding up the process of maturity. Yes, there are corn hybrids that have been bred to have a shorter maturity time span, but we still need to wait until the corn sprouts out of the ground, grows to a certain height, tassels, and develops an ear before it can be harvested at the appropriate time.

Duane and I are in a climate belt in which we can plant grasses in the fall that grow enough to cover the field in the winter. Plants complete the growing process in the spring to be harvested as a forage crop. Then, a second crop of corn is planted on that same ground in the spring. This rotation always reminds me that even though we plant at the right time, we are not guaranteed a bountiful crop at harvest time. During the waiting time, there are several factors that have to go right or the crop is lost.

There needs to be the right balance of rain and sun for the crops to flourish, as we certainly do not control the spigot in the sky. I understand that there are a lot of places across the country where farmers irrigate and can control that portion of the growing season, but the balance is still as important as the waiting.

My involvement in the U.S. Dairy Export Council reminds me of this process. When we visit other countries and develop relationships with their people, we are planting seeds. Fostering those relationships, developing friendships, and finding ways that we can work together is all part of the planting process. More often than not, we must wait to see results. During that time, we are nurturing the connection until we find market access.

Another example of planting a seed is by getting whole milk back in schools. This is something that farmers have been advocating for decades. Conversations have been planted, seeded, reseeded, and research has been done as we wait for the right decisions to be made for the health of the children in our country. It has been a lot of growing and tending to the idea by farmers, and now it looks like the crop that was planted is finally growing.

Patience during planting time is not easy, especially as we are surrounded by quick, instant decision-making technologies. Weather can cause our patience to be tested, as we itch to get into the fields. We may find that our patience in our relationships with our partners is tested, due to the lack of quality time spent together because of our dedication to get the seed into the ground in a timely manner.

It is a gift to have to pause and wait because it reminds us that some things take time. Waiting for fruition is not a concept that many people embrace today. If I did not have a farming lifestyle to make me pause in life, what would my anticipation level be? Would I demand everything to happen instantly or would I have patience in the process?

Thankfully, I do not need to worry about that because I have a farm that reminds me every spring that there is value in time spent waiting, anticipation, and taking a moment to pause. And that, my friend, is worth waiting for.