Someone asked me a pretty common question the other day, “How has your summer been so far?” I responded with the usual Midwestern answer, “Oh you know, pretty busy.”
A few days later I sat down at my computer preparing to write this blog when it seemingly hit me that the summer is already half over. I am apparently busy enough that I failed to realize that we are already halfway into America’s birthday month.
My summer weekends have been jammed packed with weddings, fairs, music festivals, and travel. I’m thriving off caffeine — I don’t think I’ve had much time to sit down and have a slow, lazy day. When I left home to attend college, these busy schedules took some time for me to get used to because I no longer had to be home for chores.
Growing up, our family had to be home for chores every morning and night as most of you in the dairy industry know all too well. Rarely did our family make it to a wedding dinner; the cows needed be milked, calves had to be fed, and barns must be cleaned. If we were lucky, we just might have returned for the dance. If we got invited to go to the beach on a hot day, chances were that we were probably making hay.
I can remember myself sometimes as a child getting upset at those circumstances as I listened to all my classmates talk about the exciting vacations they got to go on or weekends spent at the beach. As I have grown older, I have come to appreciate that this was, well, just the way it was. As a farm kid, I catch myself always looking at the clock — and the weather. I also feel like I still plan my day around chore times, even though I am no longer on the dairy. Whenever events are during these times, I often have to remind myself that I don’t have to leave during the dinner, or that I can stay for the full concert. This still is unsettling to me, and I think it is something I will never become accustomed to.
It may seem as if I am complaining. If you asked me 15 years ago, I may have been. But as the number of birthday candles on my birthday cake seems to go up, I am proud of the way I grew up. I have said it time after time, but I will say it again — being raised on the farm is one of the best places to raise a family. Watching a clock and keeping an eye on the weather every day teaches you how to be disciplined, meet deadlines, and understand the value of hard work. It also makes a day off that much better.
To succeed in life, you must be willing to put in the extra time and miss events that you wish you could attend. Anyone who is successful knows all too well that this is true. Luckily for you, you’re probably already fully equipped with this mindset if you grew up in the agriculture industry.
Jenna Byrne is an associate editor for Hoard’s Dairyman. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2022, majoring in agricultural business with an emphasis in communications and marketing. She grew up on her family’s dairy farm near Neillsville, Wis.
