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For 44 years, from 1946 to 1990, my father rose at 5 AM to milk, He seldom went far from home, and when we tried to get him to take a vacation, he got one day's journey from home- and turned back. His dreams shattered when none of his sons wanted to take over the operation (though one got a Veterinary degree and became the State Veterinarian of Pennsylvania). He grew crops for the remaining seven years of his life, the last two while diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
If the occupation and lifestyle are not in your blood, don't bother.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 09-04-2016 at 08:32 PM..
Farmer is the last one to get a paycheck. Tractor/implement dealership, tax man, seed supply, fertilizer sales, consultant for soil testing, insurance company, bank, herbicide/pesticide folks, fuel supplier, veterinarian, hardware store, extra labor depending on crop types and more.
I saw what farming did to my sister and brother-in-law. They had beef cattle and grew hay. The cows had to be cared for on a regular schedule. Very few vacations and those were only for a couple of days. When it was time to bring in the hay, it was TIME! Sunup to sundown in the blistering heat.
They loved it, but non-stressful it wasn't. They are really enjoying life now that they have given up the cattle and leased out their land and have regular jobs that they have to be at at regular times. A lot LESS stressful, to be sure.
My parents had 2 vacations in 23 years. The first was their honeymoon. The second was my college graduation.
Every day, they were out in the barn at 4:30 am getting ready for the first milking of the day starting at 5 am. During the day, they mucked the cow barns, gathered chicken eggs, had vet appointments, made sure the young stock were healthy, fed, watered, and not escaping. Crops had to be planted, cultivated, monitored, and harvested. Machinery had to be fixed (and something is ALWAYS breaking). Neighbors sometimes needed helping. Neighbors sometimes helped out. Oh, the second milking was always at 5 pm. After milking was done (7 pm, usually), there were always last minute things to check, fix, take care of.
My parents always fell asleep watching the 10 pm news...
It was a great way to grow up, but I don't know that I'd call it "relaxing"! It was hard work.
I worked on a dairy farm every summer of my teen years.
It is anything but relaxing or laid back. The farmers I knew had never taken a vacation - not once.
There is a near endless amount of work to do all the time. If you are sick, have the flu etc. tough luck - the cows need to be milked. The amount of machinery that breaks down, needs repair, maintenance and so on is staggering. In Spring and Summer is the endless and boring chore of cutting fast growing weeds away from electric fences.
I continually meet young people ( mostly from the city ) who have a very romanticized view of farm life. Its mostly very young women who think it's some type of wonderful, care free, ' back to nature ' adventure. I don't think most of them have ever had dirt under their fingernails let alone actually done real work.
OP, where are you thinking of doing your farming? Do you have a reliable water supply? You're at the mercy of the elements, a freak spring freeze can ruin a crop. As someone else pointed out, substantial investment is involved, and untimely weather can send a lot of that down the drain.
I had an uncle who farmed, and he said the equipment was too expensive for each farmer to buy everything himself; he and his neighbors would go in on equipment together and share it, and help each other bring in their harvest. It's not practical otherwise, unless you're a huge agribusiness.
To elaborate: Is farming a lifestyle where there are few to no "calendar appointments", as in things that must be done on a specific day at a specific time no matter what? I'm sure that it's a lot of work... that doesn't bother me... I want to know if the lifestyle must follow the calendar any more strictly than to adhere to the seasons and take advantage of days with unusually good weather.
My wife and I are considering taking up farming, and there are a number of things we wish to escape in so doing. We wish to escape:
-Having to drive an automobile at ridiculous speeds (defined as any speed where a collision is likely to cause serious damage and injury) because life must be that fast-paced
-Having to drop everything and do [such-and-such] at a specific time because the work schedule says that it must be done at that exact time on that exact day. We can tolerate that every now and then but we are sick of living by the clock.
-Being beholden to other people whose indifference and inconsideration make our lives difficult. Through farming we hope to be largely (if not entirely) self-sufficient, and finally produce something that all people absolutely need - food. (It's frustrating making your living doing something that people don't really need.)
We're NOT looking to escape work and have naught but a life of leisure. In fact, it would be nice to do more physical work because then we'd be in better shape.
That's a start. I await your responses.
If you do not want to live by the CLOCK farming is not for you. However there are many types of farming and some offer more flexible schedules.
Just about any farming involving animals (especially DAIRY) is going to have CLOCK related chores that have fairly strict schedules. Dairy being the worst. Dairy is 24/7/365.
Most farming operations do NOT require driving at breakneck speeds on PUBLIC roads. One exception: Making it to the bank to make a deposit so you can buy groceries.
A cow having a difficult time calving MAY require IMMEDIATE attention, usually in nasty weather at 3:00 AM on a Sunday morning.
Farming often requires NEIGHBORS helping each other out. Self sufficiency is a dream. Huge piles of MONEY is the only way to be totally self sufficient and farming is NOT the way to get that.
I think you might want to check out FARMING as a way of life a bit more before you make the decision.
OP, where are you thinking of doing your farming? Do you have a reliable water supply? You're at the mercy of the elements, a freak spring freeze can ruin a crop. As someone else pointed out, substantial investment is involved, and untimely weather can send a lot of that down the drain.
I had an uncle who farmed, and he said the equipment was too expensive for each farmer to buy everything himself; he and his neighbors would go in on equipment together and share it, and help each other bring in their harvest. It's not practical otherwise, unless you're a huge agribusiness.
So true...combines can be $100k+!
Sorry OP - I think if you have ANY question in your mind then it won't work. You obviously didn't grow up on or near a farm. Also, you don't take up farming to get into shape! Everything is hard work, as in "manual labor" and long hours.
Now, if your definition of "farm" is a large vegetable garden and a few fruit trees, chickens , and a couple goats on 5 acres, then by all means. Maybe you need to give more details.
While I didn't grow up on a farm, my parents both did and much of my extended family still farms in he Midwest.
My dad left the farm for Parris Island when he joined the Marines. He is the only person I know that did not find Marine basic to be all that challenging. As he puts it compared to the farm he got to sleep later, he didn't have to kill his dinner, it was less physical, he still was mostly digging, shooting, and throwing barbed wire, and the drill instructors shouted orders in English unlike my stern German grandfather.
Farming is an easy life style and really no work to it. You can sleep in to about 4 a.m., and you can relax about 10 p.m. As the poster above wrote about a family member that joined the Marines. He thought this is the easy life, while about killing the city boys who were completely exhausted every day.
And just think if you are a farmer you don't have to go down to the gym or other exercise place, as their most exhausting equipment is so simple and easy to do, compared to farming.
I grew up on a very large ranch. Had to get up at 3 a.m. to have the milk ready for the creamery to pick it up. Then after a day in high school, do the chores at home till about 9 p.m. Weekends, saddle up one of the cow ponies about 8 a.m. and go out on the range. Spend the day checking and moving cattle.
There is an old saying in farming, "You can relax this fall, when the farming is done for the year". Farmers use this saying, to encourage their kids, etc., to keep them from complaining about the long hours and hard work. That is just propaganda, as fall is harvest season, etc.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunluvver2
If you do not want to live by the CLOCK farming is not for you. However there are many types of farming and some offehr more flexible schedules.
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I think you might want to check out FARMING as a way of life a bit more before you make the decision.
The most flexible farming I know are huge dryland grain farms. I meet Saskatchewan farmers who have a farm in Canada and another in Australia (opposite growing seasons, but 2x the capital equipment and land / operational costs)
We were using 350 gal of fuel / day during harvest on a dryland farm. That will set you back...
Bring money
Lots of money!
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