Here's to the Farmers.

Has there ever been a more noble pursuit than farming? It is a sacrificial life given to feeding others. Devotion to the land, the crops it yields, and the livestock sustained by it, the demands are ever-present. My uncle was a farmer growing grain and raising beef cattle on the harsh Alberta landscape. You had to be there every day tending to your life's work. Most farmers I knew had to find additional sources of income to make ends meet. And at the end of all the toil, sorrows, and expense there are no guarantees.

Crops fail. Animals die. Clouds do not always produce rain. Wind storms play havoc with crops, animals, and buildings. Disease, fire, insects, predators, and a myriad of other forms of disaster wait in the wings, biding the time to strike. When times are bad the small yield produces little profit. In good times market prices drop and profits can still be minimal. Isolation is pervasive. In the city, there can easily be a thousand people in one square mile of land. You can travel miles in the country without seeing anyone; even buildings are scarce. The closest neighbour is usually out of sight.

Children often don't want to stay on the farm when finished school. The city, whether because of post-secondary demands, work, or a craving for social connections, takes them. Loved ones leave; they see the devotion given by their parents and want a different life. The isolation increases. Advancing age makes it progressively more difficult to do what needs to be done and the little hands that used to help are no longer there. Eventually, the farm must be sold.

This all seems to be too much to bear. Farming isn't for everyone and certainly not for the faint of heart. Yet people do it, and not because they have no choice. There is an amazing relationship between farmers and the land. A closeness to Mother Earth that can't be expressed in words. The pleasure of seeing growth and life spring from the labour of love invested. Farming communities are close and depend upon one another. In a city, you may not know your neighbour but on a farm, you know half the county.

Sometimes children decide to stay or may come back to the life they knew when they were young. It turns out that farming is not a career, it's a lifestyle. The love of growing, of knowing the land, of having so many living things depending on you. It turns out the animals know you and even love you in whatever capacity they have to love. What a joy it is to wake up each day; fresh air, beautiful countryside, and animals bursting with enthusiasm at your presence. Who wouldn't want to be a farmer?

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen