It’s payday. Maybe not today, but soon, or just happened if you make your living from the land. People who ranch or farm are the only ones who buy retail and sell wholesale, while practically begging someone to set a price on their efforts. My dad always said there was no use worrying about the markets until you had something to sell. But this is the time of year when crops and livestock get sold, and I’m watching. Actually, most of us watch all year long, and worry too, although we try not to show it.
Most of what affects our earning ability is out of our control. Weather, government policies, world trade, business, and the media. Not to mention special interest groups like animal activists and pundits who won’t admit that climate has been changing since the beginning of time, and ungulates have utilized grasses long before humans began hunting them for meat.
It costs more this year to market our products. Transportation costs have skyrocketed and there’s a rumor that fuel will be unavailable in the near future, which will affect your diet even if you never set foot on a farm or ranch, because prices of production and marketing must be passed on. Only a tiny percentage of the population nowadays is involved in agriculture but everyone is dependent on us. Without agriculture, most of us wouldn’t have a job, a home, or food on the table. So, our costs become your costs, our empty pockets become your empty shelves, your inability find that part you need to run your business, and the school lunch your kids get.
This has been known as “next year country” for many years, and that will never change as long as someone plows a field, calves out cows, herds sheep, or slops the hogs. We’ll shake our heads, or smile, at the checks that represent a year’s worth of sweat and tears, depending on the market, the weather, and all those other factors, and say, “Maybe next year…” hoping that the banker will go along.
Trinity Seeley is a songwriter/singer who lives the ranching life and has obviously thought a lot about why we do this, given all the hazards. Her song, “One More Day” speaks of the benefits of living free on the land. She says we live in a world of “maybes and whys,” but asks for the blessing of just one more day to do that.
For those of us in agriculture, our days are strung together with maybes, but the whys are pretty simple. Love, commitment, and hope would head the list.
Veteran’s day is coming up and we are encouraged to thank a veteran on that day for their efforts to keep us free. If you ate a meal today, or shopped for groceries, find someone in overalls or a cowboy hat and thank them. It’ll help us to remember the “why.”