In Agriculture - we do not give up.
It’s been a hard winter, outside the wind is howling. The cow isn’t taking the new born calf, so the farmer is up every 4 hours with a bottle, mixing, then sitting and feeding.
Worrying, Watching. Praying.
At the next feeding its dark, the barn is quiet and warm. The smell of animals, feathers, hay and safety permeate the air. Everyone is happy to see her, as she prepares to feed the calf again. Seeing the signs she knows it won’t be long, so she sits in the bed of hay, and holds the baby calf and she begins to softly sing a song from church.
and soon
the baby is gone.
She did everything right, and still couldn’t save that sweet one.
So she gets up, does what she needs to and takes care of the rest.
SHE. DOES NOT. GIVE UP.
It’s been a good year so far. The soil has been prepared, the moisture is good this year, weather has cooperated, nutrients ready…
HE PLANTS.
Sowing seeds like his father and grandfather before him he works long hours and remembers the scripture from the Bible about sowing and harvesting.
Hours of grueling labor in the heat and dust.
Thousands of dollars in fuel and seed.
Constant prayer as he waits for the crop to come up.
He is done and pleased with the crop. Every day he thinks of the harvest that is coming… he watches the weather, he prays.
There is a storm coming.
Two days of nonstop rain later and his tears and the rain have run out.
The crop is ruined; moldy, wet. Washed away.
He did everything right, he was not lazy, and still the weather took it away.
So he gets up, does what he needs to, takes care of the rest of the farm and starts to clean up.
HE. DOES NOT. GIVE UP.
Thank God they don’t give up!
Because if they did give up, tossed in the towel, called it a day, got a job in the city because it pays better, its shorter days and you can work in hours not acres, where would our food come from?
You see, our food has a story. It starts long before the grocery store. IT starts with a farmer.
I was raised by these people; they don’t give up, they persevere And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
So I’ve learned perseverance.
You may notice that I look a little different from most farmers. My left arm and hand don’t work like yours. I’m differently-abled and that means I can do amazing things with one arm and hand. Things that most people who raise cows take for granted like shutting gates, using tools, driving tractors, etc. I am proudly AGRICULTURALLY-ABLED
I’m not going to give up.
Agriculture, being a farmer is a way of life, it’s who we are. It’s in our blood. We do not give up. We take the good with the bad and keep faith for the future. We work for a cause greater than ourselves; we feed our family, friends and neighbors. We provide.
WE. DO NOT. GIVE UP.
And because we don’t, everyone eats.