“But what if I don’t want to farm, Mom?”
That was the question I heard come from my 8 year old daughter’s mouth in the midst of wheat harvest and dinner in the field with her Dad. I’m not sure if her Dad even heard her.
My response was “that’s fine but while you live in our home and are growing up you will help farm.”
I’m not sure if her statement was brought about because this is the first year that I was more active in the wheat harvest or due to the fact that she was bored. Perhaps a combination of things.
Although it would be a nice thought to have her farm the land her grandfather has, we aren’t forcing anything. Just as my husband wasn’t forced.. My husband chose to farm because he loves it, because he wants to continue the family legacy. Because basically he would be unhappy doing anything else. Sure he worked construction full time for twenty years but he also farmed daily. A few years ago the roles reversed and I think it has made him much happier.
Even if our daughter ends up a nurse, teacher, CEO in the city, retail clerk, secretary, stay at home mom, or whatever; her agriculture upbringing will make whatever occupation she chooses in life better. ( I think)
I believe that it will influence different aspects of her life. From the type of man she will marry, to the food she eats, whether she gardens or has pets, what her work ethic is like and how she treats people. I was raised the first 11 years of my life in the agriculture community and although I left it for a great many years it made a difference in who I was/am.
Coming back to the farming community hasn’t been the easiest for me but it wasn’t as hard as it could have been either. Mostly because I had been in it for a short period. A lot of the difficulty when re-entering came from my own “closed-minded” thoughts and lack of agriculture education.
So, hopefully with the combination of my husband’s love of the farming life and my time away from it, we can raise a well-rounded human being together.
Because honestly, raising her is the most important thing, not the wheat, corn, soybeans, or milo.
Grace is a gift,
Julie
In Between the Sunsets of Life 
Beautiful post. My husband and I work hard so our kids have the opportunity to carry on our family’s farming legacy, but at the same time – we aren’t going to force it onto anyone. We will work hard to give them resources to succeed no matter what path they choose to go down. I think your final sentence says it all! The most important “crop” I’m raising is our kids 🙂 Thanks for linking up to the Country Fair Blog Party!
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Congratulations Julie – you received a Country Fair Blog Party Blue Ribbon for linking up last month:
http://www.cornbeanspigskids.com/2016/08/country-fair-blog-party-august-2016.html
I hope to see more posts from you added to this month’s Blog Hop.
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Thanks!
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In truth, I hope my girls stay as far away from farming as possible. I grew up on a farm that my family has worked for six generations, but all I saw it do was take everything my father and grandfather could sacrifice for it – work, health, a home life, money – and repay them with a pittance and with an endless supply of grinding hard labour. Encouraging someone into farming is putting a ball-and-chain on their leg.
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