The old saying, “They just don’t make things like they used to,” is so true.
Cars and trucks were made of steel, and so were the toys. I still have each piece of my original CorningWare dish set, right down to the coffee cups; it’s indestructible. Bill carries a knife that he has no idea how old it is, and he has a pair of Navy-issued mittens from the 1970s he still wears occasionally.
Remember the old metal coffee cans? How many of us have used those for feed scoops, nuts, bolts and nail buckets over the years? I’m constantly asking Bill if he wants the plastic ones, but he says they aren’t the same.
When Bill and I married, I had my handed-down tools, including the hammer that someone welded a steel handle onto because the wooden one was broken out. He was not impressed by my hammer. It served me well with whatever I needed. It was great for busting ice in the horse and cattle tanks, and I could hammer a nail; it was a multipurpose tool, and you couldn’t break it.
Remember when saving old glass jars because something would be canned in them the following summer? I have some jars that might be older than me, but there are no cracks or chips, so they remain in the canning lineup. Old jars also sell fast at yard sales or auctions.
This past summer, my old upright freezer went out. When I say “old,” I have no idea how old it was; it was likely made in the 1960s. It was given to me by someone who was clearing out an old house and had no use for it. Who doesn’t need more freeze space? I had that big green freezer long before Bill and I got married and I moved it when I moved; it became the shop freezer. We didn’t run it all of the time because we have another freezer in the house, but it ran like a champ for the 15-plus years I had it.
How many of you are running equipment as old or older than your kids? If it’s still going with a little TLC and proper maintenance, it’s more than paid for itself.
As most of you know, our country’s farmers and ranchers are getting older. According to the USDA, the average American farmer is now 57 and a half years old, but we all know many producers who are above the average who keep plugging away. There’s a lot of value in our older farmers and ranchers.
Our older producers can tell you the history of every animal in their flocks or herds, going back generations, and know how to help a sick animal recover. Our older producers know the tricks of the trade when it comes to getting a cold-natured truck or tractor to fire up and how to read the markets.
Our older producers aren’t afraid to tell you or anyone else if you are doing a task or chore incorrectly and will be the first ones to congratulate you when you do it right.
Our older farmers can be hard nuts to crack, but they have been there and done that many, many times. Let’s value them and learn from them as we go because once they are gone, so is their vast knowledge.
Julie Turner-Crawford is a native of Dallas County, Mo., where she grew up on her family’s farm. She is a graduate of Missouri State University. To contact Julie, call 1-866-532-1960 or by email at [email protected].
