Driving, its something I do alot. I am usually on the road every weekend and sometimes during the week. Driving to pick up kids, driving to pick up cattle, picking up kids and cattle, heading to help kids with their cattle or, heading to a livestock show with kids and cattle. We always have what we call “a concert in the car” because we must have traveling music! Some of our favorite songs are “On the Road Again” and “East Bound and Down”.
Thankfully my husband doesn’t mind my traveling because it means he can relax for a couple of days and not have to work on any of my silly ‘honey-do’ projects. He usually has his own projects to work on, but they are never the same as mine.
Kids and livestock projects are a huge passion of mine and I spend a lot of time helping kids. Sometimes it is just to look at their cattle in the pasture and help pick the next project. Other times we are going to other places to look at cattle and sometimes it is just spending the day getting calves ready for the next show. Livestock show season never ends and I always have people ask me when the last show of the year is, my husband included. The truth is, it never really ends, it just continues with a new set of animal projects.
Most of the kids that I help are over an hour away and so are most of the livestock shows we attend, so I spend a lot of time in the vehicle going places. Due to these long drives, I see a lot of the same country since I tend to travel the same routes. One of the things that I see on these trips and something that concerns me is the loss of our agriculture community.
It is no secret that agriculture is under attack and in many ways. We are losing land due to peoples desire to live in housing communities on the outskirts of town. There are also many extremist groups that are continually attacking and defaming agriculture in a lot of different ways. Our younger generations are becoming farther removed from understanding where their food comes from and having a basic understanding of farming and animal agriculture. The agriculture community is continually expected to do more with less all the while being under attack for doing the very things that keep us all fed and clothed.
I am sure we have all watched Yellowstone and maybe some of the reality shows that are Ag based. Unfortunately, those are all fiction, even if the show is promoted as ‘reality’. Because of these shows I feel like some people have an unrealistic outlook on agriculture and think that everyone is making tons of money and life is all beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
I don’t know anyone involved in agriculture that doesn’t love what they do. Do they go thru periods of time they dislike what they do, of course. When that dumb goat has its head stuck in the fence or the bull breaks down a gate for the third time to get to some heifers. The tractor has a breakdown in the middle of harvest or haying and the forecast shows rain. The years of drought, the excessive rains, or an unexpected snowstorm.
These things make it harder for the younger generation to stay in agriculture because it is not an easy life, and many other careers offer better hours, better benefits and definitely better pay. One reason I do the things I do with the youth is to foster a love and passion for agriculture. My own kids grew up in agriculture and were heavily involved in showing livestock and 4-H and FFA. They have made many connections in agriculture that help them to this day in their careers and understand the hard work it takes to be involved in agriculture.
I hope that what I do with the youth gives them a love and appreciation for agriculture and that they will one day continue to teach the next generation. I enjoy talking to kids about their projects and what they want to accomplish, and we do a lot of this while traveling up and down the road. We also have some funny conversations, and we make a lot of great memories. Of course, there is the usual “when are we stopping to eat,” does the hotel have a pool,” or every parent’s favorite, “I have to go the bathroom”. I hope that when they get older, they remember these great memories and they stay involved in agriculture in some way.
The youth and the younger generation are the future of Agriculture, and we need to find ways to involve them and keep them engaged. We also need to teach those that are not familiar with agriculture a better appreciation and understanding of what we do.
Debbie Elder is a native of Ottawa County, Okla. and lives on her farm in Webster County, Mo. To contact Debbie, call 1-866-532-1960 or by email at [email protected].
