Burrs: Farming is a family business

I grew up on a farm in Atkinson. I spent a good portion of my childhood riding along with my family on the farm, during planting, harvest, and everything in between.

Back then, there weren’t buddy seats like many tractors and combines have today. I sat on the armrest. My favorite perch was when I could squeeze my child-sized lawnchair inside the cab and I could ride in that instead.

I loved going to the local FS, which had a gumball machine in the office, and I would fill a coffee cup full of gumballs to last me the day. My uncle always had gummy worms in his lunch box, so when I rode with him in the tractor, I could count on snacking on gummy worms. It’s the little things that I remember so clearly.

When you grow up on a farm, being a part of the farm is just a way of life. I can’t imagine my childhood any other way.

Now my kids are making their own memories in the confines of tractor and combine cabs on our farm, just as I did as child. When heading to the field, we leave with packed lunches and backpacks full of crayons, coloring books, toys, and more. We play games, do homework and talk, all while getting the job at hand done.

Oftentimes, when we think of farmers, we think of the pictures that were painted for us in our childhood story books, usually of an older man in overalls, but the reality now is different.

Each farm family has its own unique story, but when you drive by that field and see those farmers harvesting that crop, you can count on the fact that there is a family out there. Most days on our farm, you will find me (when I’m not working for Farm Bureau), my husband and our two kids out in the field.

Growing up, it was my dad, my uncle and my mom, and when my cousin was old enough, he would help drive equipment on the weekends and after school. On other farms, you might find several generations – grandpa, dad, grandson – working side by side.

This time of year, farmers are working long days to get the harvest in while the weather is good.

When we say farmers are in the field working, we aren’t just talking about one person, on one farm, we are talking entire families.

Farming is a family business. That is something that these families value and take pride in.

This column is dedicated to the family farm, from the hardworking person driving the combine, tractor or semi, to the spouse who probably doesn’t get enough credit for those parts runs and field meals, to the farm kid, snacking on gummy worms and stockpiling gumballs for the day’s harvest ahead.