Fairfield County, Ohio, USA | Original Greaser Bob - 5/5/2025 02:03
You're not getting it. Look at the age of the guys the OP is talking about. Their fathers are still there, lurking over these guys. They are puppets. By the time the ol' man croaks and the strings are cut, they themselves will be too old to call it quits at farming and do what they really wanted with their lives.
This exactly.
Farming has never been the thing that I was drawn to. Computers are my calling. They do exactly what you tell them to; nothing more and nothing less. I've had tech-related jobs at various organizations over the years, and I love the tech aspect of it (but not the management/business).
My dad has always hated just about everything electronic; "hate" is not an exaggeration there - the only exception seems to be the TV. If a warning light activates on a tractor, he "fixes it" by disabling the sensor. When the corn planter monitor (an old Deere Computer Trak 100) started malfunctioning because of a harness fault, he just disconnected it and went on about planting... blissfully ignorant of running out of seed, a row not engaged, or whatever. His motto is "work harder". There is no "work smarter" aspect; never has been. Just do things the way it's always been done, and exactly when he says to do it. The overwhelming majority of his family (he has a ton of siblings) and "friends" are the same way. As a result, I wrote off farming and wanted nothing at all to do with it, full stop.
But in my early 30s, I had some health problems that caused me to quit my job and take some time off work. About the same time, my brother started pushing to be more involved with the farm. He bought an Ag Leader Compass off of someone he knew who was an Ag Leader dealer. I had no idea that precision ag was even a thing that existed, much less that there was a whole industry there. I'm fascinated by all of the tech now going into farming, and wish that I'd gotten started with it a couple of decades ago. You can accomplish so much more in less time, much more accurately (auto steer is a far better driver than I am), and you actually get data back from it, so you can make better decisions over time.
Now dad is in his mid 70s, and while he's slowing down a bit physically, I don't really have any concerns about that part. But we're all pretty sure that he's losing his mind -- several of his brothers have already; he's just one of the younger ones. Most of my life he's had a very short temper and his decisions often seemed arbitrary, but now they seem even more strange, and he's sometimes unable to answer mom's questions when she asks him things about the cattle. And while he seems to understand his own record keeping, none of the rest of us do.
Dad will never retire. So my brother and I are trapped in the "dad is the farmer and we're just here to accomplish everything despite him" routine until he's gone. To use a term that will unfortunately annoy the hell out of many folks here: it's a toxic situation. I wouldn't be surprised if 40-50% of the time we spend doing farm-related things is diagnosing, repairing, or replacing something that dad neglected or broke. (The most irritating examples are that last year he destroyed not one but two wiring harnesses, just because he didn't take the time to ensure that they weren't tangled up in the PTO shaft, when hooking up those implements. And he destroyed a GPS receiver harness by driving through low-hanging branches, because he didn't take the time to remove the receiver... or just stay away from the trees.)
My brother loves farming. He's always been the one that wanted to take over the farms. I'm sure that he wouldn't say that he feels trapped, but part of that is that he also has a full-time job where he makes good money. I do feel trapped though, to some extent, even though I have a tech job elsewhere. Sure, I could probably find a better job somewhere else and walk away from the family farm operation, but my brother doesn't have the time to do the stuff that I do, and ultimately I'm sure that the family would have to sell at least a good part of the land. I love the land; it's been in my (mother's) family for more than a hundred years. I don't want it to go anywhere.
All of that might've just been about my situation, but I personally know several other folks in their 30s-40s who are in similar situations, just in my local area. Working on their family farm, usually with an outside job also, and not doing the things that would make them personally happy/fulfilled.
Life and decisions are much, much more complex than just "sell everything and walk away". So many seem quick to judge, without taking the time to really understand each situation.
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Why do you farm?
