I have two sons that farmed with us for a while very early on. But they are too much like their old dad, just damn hard to get along with (tongue in cheek - we get along fine now that we do not farm together). Too much testosterone in the early days.

Yes a daughter that has been on the farm for many years and is very much an integral part of it. The one that swore she would never date a farmer, would never be a farmer and would never live on a farm. Funny how that turned out. (like one of my dad's favorite sayings, "never say never"). She did the marketing and merchandising of the grain and basically kept everyone else going. Pulled anhydrous tanks, ran parts, ect., was on the go about every day. She is great at what she does but just is not a risk taker. And to run a farm in this day and age, at least one the size we were running, it definitely involved risk. It is just not in her nature to take charge of that level of financial risk. She probably would have had ulcers and died of a heart attack if that stress was forced on her.

I on the other hand am what my dad coined as a "plunger". He claimed I just plunged into anything I was passion about. He was actually a lot more of a risk taker than he claimed, but he just never did it with borrowed money. His heyday was back in a time when you could actually farm and make a living at it (and do very well) without borrowing money. I have never been very risk averse up until lately when I am starting to become more accustomed to the idea. I think I am starting to actually enjoy it.

John