Life on the farm is far from ordinary. It involves countless sacrifices for both the farmer and the farmer's family, especially in planting and harvesting seasons. Growing up on a family farm means meals are eaten with one less person at the table and then running to the field with some food, so he can finish combining, mowing, chopping,I or whatever needs to be done. Farming means waking up to cattle out and having to wake up the rest of the family. Farming means having to cancel plans because it is such a nice day out and there is a 60 percent chance of rain the next four days. Living on a farm means going to pick up your father from the field ten minutes before engagement pictures are to happen. Farming is sacrificing a lot, but gaining so much more. The lessons I have learned have made me and will continue to make me a better person that is filled with faith, service, and is family and community oriented.

I have learned the importance of family. Family is everything. They're are your support system. Your rock. They understand the work and the sacrifice. A single farmer cannot farm without a family willing to make their own sacrifices to feed and care for the rest of the world.

I have learned the importance of faith. Faith is everything. The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn't still be a farmer. Farmers must have great trust in the Lord that despite the strong winds and flooding that a harvest will still be plentiful, that the price of milk will go back up, that the calves will get better, and that God will always provide.

I have learned the importance of hard work. A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes hard work, sweat, and determination. You must work hard, but you must love what you do to be successful.

A farmer wakes before the sun and goes to sleep long after the coyotes started howling, because the job of the farmer is never done. Farming is not a job or a career, but a way of life, a culture, a completely different approach to life that a very few choose to provide for the rest of the world.

Without these very few hard working people, you would be naked, hungry, and without shelter. So, when you eat your ice cream or drink your coffee with your creamer, thank a farmer and their family. Thank them out loud, but also by learning more about agriculture and this culture.