All of my life, I have been a part of agriculture; I guess you could say agriculture was bred into me. Coming from an agriculture background, I have learned several lessons about life sooner than most of my peers:
1. Excuses aren't welcome
When you're young you always try to give the excuse of "I don't want to do that". Well when it comes to agriculture, those words never lead you to do absolutely nothing. In farming and in agriculture, in general, you quickly learn that a job is a job and your excuses aren't allowed. Being a part of the agriculture industry is a full-time job with no breaks ever given. Through this lesson, I've quickly learned that in life you don't avoid doing your work; you must do everything no matter how much you don't want to.
2. Be tough or get out
In sports, they tell you not to cry. Well in agriculture, you learn that there are no weaknesses allowed. You have to roll your sleeves up and get dirty or nothing will get done. Life throws you obstacles; you just have to buck it up, little camper.
3. You can't just do things halfway
I've heard this more times than not. You can't halfway wash a calf, you can't halfway clean the pens, you can't halfway plant or harvest fields. You just can't halfway do things in agriculture, but this also pertains to life. You can't just do half of your job. You can't just decide when you want to put effort into a marriage or relationship. You just can't halfway do life, folks.
4. Patience is key
Thanks to the cows, I learned more patience than I thought I would at a young age. You see, we don't eat before the cattle eat. We also don't eat until we are at a good stopping point in the field. I also started learning patience when we would walk to barn every ten minutes seeing if the cow had progressed during calving, just to find that she wasn't progressing as fast as we would have hoped. I learn patience every time my calf doesn't eat in a timely fashion, or every time I have my back turned and my heifer dumps her bucket of water all over the stall. Patience in life doesn't just include those moments you have to wait; it also includes when you have to remember some things aren't worth getting upset about.
5. How to drive at a young age
Like most of the people in agriculture, I learned how to drive before I got my driving permit at 15. I was helping move the service truck from field to field as well as helping work ground before I got my license so I was fully prepared to get on the road on my own at 16.
6. Family is important
I don't just mean blood family either. Sure, my family is great and being a part of agriculture with them is wonderful, but there's also those extra family members you pick up along the way. There are the old farmers in the diner that know your life story better than you due to them talking your grandpa every day. Then there are the people in the livestock industry that give you tips and help you broaden your knowledge. You really don't know a stranger and they've all taught you the same thing- family is an impact in your life and they don't have to be blood-related.
7. Sometimes you just don't have control
I would like to say that I learned that I can control some of the events that occur in my life, but in reality, I can't. The only thing that I can control is how I react to certain situations that happen in my life. I've learned that you can't control the weather to make harvest and planting season go smoother. I've lost more calves than I count from unfortunate calving experiences; when I was younger it was natural to burst into tears when we couldn't save a calf. Like any 5-12 year old, I used to tear up on the way home from a sale understanding that we just sold cows. One of the difficult things for some people is losing, sure it is frustrating but it's life, right? After more deaths, sales, and losses than I can count, I started understanding that sometimes life just happens and there's nothing you can do about it. In agriculture, it is going to pour to screw up the farming plan, there are going to be deaths, and you're always going to have to sell some things. Life isn't much different; you always have things that you just can't control and sure it stinks, but you have to go with it.
