It's Tough For A Boy Sometimes

My dad was a farmer, and he so wanted to pass the family farm onto me. I never happened, I have worked on cars all my adult life. My youngest boy is fourteen and has the farmer gene, if there is such a thing. Farming, ranching, cattle, horses, tractors, and trucks, are his interests in life. A neighbor a few years ago gave him a bummer angus calf that he didn't want to deal with. My boy raised it as a pet. He talked another neighbor into letting him breed his pet with his long horn bull. Then he decided he wanted to do a milk cow for 4H. he found a Jersey calf up in Washington, so we borrowed a horse trailer and drove up and bought it. he had it bred last fall. It is a nice looking heifer, but on the small side, and just didn't seem to be ready to have a calf. So we had it checked and found out that it must have been a twin because it doesn't have all the female organs. So he is going to show it at the fair, and then have it butchered. On the one hand, he is heartbroken, but now is looking for another one. Such is life.

They say that personal traits often skip a generation and then show up in grandchildren, as in your case it seems to be true.

Hang in there it's one of my pet hobbies getting the right people together I love to see kids getting started. Check around and see if there any older smaller guys they will probably be glad to help. Keep an eye on Craigslist there's always something on there recently gave all my chicken stuff to a kid wanting to start had it for sale till I seen she was starting. One other place check free stuff on Craigslist sometime people have to get rid of critters seen one that was moving and couldn't keep the chickens.

Best he learns now that not every day is a sunny day in May.

Another thing that is lacking in this abundant,glass half full, everything's equal and if it isn't, the govt. will make it right world, is the person who will stand up and tell the other side of the story. It isn't always half full and it isn't always equal and even if they could,you wouldn't want the govt to make it that way for you. Schools don't teach "real life", they teach "best case scenario" and not that only 5-10% will ever see it. Where are kids supposed to learn about the sick ones , the sterile ones , the one you must butcher, the one that won't make it through the winter , the fact that crops won't grow without water and even if they do you have no guarantee you will get enough for the harvest to pay the cost , the fact that that tractor they inherited will need $ 5000 in repairs after one season etc,etc. At the risk of being called "negative" ( oh heaven forbid) one cannot expect a boy starting out to learn all this the hard way just because "that's the way we learned". Things are different and the stakes are a lot higher. Someone has to bring up the negatives or they will think there aren't any. " Heck, why doesn't everyone farm for a living"??? Every "goal" has it's rewards AND risks. If you don't know all of both then you may be in for a rocky journey. They do NOT learn this in school so who does that leave?? We know who. Unfortunately many parents sending /bankrolling their kids off to college have ,and never will have, the "negative" talk with their kids. The poor kids will then have $ 50,000-$ 100,000 of college debt (or parents will) while working at a $ 25,000 yr job. Sounds like your boy has the "passion" which is the first thing one must have for that profession where one never works a day in their life, as they say. Uneducated /unchecked passion and or positive thinking is a quick way to the poor house and a quick way to end up hating what was once a "passion". If it really is his passion then support him but make sure he gets aquainted with the negatives even if you have to visit a few farms and let him see/hear their stories. The negatives usually will make a person with a passion strive even more to eliminate them. It's just nice to know what they are at the start to. Good luck to both.

Both my grand dad's loved livestock,my dad well not so much . Me, I love milk cows . I have three boys, two hated the barn , one loves the barn . Good thing some one likes cows , or it would be a hungry world . Your son will find his way , just help were you can.

Farming is a lot more fun when you don't actually need the money from the farming operation to live on and pay bills.

Randy and Traditionalfarmer pretty well nailed it. Learning the disappointments in life is so important and all too often skipped in child rearing. I hope your son can live his dream but it will be an uphill struggle. I'm the 4th generation on this farm and only the 2nd that depends on it for a living. I worked 20 years in town before I farmed full time. Some years I get looking at my buddies that are retiring with a good pension and think that keeping the steady job would have been best. But money isn't everything and being satisfied in life is priceless.
Your son will be so much more mature learning the REAL facts of life.

Amen to that.