Farmer day

Just came in from another easy day of living the good life. Just like many , many other guys and gals I will wake before most to milk my micro herd and feed the rest. Then off to a day job. I will do this and keep doing it because God has just wired some of us to be this way. I DO NOT ask for a special day so some one can thank me, But I will be first inline to thank all the rest of the folks out there who are proud to call them selves a Farmer. For those who feel its just a job like any other , you must have never spent the long hard painful hours or felt the anxiety of losing after working so hard and playing by the rules. Not all farmers make it in this game that the deck is stacked against them. Today I think we should be thankful to everyone. Those who won, those who lost it, and all that even tried. Even those who have long past. In the beginning of this country a large percentage of the population was working the land to survive. Today to say negative things towards farmers is also showing little respect for our ancestors. Farmer day I think is a day for ALL FARMERS. Living or past. Organic or conventional. Food or Fiber. Not all these people were on the dole for government money, or polluting the land and air. Politics aside. Al

Al I agree 100 percent day in day out all kinds of weather.I read the post below and it is the same thing in most areas people are so far removed they have no clue where food comes from.We do not poison people as you and I are constantly checked for quality by our milk plants, state, federal and intrastate inspectors farm ID numbers ,third party inspectors by people the milk plants resells our milk to.Any time our animals are sold they are traced back to the point of origin.Only when the store is empty they will figure it out.Scott

Here?s to you men!

I didn?t mean to stir the pot with the other post. Mom told me not to step in the fresh cow s#!t, but I would still take off my shoes and run through from time to time.

Agriculture supports a broad array of industries and all those folks involved deserve a hats off. From the chemists to the financiers to the dock workers to the lady running the lung gun that will put your turkey on the table a month from now. I read this before I kick my rooster off the perch early Saturday morning as you are likely getting up to milk your herd. And though your cream might not butter my thanksgiving biscuit here?s to you.

Very well put Al, thank you !

Some good points Al and who knows why a guy is wired the way he is? It probably has a lot to do with things like where you were born, how you were raised, your family situation. and the priorities you put on available time every day along with financial need. Working all those hours at two jobs tells me that you're doing it to make ends meet (like all of us). That's not a negative comment, it's just a fact that we all face on a daily basis, the bills have to be paid. There are countless individuals who are not farmers who are doing the same thing. Remember, there's never any shortage of volunteer positions in the community to fill anyone's waking hours, problem is that no income is derived from doing that.

Well said.

Well said all and thanks to Y'all!

Did you have any wind damage Thursday Al? We were in Traverse City from Wednesday til yesterday morning. Didn't do any bike riding due to wind and lake effect rain. We did the tunnel of trees Thursday. There were some trees and branches down. I was afraid of one coming down on the car. The wife got some pictures of waves breaking up on the lighthouse in Potoski. Didn't know if it was blowing that hard down your way or not.

Just another project for you if any trees came down on fences or anything.

Not much wind damage here. The tornado from a month ago took care of anything loose, weak, or not tightly fastened down. I live where it is flat and in the open so the winds really get howling. Doesnt help that the BTOs keep clearing off wooded chunks of land that once slowed the wind down. Al

Interesting comment but I think you're selling the intelligence of a lot of the population a bit short Scott. To say they don't have a clue where food comes from is stretching it a bit. Maybe a young kid in an urban environment might stumble with that in his/her early years, but certainly not too many adults unless they were totally (and I mean totally) out of it. Look at a lot of things in our everyday life that we use, I'm sure there are lots of things that we really don't understand in detail but still have a basic comprehension of where it came from at least.

Crazy Horse I may have been a little sharp on some things but in my area where there is alot of agriculture you would be suprised at the adults today and there grown children could care less where there food comes and complain about the noise,smells,and machines at harvest time.I hope it is not like that in your are.Scott

I have spent a good part of my summers in TC for most of my life. I have to ask...what is the tunnel of trees?

Good point .... and like that and everything else that people have and experience these days, they probably have no interest in where things come from or the people that are responsible for it being there for them, be it food, computers, cars, medical care, education, or anything else for that matter. Maybe learning to be less sensitive to these kinds of attitudes is the solution, who knows? I guess what I'm saying is that farmers are not the only group that is overlooked and underappreciated by society. Teachers, health care workers, tradespeople, fast food staff, store clerks, pump jockeys, ...... they're all taken for granted unfortunately. All of them contribute and provide something that others benefit from.

M-119. Harbor Springs to Cross Village. Lake Michigan is on one side,trees are thick as fleas the whole way. The road's so narrow that there isn't even a center line. It's like a paved two track. Here's a You Tube video of it.
Link

Cool, thanks. Never heard of it.

It's a nice drive,but be prepared to take your time. The speed limit is 20 mph for a good part of it. Sure not a place for a large vehicle,but that doesn't stop them. We met a pickup pulling a big fifth wheel travel trailer. Saw another one headed in to the north end right after we came out. We got back down to Harbor Springs and there were two big motor homes headed in. One was towing a car. I wonder if they got out without driving the car by itself.

My brother (now retired) has a doctorate in food science. He worked for Pearson Candy, Pillsbury, and finished with Land-O-Lakes. When he was with Pillsbury he had a hand in crafting many things that are on our shelves or in our restaurants today while he was research and development. Part of R&D is consumer survey. Trust me, a lot of the general public doesn?t know where there food comes from.