I began writing about farmers and ranchers in 2015 as an outsider-looking-in because I wanted to understand how agriculture works. Here is what I learned about them.

Family Matters

It is important to farm and ranch families that they work together as a family. It’s common to find grandparents, parents, children and cousins working the farm. Although each has different roles, they know it takes all of them pulling the load together whether you’re five years old or 95 years old.

Sustainability is a way of life, not a clever concept or marketing ploy.

When you meet a farmer, they self-identity where they are in the long line of farming tradition by saying, “I’m a third generation (or fourth or fifth) farmer.” Most families have been farming the same piece of land since President Lincoln started the Homestead Act in 1862. They understand future generations must have good soil and water to produce crops, so sustainability is critical to family succession.

Farming is a way of life, not a career.

Unlike many children who wonder what they’ll be when they grow up, many children of farm families want farming to be their destiny. I’ve seen five-year-old children playing with toy tractors on the living room floor discussing planting times, crop rotation and when to sell their crops. 

They are highly educated.

Don’t let a little barnyard on their boots fool you. Farmers and ranchers are highly educated with at least a bachelor’s degree if not a masters and PhD. 

They care deeply about soil.

To me, it’s dirt, but to a farmer, the soil underfoot is a complex system of organisms that take the seed they put in and do what they like best; grow things. If you want to see a farmer’s eyes light up, ask them about the soil they have on their farm. Then prepare to enter their world of awe and admiration of the soil that grows your food.

They are experts in multiple disciplines.

I know of no other profession that requires as many varied skills as that of farming. Farmers don’t wear just one hat; they wear numerous hats and excel at each of them. They are scientists, CEOs, mechanics, global trade experts, financial experts, technology geeks and policy wonks.

They are a tight-knit community, whether it is local, national or international.

It is common for farmers to drop whatever they are doing to help a neighbor in distress. I’ve seen farmers fire up their combines to harvest the crops of a neighboring farmer who has cancer. I’ve watched a convoy of 50 trucks go from Ohio farmers to Kansas farmers whose livestock and crops were wiped out with wildfires. I know farmers with a half-million-dollar tractor who travel to Africa to help farmers who still use oxen.

They bring us hope.

Farmers and ranchers are eternal optimists. Each new seed planted, or baby calf born is a deliberate act of hope. However, Mother Nature has been particularly brutal to Midwest farmers. One day she’s their best friend with rain and sunshine and the next she’s their worst enemy with drought and blizzards. I have interviewed them during these times, and you see a tear trickle down their cheek at the grief of their loss, but a deep resolve to start all over again. And again. And again. I know of no profession that lives on faith and hope like farmers do.

They understand the global economy.

When I drive by a wheat field glowing gold in the summer sun, I often sing, “Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.” However, the farmer looks at it and wonders if they’re going to lose money again this year because of the trade wars. I take the grandkids by the dairy so they can moo at the cow, but the people who wake at 4 in the morning to milk those cows wonder how much longer they are going to lose money because of Canada and England changing their import policies.

They value hard work.

It is my opinion that every high school and college student should spend at least a semester working on a farm. Not only will they learn where their food comes from, they will learn how sweet sleep is that comes from physical exhaustion. Farmers start before the sun comes up and work long after it sets. 

If you don’t personally know a farmer or rancher, I encourage you to make friends with one. Spend time with them and you will understand why I admire them.

You can find one near you on our website, www.shopkansasfarms.com.

Rick McNary is a leader in bringing people together to build community and reduce hunger in sustainable ways.