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www.thelandonline.com — “Where Farm and Family Meet”
THE LAND — JANUARY 7/JANUARY 14, 2022
The sunny side: Perks of harvest participation There can often be kind of a love/hate In our operation, when it’s time to think relationship going between the farm famabout supper for our crew, it’s my job to ily and the harvest season. abandon the grain cart and leave it to someone else while I scamper to the nearKind of like what goes on between husest town to pick up something for everybands and wives during that arduous one. I could complain that I always have to and elbow-deep paper-flying tax preparabe the one to run after supper for everytion season … even without the profanione; but I don’t do it because those trips to ties which sometimes find their way to town also afford me a chance to answer the home office in the process. Mother Nature’s call like civilized people TABLE TALK The long hours of harvest offset the do. I need to be careful what I wish for… anticipation of what is always hoped to be By Karen Schwaller And after riding high in the tractor cab the biggest crop yet. Machinery breakall day, I feel like I’m riding a skateboard downs at critical times make farmers anxto town as I drive along in the pickup. ious; but when combine heads swallow up the year’s work, there’s something to be said about the satisfacThe days start early and are long. But in retrotion which comes from seeing a field completely spect, they go by quickly. It’s kind of exciting for most gleaned and moved from the field into storage. of the day, but by 8:00 at night I’m usually ‘over it’ and just want to go home. I might have another two There are many perks observed between the first field of the harvest being opened up and the last load of the year going to the bin. Breathtaking sunsets would have to be among those perks that only serve to distract a person so LAND MINDS, from pg. 4 much they could forget why they are out there to the grain market gravy train keep rolling? see it in the first place. More than once I’m sure it Alternative crops need a home at the U.S. was the reason for an S.O.S. call on the radio from Department of Agriculture. Hopefully research and my husband to tell me to get over a row or two study continues in this area and farmers have a because I was too close to the combine. more diverse market at their disposal. It’s the one time of year when I understand why Now more than ever, as agriculture goes, so goes the male of the species finds beauty so distracting. Though I can’t say I’ve ever had to tell my husband America. And the list of issues facing farmers in 2022 is facing everyone. Mental health and scant he was driving too close to me… resources to maintain that health is finally receivWhen you participate in the harvest you get to see ing attention. Hopefully we will be able to do more the world from a higher vantage point. For us short catching up in that long-neglected area. The people, it’s a glimpse into the world of thinner air drought of last year should have been a lesson on and for once, looking down at people … who can also how dependent we are on water and how limited now see our double chins without trying too hard. that irreplaceable resource is. How we use water I always find the irony in it when I’m following the and how much of it we use is just as important as combine in the field, and it appears to move along climate change and U.S. energy policies … perhaps slowly and methodically. But on the side of the com- even more so. Will the current pattern of weatherbine are small gears that you can see running ferrelated disasters continue? And if so, what will that vently — like they’re on a serious mission to keep mean for crop insurance? Will premiums skyrockthat combine going. It reminds me of ducks: looking et? Will smaller insurers be able to compete or will calm above the water, but padding like crazy under- they disappear like the local farmers’ cooperative? neath. I also think it’s how farmers look that time of The on-going New Year’s resolution at The Land is year—calm on the outside, but calculating like crazy to keep these topics alive in the public eye — so we profits and losses for the year, and hoping it’s good can be proactive in agriculture’s future instead of news for the banker and the bottom line. Eating lunch in the field is a special event all its own. A neighbor lady of ours told me just this past fall, “Everything tastes better when it’s eaten in a ST. PAUL — Scholarships are available to help tractor cab.” I had not thought of it that way before; Minnesota organic fruit and vegetable growers parand maybe it’s just a woman’s perspective. It gives me insight as to why young children are always find- ticipate in one-to-one business management guidance. ing their way into the farmer’s nosebag. There’s just Participants can work with instructors to improve something about finding some kind of treasure in their knowledge of accounting, budgeting, finance, there to eat while spending time in the combine cab. tax management and business analysis. Not having to cook supper is another perk for the Annual costs are up to $2,000. Scholarships coverwoman of the house who also gets more fresh air and ing 25 to 50 percent of the costs are available. exercise than normal as she helps with the harvest. Scholarships also are available to farmers transition-
or three hours before that happens, though. It’s amazing to watch the landscape change as the harvest goes along. Not just from our fields being done, but from the work all farmers are accomplishing. The fields are bare, you can see for miles, and it creates the canvas for the coming winterscape. All that’s left to come are the cows quietly grazing, round bales dotting the fields, and then the snow. Most of all, the harvest is a feeling of being part of something much larger than ourselves … something we could not do if it were left solely to human hands. Perhaps it’s a good thing God’s not ‘over it’ by 8:00 at night, like I am. Karen Schwaller brings “Table Talk” to The Land from her home near Milford, Iowa. She can be reached at kschwaller@evertek.net. v
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scrambling to survive the next embargo or virus. We gladly print letters to the editor and if there is a subject we need to be paying attention to, we want to know. And we want to have fun too (mental health?). I’m happy to say our writers are on board for another year to share their words, wisdom and pictures. Inside this issue is The Land’s annual subscription form. For the price of a stamp and a couple bushels of soybeans we’ll deliver 26 issues to your door in 2022. (We don’t even require the soybeans, but the funds come in handy in a lot of ways.) Please take a couple of minutes to fill out the subscription form found inside this issue. TRUTH: When The Land is at trade shows or Farmfest, people fill out the same form at our booth and it really does only take a couple of minutes — ask anyone. If you know a friend or neighbor who might enjoy The Land (city or country) we offer them the same deal. We believe The Land is a family-friendly way to stay connected during a time when things seem so disconnected. We wish everyone a prosperous — and most importantly, safe 2022. Thank you for your support! Paul Malchow is the managing editor of The Land. He may be reached at editor@TheLandOnline.com. v
Scholarships for ag business management ing from conventional to organic operations. Learn more about the organic benchmarking cost share program at z.umn.edu/organicscholarships or by contacting Hadrich at jhadrich@umn.edu or Gigi DiGiacomo, research fellow in the Department of Applied Economics, at gigid@umn.edu. This article was submitted by University of Minnesota Extension. v
