The Farm...A Legacy for Future Generations

On Tuesday, Matt and I took the day off and went on the Minnesota Stockmen's Cattle Tour in Roseau County.  It was so fun spending the day together.  The kids stayed with Grandma Carmen.  We stopped at a feed place, a feedlot, a few different farms, and a place that makes outdoor woodstoves.  We were carried around on a charter bus, and given a variety of information/sources on different subjects.

Anyway, one of my little booklets I was reading through said this:

"Telling the REAL Story of Beef 
As the gap between consumers and agriculture widens, consumers have questions about how beef is raised.  Farmers and ranchers like you can bridge that gap by answering questions and telling your personal story. 

Telling the REAL story means telling YOUR story:

• You care for your animals, 365 days a year, often at all hours and in all weather.
• You care for the land because it is your livelihood an dlegacy for future generations.
• You care about providing safe and nutritious beef for consumers."

My thouhts today are on the second bullet point.  I've always thought my parents raised us a little differently than (most) other kids.  My dad told us all the time that he hoped we'd come back after high school and take over the farm.  He wanted us around to continue with what he'd started.  It was a totally different viewpoint than we hear in schools:

• Go!
• Get away from here for a while.
• Be somebody!
• Get an education
• Make a ton of money
• You don't need to come back here; there's nothing here anyway.

While some kids truly do want that, I didn't.  And I think all of my classmates and family knew it.  That's why I came back, I guess.  I kind of regret going to college to be a teacher.  Yes, it is a job that I could get around here, but it's not truly what I wanted to be.  I want(ed) to be a farmer, stay-at-home mom, helper, etc.  I didn't want a job in town. I was raised helping on the farm.  That's where I wanted to be. 

I suppose I was pushed into finding a major in college.  Yes, I did love it.  I'm a nerd that way.  I loved learning new things.  However, I wish I would've studied something I was truly passionate about, like farming/cows/piano.  Oh well...I guess I can study things I'm interested in on my own.  I'm not saying I'm not happy with having my education, because it has come in handy with subbing on the side here and there, but if I could do it over, I'd have gone to NDSU (after I got over being scared of Fargo) or UMC.  Anyway, my point in all of this is because I always think about my own kids now that I have my own family.

I'm going to tell them all the time that I hope they come back and farm with their dad or come back and live around here.  I want them close.  Selfish? Maybe.  Maybe not.  Maybe it's just  a momma hoping my children love the land and the way they were raised and want the same thing for their own families.  I know it's a long way off, but that's my hope and dream.