Bramblings: Farming future

By BECKY NELSON
By Becky Nelson

It is easy to whine when the weather outside is frightful. Sitting here as it rains, I can’t help but think of all the farm chores that I could be doing outside on a sunny day. We are in the midst of raspberry season, and because of the fragility of the berries, we don’t pick on wet days so I worry about crop loss.

But, I whine.

I had a reader comment on one of my columns recently that I was whining. I don’t mean to whine or be a “Debbie Downer,” but I think it’s important that folks understand the frustrations, roadblocks, hard climbs, and daily struggles that farmers face.

A lot of our work is dependent on things we cannot control, and it can be an overwhelming and discouraging task just to keep the barn doors open at times. Not only are we totally dependent upon Mother Nature and her twists and turns of weather, the availability and affordability of enough labor and the time and energy to put in long days, but we are also wholly dependent upon the consumer who is also affected by myriad forces including weather, economy and health.

It takes a lot of hands to raise a crop of any sort, and without inexpensive labor, the cost of food would be a whole lot higher and make the consumer whine as loudly as we do. We are starting to see prices creep up in grocery stores, and most certainly in local outlets as we farmers have to pay higher wages in order to attract workers and skyrocketing supply prices to keep going. Many are turning to labor from other countries who are willing to travel and spend several months on farms, as the local labor pool seems shallow and the work is hard and hot or hard and cold in our unpredictable summers and winters. It is a whole lot more attractive to most to take an entry level job in a business at $15 per hour than a part-time stint for minimum wage at a farm.

But I am whining. We have readjusted our cropping of land a bit so we can manage production with fewer hired hands, turning our own labor to harvesting, picking and laboring. As we enter a time of life when many of our friends and acquaintances are retiring or selling their businesses and enjoying the fruits of their years of labor, we often sit back and scratch our heads and wonder why we are doing what we do. Retirement is not an option for us for a good long while from an economic stand, nor would we know what to do with ourselves if we weren’t working. I don’t think full retirement is ever in our cards just from personal perspectives, and we note several of our friends retiring from their life careers and re-entering the workforce in some capacity just to keep themselves occupied and active.

We hope to slow down a little bit as the months and years tick by, but I think “retirement” is blown out of proportion. Yes, some of our cohorts are enjoying travel and a nomadic lifestyle, but others need a bit of work to keep themselves mentally and physically fit, active and productive. I can’t think of a better place than the farm to “retire,” but I know that if I am here, I will be working, because I can, because I want, and because there are big hurdles to be topped by generation next to make it a profitable venture and attractive enough to dive in while giving up steady paychecks.

I urge any younger person who is not quite satisfied with their lifestyle to look into agriculture. The world of ag is changing as rapidly as the rest of the world around us, and there are dynamic and progressive growing strategies, environmental strategies and sustainability strategies being implemented to make the production of our food an exciting and dynamic enterprise. Just as every day is not just a drag on our bodies but a rewarding career, the future of farming is bright with new ideas and new ways to grow those potatoes, ears of corn and bunches of carrots. Time for us old fogeys to step aside and let the younger generation take the reins, sometime in the very near future.

Becky Nelson is co-owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport, New Hampshire. You may reach her at [email protected].