By Becky Nelson
Bramblings
For the last several months, I have been trying to cut back my hours spent at work. I have not been very successful. Like many employers, small and large, trying to find, train and then retain staff has been a challenge. Also like many small employers, I cannot pay people wages competitive with other employers. The profit margins on a farm are minimal, at best, and higher wages mean higher prices charged. People don’t like to pay more for their food, so the Catch 22 of economics make the angst of doing business very great sometimes. Sometimes I just want to give up.
I don’t want to hire more people, as we are really trying to size down a bit, but we old farmers are getting older every day, and trying to keep up with the demands of the farm seem a harder chore every morning. The temptation to throw in the towel and pick up more friendly hours and lifestyles looms large some days for us farmers. It’s a conundrum.
We have several aging farm friends who have done just that … thrown in the towel and changed business plans or shut the doors completely. We are trying to figure out a game plan and a transition strategy here at our own farm so that doesn’t happen. The younger generation here is interested in keeping the farm farming in some way or form, but the business and the strategies need to change. We need to write a few new chapters in this book of farm life.
I have been stepping back of late and truly looking at how busy and successful our farm has become and how far we have progressed. When I look at the masses of Christmas trees ready for purchase and the piles of wreaths ready to be bought and decorated, I have to feel proud of our accomplishments. My husband and I, working in middle management jobs on the other side of the state, decided to jump aboard the farm wagon when my parents were struggling to make ends meet and were considering selling the farm. We sold our house, jumped in a U-Haul, left our jobs and headed west. Our agreement was that the first of us to secure a job would be the breadwinner, and I pulled the short straw, working off the farm for 35 or so years while raising two kids and working every free moment at the farm.
We started off with a small vegetable garden and my mother’s expertise in the kitchen, selling pies, bread and vegetables out of the farmhouse kitchen 40 years ago. Every year, we added something new … larger vegetable plots, a raspberry patch, an apple orchard, a maple syrup operation, selling firewood, a snowplow route … every year growing and working as hard as we could to make the operation a year-round affair. We have grown tremendously over the past 40 years, and I am pretty proud of where we are and how far we have come. I was able to leave the off-the-farm workforce several years ago and turn my attention completely to the farm business, my family has expanded with my amazing children, now parents to children of their own, and the blessings far outnumber the dark spots. We are comfortable and we are happy. It has been hard work, but we made it happen.
It’s easy at this stressful time of year in a chaotic world to open up your eyes in the morning to a dark place. I find myself sometimes exploring the dark corners instead of reflecting on the things in which I should take solace and pride: my family, my successful business, the friends and acquaintances and customers that make our lives special.
If you find yourself exploring the shadows instead of looking for the hope and the promise of the holiday season, take a moment to sit quietly and reflect. Even if your life has been hard or the stresses and grief are currently heavy, there had to be some bright spots in the past that can shine some light and give hope for the future. In just a handful of days, the holidays will be over and the future a wide-open blank slate. Let’s start writing a new chapter on that blank slate. It may not look like the past, and may take some turns we aren’t anticipating, but if we work hard and are open to new thoughts, take each challenge with a positive attitude and work to make a bright future, we will be OK. Reach out to those who are struggling and try to be the shining spot in their days or lives, too, and share what you have so they can share in those promises for a brighter future.
