Feed the sows
From a neighbor get fresh eggs
Shingle a roof
Trim a horse hoof
A newborn calf on wobbly legs
Spring is here, time to plant
A few dry days God please grant
Let me sow the corn my father begs
A field to plow
Wipe sweat from your brow
Fix a broken pipe
No time to goof
Paint something so it's weatherproof
Tractors to polish and wipe
Spring is gone in a poof
Shovels stored in oil to keep them rustproof
The apples are not yet ripe
Mend a barbed wire fence
Haul a load of manure
Use some common sense
Farm on the contour
Here's a grease gun
It's kind of fun
Have to keep the machinery lubed
Reap the crops from the field
Pray for a big yield
Send it into the silo along a big tube
My dad likes only real butter
The sight of margarine makes him shudder
Eat a few ears of corn
Grab an udder
Clean the gutter
My boots are getting worn
Milking cows late afternoon
Sometimes seems inopportune
Come on Dad, I've got a date
I really don't want to be late
I ask to leave early
I have a date
I am pleasant, not too surly
He gives in and says, "Better get going or you'll be late."
Thanks Dad!
We go to the county fair
We take cattle and craft projects there
Everyone is in a good mood
We'll be eating a lot of good food
Grab a burger from the 4-H stand
Perhaps a sandwich from the beef booth
Drink pop in the grandstand
Pie al a mode for my sweet tooth
I hate the Tilt-A-Whirl
But dig the 4-H girls
In them I find no fault
"Come on darling.
Let's go to the dairy booth.
I'll buy you a chocolate malt."
A girl shows her champion steer
In the category known as Beef
To her the creature is so dear
But now she's filled with grief
At the livestock auction she cries
For she knows that he must die
The pain cuts like a knife
But she knows it's the circle of life
The green alfalfa has been cut
In the sun it's left to bake
When it's dry on one side
I flip it with a rake
It's a hot, sunny day. I'm going to rake the hay. I'm not talking about a garden rake. I'm referring to a farm implement called a rake that one pulls behind a tractor. The rake turns the rows of cut alfalfa into nice windrows that can dry in the sun before being baled. The finished product is called hay. Straw, on the other hand, is made from oat chaff. Both are important commodities on a dairy farm.
Before I leave for the field my dad scolds me for not wearing a cap.
"You should cover your head in this heat," he says.
I sigh and give him a weary look. I think I manage not to roll my eyes. I know he means well and is just concerned about my welfare. But, I never cared much for caps and I'm a teenager who thinks he's invincible. I sometimes acquiesce and grab a cap.
I'll be in the blazing sun driving in circles on a little tractor for quite some time. I want to go shirtless but don't want to get burned. I hate wearing sunblock. So, I bring along a long-sleeved shirt. I alternate between going shirtless and wearing the long sleeves. Why not wear a short-sleeved shirt? Are you kidding? I'm not going to get the dreaded farmer's tan.
Farmer's tan - A tan that is only on the arms and neck of a person because he or she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt when the tanning occurred. The rest of the torso is white from lack of exposure. Farmers get this because they do a lot of labor in the sun. This can also happen to people involved in outdoor sports like golf, tennis, baseball, and softball.
So, I rake the hay. Glad it's a sunny day. Round and round the field I go. I listen to the radio.
My Grandpa Lester uses the 4040 John Deere to pull the kicker baler. The baler literally kicks (throws, ejects) the square bales into the wagons. Twine holds the bales together. Some balers have a counter so you can track how many bales you've produced.
The wagons of hay bales get unloaded and stored in our barn. Sometimes the area where the hay is stored is called the haymow. Mow rhymes with cow.
The hay is stored in the mow
The bales are stacked very high
Later it will feed the cows
For winter you need a big supply
You unload hay onto an elevator so the bales can be stacked up high. Unloading hay and stacking it in a hot barn with little airflow is hard work. You never know for sure how many wagons of bales will come from any given field of hay.
My mother asks, "How many loads will there be?"
My fathers says, "It may be only six, we'll just wait and see."
My mother scoffs and says, "It'll probably be eight or nine."
My father replies, "Then I'll be pleasantly surprised."
After unloading each load, the ladies usually go to the house for a brief respite. I usually go to the field with my dad to get the next load. I help switch the wagons so Dad and Grandpa don't have to get off of their tractors.
Before heading back to the field, Dad and I walk over to a nearby water hydrant and drink some water. I drink and drink and drink some more. You sweat a lot during hay baling season.
When I was younger we would stop baling hay in the late afternoon because we still needed to milk the cows.
We'd sit down as a family and have a meal before evening chores. Perhaps it's egg salad sandwiches. Maybe Grandma made her potato salad. We drink some lemonade or Kool-Aid. Grandpa tells funny stories. Sometimes he has trouble finishing a story because he gets to laughing so hard.
When I got older we wouldn't stop for a family meal. I could begin milking the cows and the rest of the family could keep baling hay. It made sense to keep baling. Make hay when the sun shines the saying goes. But, I missed the family meals.
I'm back in school when fall harvest time arrives. My dad hauls loads of corn from the field. A neighbor combines the corn. Sometimes I ride in the cab of the combine with the neighbor and he explains how the big machine works.
The harvest is soon over
Winter comes and so ends fall
Say goodbye to the clover
Soon snow will blanket all
Put snow chains on tractor tires
Tighten a bolt with your pliers
Cut some wood for the fire
Bed down the cows before you retire
The land is barren and asleep
The farmer gets a respite from the crops
But the farm still requires upkeep
The farm life never stops
That's the cycle of a farmer's life
Reap and sow, reap and sow
It's the same for the housewife
They must go on with the show
Farmers feed the world.
ANF - America Needs Farmers
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