Here's to the Farmer...And Everyone Else

Every time we think about food our minds either go to the idea of picking things up at the grocery store or the farmer who works so hard to raise that food.

But here's the thing: feeding the world isn't just the farmer's job. No, I'm not here to downplay all the work they do or make fun of them in any way. I just want to throw out there that there's a lot more to the process than just the guy that runs the tractor.

So here's to the farmer, but also...

Here's to the teenage kid that gets hired on to do the grunt work like cultivate fields, paint grain bins, and throw hay.

Here's to the agronomist that helps the farmer figure out why patches of wheat aren't growing as good as others and makes sure he gets the tools he needs to fix that.

Here's to the mechanic that hasn't had time for a sit-down lunch break in a month and gets angry phone calls every ten minutes about broken down equipment but still takes the time to properly replace belts on the combine so they can get back up and running.

Here's to the farmer's wife that makes his lunch every morning, washes and patches up his dusty, dirty, greasy jeans, and flags his combine down the highway even though she knows she has other things to do.

Here's to the retired old geezer that refuses to actually quit working and hauls grain into the elevators, always keeps things interesting with his stories, and has more than enough licorice and cookies to go around.

Here's to the operators of those grain elevators that work the same hours as the farmers and keep the grain truck drivers supplied with cold waters and smiles.

Here's to the ladies at the co-ops who spend long hours processing tickets and deciphering people's chicken scratch writing.

Here's to the truckers that wait patiently at the elevators for their trailers to fill so they can take the grain wherever it needs to go.

Here's to the marketers who bend over backwards to get the best prices for each commodity.

All in all, we need farmers. Without them, we wouldn't be able to eat. But it's not just the farmer we should be thanking! He has a lot more help than most people think.