Hello, farm family! Welcome to “Farmers First,” a new column devoted to your farm’s most important asset: You!
Let me introduce myself. I am a fifth-generation farm kid from Rhode Island who provides remote and in-person consulting to farmers who want more satisfying, efficient and peaceful farm lives.
I have personal experience in a wide range of commercial agriculture: dairy, horses, retail and wholesale fruits and vegetables and agritourism. I also worked as the agricultural Extension agent at the University of Rhode Island, providing technical support to the state’s vegetable, fruit and livestock producers.
It’s fair to say I understand the joys and challenges of farming from the inside out.
I know the heartbreak of losing an entire peach crop with one hard frost. I know the exhaustion of hauling irrigation pipes every day for weeks during a drought, watching the ponds getting lower and lower and cringing each time rain fell to the east and the west, somehow missing our farm again.
Like you, I’ve struggled to balance the competing needs of farm, family, and home.
The first year of my (now defunct) marriage, I commuted 45 minutes from my home to the family farm to give wagon rides with the Percheron draft horses they bought specifically for me to drive. I felt torn between fulfilling my commitment to my parents and the farm and building a new family with my husband. There were days my husband rode beside me on the wagon while I told the same farm stories to group after group, just so we could spend some time together.
With all the challenges, why on Earth does anyone farm?
The short answer is love. You love the smell of freshly turned earth warmed by the spring sun. You love both the routine and the variety of the seasons, that strange combination of predictable change. You love watching the miracle of life as tiny seeds germinate, emerge, expand and eventually produce food for body and soul.
You also love the community. There’s the rare privilege of being able to work side-by-side with your children, parents and grandparents and the connection you have with every other farmer around the world. Regardless of the size of the farm or the crops you grow, farmers just get each other.
I am reminded of this special community every year when I hang five wooden, Muscovite-style ornaments on my Christmas tree. They were a thank-you gift from a Russian delegation after a presentation I gave on sustainable agriculture. It’s been over a decade, but I still think of my Russian farm family with gratitude, regardless of any political differences I may have with their leadership.
Since we have this amazing extended family, why do so many farmers feel isolated, overwhelmed and stressed out?
I think it’s because farmers are really good at helping each other with the technical aspects of farming and not so good at addressing the thornier lifestyle aspects. Established farmers often support newbies by lending equipment, sharing growing tips and even introducing them to new markets. Ask a farmer how they’re doing, though, and you’ll likely hear “I’m still on the right side of the grass” or “Can’t complain – wouldn’t do any good anyway.”
I always hear an unspoken fatalism in those replies, a sense that farming is just plain hard, it’ll never be any different and there’s no use even talking about it. Farming is hard, no doubt about it. There are some things that you can’t change. (Weather and taxes come to mind.) However, there are many simple, practical steps that can make farm life a little easier and a whole lot more enjoyable.
That’s what this column is all about – helping you get more out of your farm life without doing more.
Full disclosure: the tools and tips I’ll be sharing won’t get you earlier tomatoes or sweeter apples. They won’t help you manage thrips, and they certainly won’t address Phytophthora. What they will do is help you redefine (and meet!) your personal needs and goals, increase efficiency, reduce stress and restore greater peace and cooperation to your farm relationships.
I really do consider you part of my farm family, so I want to hear from you. Do you have a conflict with a difficult neighbor? Do you struggle to find enough time for farm work, housework and family time? Do you enjoy farming but also feel like you’ve lost part of yourself … and you’d like to get it back?
Email me with the biggest challenges you face in your farm life … or steps you’ve taken for a more fulfilling one. I’ll make every effort to address your comments in future columns (without naming names, of course!). I can guarantee other farmers are struggling with the very same thing and would benefit from your insight and experience.
You can reach me at kcastrataro@pen-light.org or through my website, penlightfarmers.com.
It’s your time to grow!
