Southern Star Agriculture

06/26/2022

They ran to the groceries, they filled up their carts,
They emptied the Tops and Price Chopper and Walmart,
They panicked and fought and then panicked some more,
Then they rushed to their homes and they locked all the doors.

The food will be gone! The milk eggs and cheese!
The yogurt! The apples! The green beans and peas!
The stores have run out, now what will we do?
They’ll be starving and looting and nothing to do!

Then they paused, and they listened a moment or two.
And they did hear a sound, rising over the fear,
It started out far, then began to grow near.

But this sound wasn’t sad, nor was it new,
The farms were still doing what farms always do.

The food was still coming, though they’d emptied the shelves,
The farms kept it coming, though they struggled themselves,

Though the cities had forgotten from where their food came,
The farms made them food every day, just the same.
Through weather and critics and markets that fall,
The farms kept on farming in spite of it all.

They farmed without thank yous.
They farmed without praise.
They farmed on the hottest and coldest of days.

They’d bought all the food, yet the next day came more,
And the people thought of something they hadn’t before.

Maybe food, they thought, doesn’t come from a store.

Maybe farmers, perhaps, mean a little more

Credit Anna Richards

06/13/2022

Copied from Farm Life

There is a reason why farmers rank near the top of the list as most likely to die by su***de.
While the life is by far one of the most rewarding and satisfying, it comes with costs.

The stress from having to get a crop in, maintain that crop, and then harvest a crop is unreal. Until you have personally known a farmer, there is no way you can fathom what goes thru a farmers mind during the year.

Having to risk thousands and thousands of dollars to get a crop in to possibly make a profit at year's end, makes a farmer one of the biggest gamblers on the Earth.

In a instant, anytime, anywhere, our crops and years work can be wiped out by a flood, drought, hail, tornado, insects (both above ground and below), w**d pressure, etc. Is always on the back of our minds. Yes most of us carry insurance... but that doesn't cover it all. Knowing all this is primarily out of our control, exercises our faith that God will see us through.

Being ridiculed by the general public for driving up and down the highways with our big, slow equipment, cussed at, yelled at, flipped off...makes our days that much more difficult. Trying to keep our fields w**d free, Only to be labeled planet killers, bad for environment, can't do this, can't do that, being turned in by city people when they don't even have a clue... sigh.

Trying to better ourselves and build our business, only to be shunned by neighbors who we've known for years, went to school with, laughed and cut up with... when in fact all we was doing was bettering ourselves and not trying to step on toes.

Having to constantly be concerned with bigger farms or neighbors sneaking around trying to undercut you on ground. Some will cut your throat just so they can make a dime.

Not being able to make social events, take off early and go somewhere because it's planting/harvest season and a big rain is coming. For those that are single, loneliness sets in from not spending time with other people. For those that are married, you miss your spouse and/or kids.

Having to market crops when prices are out of control, and change literally by the minute. Chemicals, seed, fertilizer, fuel etc are astronomical and we are trying to make things work.

Equipment malfunctions, breakdowns, etc cost us money, downtime, and we don't know if we can get a part or not in a timely fashion.

Early morning starts and late night runs... when work needs done we sacrifice our sleep and rest for days on end.

All of these are just the tip of the iceberg. I could write a novel on what all we deal with.

Why do we bother with farming?

*Because we were called to be a farmer.* We love to smell the freshly turned soil, feel the dirt as it flows through our fingers. We love to see the seeds we plant sprout, emerge and grow into a beautiful productive crop. We enjoy the challenge of a crop. Every year is different. Every crop is different. We enjoy seeing our friends wave at us as they go by on their own equipment as we are in our own. The conversations of "how are yall getting along?" Or "how's planting or harvest going?" Are something we look forward to. We enjoy interacting with our land owners, seed reps, chemical and fertilizer dealers, and our bankers.

We enjoy what God has placed in front of us to tend to. "The farmer sows the word" Mark 4:14

We aren't bad people. We are good, honest, hardworking people that want to make it home just like you. So next time you want to gripe about the cost of food, fuel, or complain about being stuck behind a tractor on a highway...instead of being angry, please remember the first sentence I wrote on this post.

We have alot on our plate and could use prayers, good vibes, smiling and waves, and being talked to. It truly makes a difference. God Bless.

04/25/2022

Taken from The Farmer's Wifee -

"Today we were passed on double line corner. The oncoming car had to break and pull over.

People constantly try to get between me and that tractor.

Lights. Signs. Hazzard lights. Arms waving. Driving over the white line. Pulling over when there is room.

Nothing seems to matter when people are inconvenienced by our presence.

That man right there is my entire world. I have zero intentions of doing life without him.

If there was another way for us to get equipment between our two farms, trust me, we would do it. But there isn't...

So let me make something very clear, I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe. So don't for one second think I won't use my own vehicle to shield him from you.

I am so done. So done people being in such a hurry they are willing to risk other people's lives..."

The same can be said of my son or daughter is in that tractor, I will not hesitate to do what I need to make sure they come home safe. We live in a farm community - be mindful that those pieces of equipment do not run highway speeds, if and when possible we try to take back roads to not inconvenience the highway drivers, but there are times when there is no other way to get to where we need to go. The person driving that piece of equipment is someone's husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, brother or sister please give them room, and when you get the chance to pass, please be careful.

04/30/2021

Farm work doesn’t make you stronger. It doesn’t make you anything. It reveals you.

There’s gym strong and then there’s farm strong. They’re mutually exclusive.

The toughest women you’ll ever meet spend their days on a farm.

There are more uses for twine than you can possibly imagine. You can tie up a hole in a slow feeder, fashion a tail strap for a horse’s blanket, mend a broken fence and use it as a belt.

“Well that certainly didn’t go as planned,” is one thing

Control is a mere illusion. The thought that you have any, at any given time, is utterly false.

Sometimes sleep is a luxury. So are lunch and dinner. And brushing your hair.

If you’ve never felt your obliques contract, then you’ve never tried stopping an overly full wheelbarrow of horse manure from tipping over sideways. Trust me, you’ll find muscles that you never knew existed on the human skeleton to prevent this from happening.

When one of the animals is ill, you’ll go to heroic lengths to minimize their discomfort.

Their needs come first. In summer heat and coldest winter days. Clean water, clean bed, and plenty of feed. Before you have your first meal, they all eat.

When you lose one of them, even though you know that day is inevitable, you still feel sadness, angst and emotional pain from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. And it’s a heaviness that lingers even though you must regroup and press on.

You’ll cry a lot. But you’ll never live more fully. You’ll remain present no matter what because you must. There is no other option.

You’ll ask for so many miracles and hold out hope until the very last.

You will, at least once, face-plant in the manure pile.

You’ll find yourself saying things like, “we have maybe twenty minutes of daylight left to git ‘er done” whilst gazing up at a nonspecific place in the sky.

You’ll become weirdly obsessive about the weather.

You’ll go out in public wearing filthy clothes and smelling of dirt, sweat and p**p. People will look at you sideways and krinkle their noses but you won’t care.

Your entire day can derail within ten seconds of the rising sun.
You can wash your coveralls. They won’t look any cleaner, but they will smell much nicer.

Farm work is difficult in its simplicity.

You’ll always notice just how beautiful sunrises and sunsets really are.

Should you ever have the opportunity to work on a farm, take the chance! You will never do anything more satisfying in your entire life.

10/27/2020

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10/30/2019

Snow Days are NOT in the farm & ranch dictionary. Farmers and ranchers don’t get to take snow days and in fact, they have to work extra hard when the weather turns bitter cold or we get ice and snow. No matter what they have to take care of their animals, crops and land. Help us thank a farmer or rancher today!!

05/08/2018

Learn how to plan forage purchases with this practical guide to hay cuttings, types, and quality.

08/10/2017

When rain and hail take over your farm...

07/22/2017

Thank you Dale Harrison for helping us out and giving us an aerial look at our farm!