Believe it or not I do usually have a direction or a point I’m trying to steer us to. While I do like sharing stories here like I was BS-ing with friends there is somewhere I’m trying to drive to. I’ve made the point that without habitat that the experiences and life I have had would be drastically different. I would say much less fulfilling. Even though it is much of the focus of this column there is more to life than monetary profit. Most everyone that farms or ranches works insanely hard. The question I think we should all ask is, “Is it worth it?”
Now is when I want to turn the mirror around. Obviously, it takes hard work to be profitable at farming or ranching but when work turns into the only focus on life, is that enjoyable. This isn’t just a question of whether it is worth it to ourselves, but also our family, our children. Is there more to be had from our lives on the farm than in the tractor, combine, semi, or feeding livestock? I know it used to be swung around more when I was a kid than now, but many believe farming and ranching aren’t just jobs, they are a way of life. I don’t know how well we are putting this into practice now.
There are two things going on that make me wonder if we consider agriculture a way of life anymore. We are farming every acre that we feel safe driving a tractor on. I don’t see farmers my age and younger taking time to enjoy the other things being on the land provides. Farming is your life but is that the only thing in it? Are we going fishing or hunting, or a walk around just to take in the beautiful landscape that exists around us?
It’s cliché but I can think of worse mantras to live by than stopping to smell the roses. I know I need to remind myself to do it, are you? What does this have to do with habitat? If the ones on the land don’t experience the value that’s created from land that isn’t farmed, how do we conserve it? It’s easy to take for granted what we have when we can walk out our door and see what most of the world doesn’t get to. Is what we really want to see when we open that door, nothing but 640acre squares of corn and soybeans? Or outside the growing season 640 acres of stubble or if you are inclined to do fall tillage, 640 acres of dirt only broken up by a road?
Places like that exist, the same places where people complain about the lack of wildlife. Take a trip across some of our neighboring states and you will see such a sight. Is that really what we want to aspire to? If you close your eyes and think of a beautiful rural landscape do you think of something like a Redlin painting, or chiseled black dirt as far as the eye can see?
Yes, we need to be profitable at farming but that doesn’t mean we have to try and use every acre. Do you know what has always made South Dakota the best pheasant producing state in the nation? It is the marginal ground. Marginal ground is often the focus of this column and how it is a drag on your bottom line, but it can also be a boon on your habitat. I have come across some farmers that believe there is no such thing as marginal ground especially if there is a way to “fix” or drain it. That has a cost that takes time to make back, the value that ground has as grass may outpace any profit that might come after the tile is paid for.
When I was a kid, my dad, our neighbors and most people I knew lived life on the land. What I mean is that there was an appreciation for hunting, fishing, getting something more from the land than just a crop. “Leave it for the birds” was a thing, now do I think we had the full picture on plant diversity back then, no, but at least the thought process existed.
Why I shared some of the stories from my life is to ask you the question, do you have similar stories from your life? Maybe more importantly do your children and grandchildren? There is more to living on the land than sitting in a tractor, working cattle, or sitting in line at the ethanol plant. We can look at marginal ground like saline soil as a curse, but is it maybe actually a blessing? Only if we do the deep evaluation we should, can we have that curse become a blessing.
If we want to have places to enjoy life out here it adds even more value to taking those marginal acres out of production or it keeps us from getting to that point by keeping those areas in perennial cover. We have and continue to lose kids coming back to the farm or ranch. Most people want to have someone to pass their life’s work onto, but it’s not as simple as just saying so. Are our children and grandchildren living a life that’s fulfilling and enjoyable? Have we made living on the land something that they don’t even think about leaving?
So, I ask, do your kids have stories to tell?