Just a farm kid, it’s a phrase that many of us have used to describe ourselves. The world of agriculture is far more than cows and plows. It’s more than backwoods hillbillies that the media would have you believe. We “farm kids” are a unique breed. We learned at an early age that hard work is part of life. We learned that our chores were not there to be a punishment, but instead they were there to help us learn and grow. These chores and hard work molded us into the people that we are today.

Taking care of livestock taught us about life and death. The spring of the year would bring new life, new calves, new sprouts of grass growing in the hay fields, and new crops emerging from the soil. With the new life, there are new challenges. Cold weather and early spring snows can take a toll on young calves. Farm kids have learned all too well the pain of loss when a newborn calf succumbs to the chill of a spring snowstorm. Despite all the efforts to save the calf’s life, sometimes the efforts are in vain. Farm kids will watch their parents bring calves into the house and warm them in the same tub that the kids bathe in. They will watch as Dad wipes the tears from his eyes when a calf takes its last breath, then goes back outside into the snow to try and save the next one. Kids on the farm learn that it’s OK to grieve a loss, but life must go on.

Farm kids learn that some of the best things in life cannot be bought with cash. Honesty is learned when they realize the co-op gave you three extra bags of seed, and rather than using it without paying for them, a phone call is made and they are charged to the farm account. Compassion is learned when a hot meal is delivered to a neighbor who is under the weather, or a crop is harvested by neighbors who put their own life on hold when the call goes out that a fellow farmer has passed on. Grit is learned when the hailstorm mows down the wheat crop, but Dad wipes the dirt and sweat from his face and simply replies, “There’s always next year.”

Patience is learned by working on equipment. The same piece of equipment that was repaired last week broke down this week, but it has to be repaired again because there isn’t any money to buy a new one. Over and over the skills that are valued the most by employers are taught to farm kids. Drive and determination grow when farm kids are allowed to complete tasks on the farm on their own. They learn from their failures and resolve themselves to do better next time.

The future of America is in good hands, if those hands were raised on a farm or ranch. The hands that feed our nation are calloused, scarred, bandaged, tough as iron, but at the same time soft as silk. Just a farm kid, a humble way of describing the people who make the world go around.

Lets celebrate all the farm kids, both young and old as we celebrate agriculture this week. Support the local 4-H club and hire a few kids in the blue corduroy jackets to help out from time to time. That’s all from this farm kid, keep tabs on your side of the barbed wire and God bless.   

Meinzer is a fourth-generation rancher raised on the southeastern plains of Colorado. He and his family live and ranch in Oshkosh, Neb.