Taking life day by day is how we roll up here on the Emtman Ranch. As I sit and read so much about everything going on in our country—all the politics, anger, protesting, finger pointing—I think of the man pictured here (and many others in his boots). My husband doesn’t have time to complain. He is the 4th generation on our farm and doing all he can to hand it down to one of our sons.
As I walked with him last night around 10:30 to check cows, he commented that baby number 100 had just been born. The happy new mama was cleaning off her baby; he was minutes old. This man loves his cattle and takes such good care of them. As we walked around, the cows were all nestled so close you could feel the heat from their bodies. They know what we are doing, and they just lie there, chewing their cud.
This man is up before sunrise, out checking babies. He says, “I didn’t make it out last night, I overslept my alarm” as I rub his tired, sore back to try to give him comfort. In four hours, he will finish his feeding—that’s if everything goes as planned—then move on to other jobs. I can see the stress in his eyes as fuel prices and everything else keeps going up.
Several times a day, he is running his tractors to feed the cattle. Then in the spring, he hauls them to other pastures. Then there is farming all summer, putting up hay, hauling it out of the fields and then stacking it, or selling it and hauling it somewhere else. Then harvesting wheat, which will then have to be hauled to bins.
This is just a short version of what farmers all do. You see, we provide food for your tables, and it’s not as easy as some might think. So please say a prayer today for all the ranchers and farmers as they are gearing up for their season. God bless all the farmers, ranchers and anyone that runs heavy equipment.
Thank you.
From a loving farmer’s wife
