No more complaining. No more whinging about the hours spent in damp sheds. No more muttering about the ups and downs of farming life. It is time to face facts. Being a farmer is one of the best jobs in the world!
Born to it!
If you grew up with it, farming is in your blood and nothing else will give you the same buzz. Farming families never run out of conversation about animal welfare, the price of feed and whether we will ever get the drainage right on the lower field. Freezing in the sideways rain and dragged from your warm bed to pull calves, it is still a career which attracts many young people. Grounded in the land and in the tradition, no matter the hard work involved.
Your own boss:
There is a lot to be said for being your own boss! Your days’ work is organised by you and while the load may be heavy, there is no one, but the banks, breathing down your neck.
Healthy lifestyle:
Once your risk assessment is done and your farm safety is in place, it’s a pleasant life style that brings you close to nature (sometimes too close!). In a year on a farm, you see an animal born, you put weight on it, and you sell it. You see the cycle of life, and every day you have a different job to do. Work can by physical but over the past few years mechanisation has eased the burden on many farms.
Traffic jams, Road rage and parallel parking:
While the rest of the population are bumper to bumper in early morning traffic, you can be out in the calm beauty of the fields. The mental health effects are immeasurable. Add a mug of tea and a friendly dog to your morning job of ‘looking at the cattle’ and sure you are in heaven!
No two days are the same:
Farmer is never boring. There is always a new challenge each day. Compared with a factory quota or a repetitive job, farming is for the multi tasker.
Colleagues and work mates:
People imagine that farming is a lonely occupation, the reality is different. Family and neighbouring farmers are your steady and reliable colleagues and workmates. The chances are that you have similar views, dreams and goals. Even if driving you mad, they are on hand to assist with big tasks and give opinions on everything!
Eating well:
You get to grow and eat the best of food that this country has on offer.
Whether it’s your own lamb, hearty spuds or delicious blackberries from the ditch, you have a hand to table, direct line to your own plate that many a gourmet restaurant would covet.
While many farmers are working part time at other jobs to ensure a reasonable income, and many are working two jobs, farming is still the very best occupation in the world.
Research shows that agricultural graduates have some of the highest employment rates, compared with other college leavers.
It is a healthy, interesting and enjoyable life-style.
It is time we realised that the green grass elsewhere is actually the toxic glow of astro-turf.
We must appreciate what we have.
Farming is the best.
