Teaching the Next Generation

Just as a cow teaches her calf the basics of life and survival so must one generation teach the next what it takes to run a farm and care for the animals.  Without proper care, there is no way the animals will make you any money.  Our yearly paycheck comes when we take the calves to the market.  For every illness and injury our calves and cows have endured during the year, our profit margin shrinks.

I have some difficulty with this because I am one of those that would like to do it myself so that it is done the way I prefer it was done.  However, if my children are going to have the knowledge and skills to take over the farm one day, I MUST slow myself and teach them how to do everything.  No, we do not teach them everything at once.  Since, they were raised on the farm, they have had the time to learn a little at a time.  It is rewarding to watch them realize they know how to do something without our help.  An example of this was earlier this year when my son and I were the only ones home.  We had a cow that was having difficulty calving. At 11:30 PM I hollered down the stairs at him to tell him I needed his help pulling a calf.  Before I could get all of the stuff together, he was in the kitchen getting dressed to go to the barn.  While I was preparing the calf to be pulled, he got the pullers and opened the stall up.  When the calf was ready, he handed me the the proper end of the pullers for me to hook onto the calf.  After I had done this, he immediately went to work getting the calf out of mom.  The calf was successfully pulled and both mom and baby are doing well!  As we were walking to the house, he looked at me and said, "Mom, I am sure am glad the first cow that I had to run the pullers by myself on was Sweetie (an old show heifer)."  It suddenly dawned on me that though he had assisted many times in this procedure, he was never in charge of pulling one on his own.  It made me ecstatic to see how proud of himself he was!  These are moments that all parents love to witness.  He has pulled a few more this year when has been just him and I and each time my heart bursts with pride at how well he does.

Our daughter is dating a wonderful man whom has three kids.  These kids come to the farm when Dad has them.  It is amazing to watch how they are picking up on the farm life and philosophies.  This morning one of them went out with me to put vehicles in the barn before a storm.  When this was accomplished, we went to check the pregnant cows to see if they needed to be put in the barn to calve.  As I was getting ready to walk to the house, I noticed he was not with me.  When I turned around, he was leaning against a fence.  I asked if he was coming to the house.  He said, "In a few minutes.  I want to stand here and watch the calves play for awhile."  That made me smile.  This is something he would not have done just a few short months ago.

Until next time,  remember.......Beef, It's What's for Dinner!