How do you appreciate the efforts and hard work of farming?

Answer 1

Farming requires a lot of hard work, a good understanding of everything from animal behaviour to mechanics to finances, and a deep-seated dedication to help keep the farm or ranch running like it should. Unfortunately, only ~2% of people in America (5% in Canada) consist of those who are involved in agriculture, with 98% (95% in Canada) of the population living in cities, suburbs, or acreages and pursue a different career not involved in agriculture.

Very, very few people prefer farming as a career because it comes with a lot of hard work and a lot challenges--not to mention you get only one paycheck at the end of the year--no matter how well educated they are or not. Most of the farmers today are folks over 50 years of age. Younger people are either turned off by the hardships and the low income versus high costs, or by the fact that you really have to work every day. Young farmers in Canada have a more difficult time starting up a new farming operation or taking over an old one because of the high start-up costs and taxes that the federal government puts on their shoulders. No farmer, young or old, wants to get into debt when they only have one paycheck to live off of for the rest of the year.

In developed countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe and New Zealand, farming is actually less appreciated among the general population than one might think. Most of those who live in the cities have no idea about agriculture or farming, and most don't even care. City people that move out to the country because they want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the cities and smell the fresh air and hear the quiet, are in for a nasty surprise when they move to an acreage neighboring a crop or livestock farm. These same people start complaining, not realizing that it's been like that for much longer than they could ever imagine, and a long time before they even considered moving there. Even those that do not live on a farm don't even know where their food came from. Kids in the cities grow up with the belief that milk and eggs comes from the grocery store, not the cow and the chicken, respectively. Urban folks who see a YouTube video on some sort of cruelty done to livestock see it as a terrible cruelty, but don't realize that the real truth about it like farm folks do.

For instance, when they see a video of someone helping a cow give birth and see all this red stuff coming out and hear the cow bawling out like she is, they think it's blood and the person trying to help this poor cow is being cruel and causing the cow to bleed to death. What they don't realize is that is all part of the natural birthing process. Yes there's a little blood, but most of it's from the amniotic fluid coming out with the calf. And birthing is painful for any female, look at how women have to give birth to babies with huge heads going through their pelvic openings! Lack of education can certainly lead people to believe half-truths and not open their eyes to see the whole truth.

Extremist groups like HSUS and PETA don't appreciate the practices of animal agriculture because they believe it's being "cruel" to animals, when most of their Propaganda is based off of what people see from Walt Disney movies and not reality. But let's not forget that it was these same groups that helped improve the humane treatment and welfare of animals on farms in the first place. Animals, in the past, had been treated with less kindness and regards to their own physical, psychological and sociological needs.

Sadly, farming and agriculture is far less appreciated in developing countries because most of the people who do farming practices are quite poor and uneducated to the more up-dated farming practices being done in the more developed countries. The number one reason why they are uneducated to these new and improved practices is their governments and politics. Governments in developing countries seem to be more concerned with war or industrial expansion or money than making food for a growing global population. Some of these same governments won't accept humanitarian aid from any developed country because of these kind of politics. They see making war or putting more money into fabricated goods as a more useful way to spend money, and see improving agriculture as a waste of time. If a poor country does get imported food, they make that imported food more costly than it should be so that the poor don't get anything for themselves.

Uneducated farmers are what a lot of the ecologically-aware folks are stemming most of their opposition to agriculture from. This is because, for one, these uneducated farmers and shepherds don't know anything about things like overgrazing, soil erosion, climate change, pollution, etc., because they were never taught it. They are more concerned about raising their livestock or their crops because a) they need the money and b) they need to eat too.

On a more personal and individual level, how someone appreciates the efforts and hard-work of farming is the kind of paycheck they get at the end of the year. This paycheck is based on how well they have improved their operation, from incorporating new technologies and new practices in the field, to improving their herds in milk/wool/meat quality and in superior genetics. But since farming, today, is more of a way of life than a money-making operation (even though it is both), it's seeing how animals are as healthy and vibrant as they are and how well crops have grown in the fields that makes one appreciate the efforts and hard work of farming. One also looks back to how they started and where they are now, realizing how far they've come in improvements to their operation to minimize labour, inputs, and production costs.

Farming is the biggest humanitarian task in the world because it involves growing and producing food for humans, and no amount of appreciation is enough to honor those who are involved in this difficult but immensely satisfying career. There is no hollow boasting in it because farming is the life-blood of the world. Without food, humans would cease to exist. Without agriculture, no amount of innovation, technology or founding of new careers would ever happen like it has. People have to eat, and farming is the most selfless career a person can have if they want to find a way feed the world.