“EIEIO” is the sound that Old McDonald made when he saw his balance sheet for January. Everybody knows that farming is not the most lucrative job in the world, or even Nebraska. So there have to be reasons to get into the business besides wanting to join the Bill Gates club. That said, there are ways to prepare for your January cash flow problems in advance. And while farming is not the best paid job, it is also not the worst. The median income for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers is pushing $70,000. With figures like that, maybe money is a good reason to get into the business.
Here are a few others that are even better:
Farming Is a Natural Family Business.
Everything about land work is suitable for sharing with family. It is the sort of thing that is conducive to kids getting involved in the work. If you want to have a large family, land work is perfect for you. As the time becomes right, you can pass down everything from your farming expertise, to the equipment that you have acquired, to the business itself.
Your well-maintained used tractors from Fastline, plus other major equipment you have picked up along the way, can be passed down from generation to generation. You can teach them how to maintain the equipment, along with the long-term value of important objects in their lives. In this throw-away society, that is always a timely lesson.
There are other family businesses like law practices. But that only works in families where all parties are able to complete law degrees. You can enter farming with a high-school diploma. It is the kind of business that almost anyone could do, and make a thriving family business from it.
Farming Promotes an Appreciation for Nature.
Along with oceanography and zoology, land work promotes an appreciation for the natural environment in which we all live. For all too many Americans, nature is the stuff you drive past to and from your daily commute. That is the kind of attitude that has destroyed our ozone layer, polluted the air in some places to near unbreathability, and given us undrinkable water so that we have to purchase it in land-filling, plastic bottles.
You are not only what you eat. You are how what you eat is grown and raised. We must all be reminded that food does not come from the grocery store. It comes from the land. To be in the farming industry is to be a part of one of the most important ecological cycles on the planet. In the farming industry, you are literally one of nature’s managers.
Farming Matters.
As a farmer, you are in a position to answer the prayers of every pope and Ms. America that ever lived. That is because you are in a business that can actually bring an end to world hunger. You have the near miraculous gift of taking a piece of empty earth, and making food happen. Of all the survival skills a human can learn, that might well be the most important.
You not only will have the ability to grow enough food for your family, you can grow it for families a world away where a fraction of your crop could be the difference between life and death for a village. You might want to invest in farm barn sheds for storing your produce before shipping across the world. You may want to enter a career that helps people. Medicine and social work may not be your thing. That’s okay. Land work is another great way to save lives and make a difference. It is work that matters.
Not everyone is cut out for farming. That’s fine. It’s hard work, early hours, and pay that doesn’t always reflect the work you put into it. But it pays well enough. It’s great for the whole family, promotes an appreciation for nature, and it is work that really matters. If you are looking to start a new business, land work is worth considering.
