Al Baker(pumpman)
Member
I would like to share my veiw from personal experiance. Years ago I was a small farmer/ diesel mechanic having a hard time making ends meet. My wife knew an old Mom and son who she looked out for. After a few years each passed a few months from each other. She then found out they had left her a boat load of cash and some high dollar land with a home on a private lake. So now I went from driving old tired trucks to buying a new Power Stroke and writting a check. Need a better tractor or baler, write a check. Few years down the road the wife took off for greener pastures. Then got a high dollar lawyer and I got to pay her back for every dime that was dumped into this farm. She then took the payment and invested it in the stock market and it crashed in a few months. She lost it all in 2008. Now I had a farm that was deep in debt again. I lived alone for 4 years while being advised to sell out because of my bills. I met a good farm girl who rolled up her sleaves and helped me get my head strait and get back to business. We are now on good ground once again, but 14 years later. My point to this story is I once had a thick wallet and money was no problem, but I was not happy. I have also been in over my head, but enjoyed my life as a farmer with small kids. Sometimes its worth a lack of money to be able to spend quality time with my kids here on our land. They are asking me to pull the planter out of the shed and go back to row cropping and dig out the combine. I have deceided that if I can break even, or not loose to much then it would be worth it so my kids can grow up working along side of me and their Mom farming. I Have to try to hunt up some ground to rent(all of ours is in hay), but the kids will be in the truck when we go knocking on some doors. Farming is a lifestyle. Its not always about money. You can be happy with, or without money. Some of us find it hard to be happy without farming. Al