Don’t be afraid to go after what you want to do, and what you want to be. But, don’t be afraid to be willing to pay the price.  ~Unknown~

For our 10 year anniversary, Brooks and I put farming on hold for a whole two weeks to take an epic trip to Montana and Wyoming. He had been out there for a college internship and said it was the most beautiful spot in America.

He was right.

I am certain that a part of my heart was left behind. I want to go back and, honestly, I’d strongly consider moving there if it weren’t for the harsh winters. #wheresmyplaneticket 

To whet that Wyoming appetite, I’ve created a Pandora station called “Song of Wyoming Radio”. The station is based on… you guessed it… a song titled “Song of Wyoming”. It’s tons of cowboy style music. Old-school.

One day, there was a song that popped up on this station that made me tear up immediately. It’s called “Cowboy’s Work” by Brandon Ryder. As I listened to the lyrics play out and the perfect musicals in its background, I just stopped my work and cried. 

There was something about that song that lit my Farmer’s Wife heart on fire. Each and every lyric hit home with me in ways that no other song, conversation, blog post, fellow farmer’s wife had. It’s like finally we as farmers were understood. 

Now, Brooks is no typical image of your standard American cowboy. He doesn’t wear Wranglers, herd cattle with a horse, or spit tobacco. But, he does the same work and with the same dedication & commitment.

He looks different but on the inside he and other farmers are the same.

I don’t know what it takes to be in Brooks’ shoes; nor does he know what it’s like being a farmer’s wife. But, it’s songs like this that bridge that gap.

I see him in every verse of this song. And it brings me to tears. 

Why?

Because of the hardworking man I married. I see the sacrifice he lives out each and every day. I see the good, the bad, and the ugly. I see when he is mocked by some for being a farmer in the first place. 

“Farming?!?! You can’t make money farming!!! Why would you want to be a farmer???”, was spoken to him as we started down this path so long ago.

I see the wear and tear on his body & soul each day as he comes home completely spent and tired. Still at times, it’s 10 pm at night and there he is fulfilling a call to tend to the cattle’s needs. Just the other night, that call was helping a heifer birth her first calf. She didn’t make it and neither did the calf. 

I see his grief stricken face when farming isn’t that romantic life everyone thinks it is. Friends, what you see on TV is NOT reality. The image that a current TV network as placed on ‘farm life’ through their current most popular show is not real. You are only seeing the good. {I won’t say their specific network or show name.} I love the show just as much as anyone else. But, I do have a very different perspective. 

What the song says is true… [he’s] the last of a dying breed. 

People aren’t flocking to farming anymore. It’s too hard. It’s too hard physically. Emotionally. Financially. I don’t blame anyone for not getting into this profession.

But, this work is needed.

People need to be fed; and not by something created in a lab. It doesn’t work. I think we are finding this to be true today. 

It takes a special person to be a farmer (or a cowboy). It takes dedication and a relentless drive. It takes passion for work that easily overpowers most. It requires being tied down and owning massive amounts of responsibility. It means vacations are harder to take. It means being covered in mud and poo everyday. It means humility. It means sacrifice. 

Nothing less will do. 

So, thank a farmer or a cowboy today. Thank them for wrangling the livestock, staying up late, sacrificing all that they do, and making a life commitment to producing that burger, salad, those grilled veggies, or smoked chicken sitting on your plate. 

Because truth be told, someone out there is sacrificing everything they own so that you can eat three plus times a day.