While working outside the other day I kept asking myself, “why do I love this again? I’m freezing my butt off, I can’t feel my finger, and it’s raining on me.” Then I kind of laughed at myself. I knew EXACTLY why I loved it.

My farm has taught me so many things and I’ve learned how to do so many things–things that people would never guess you could learn on the farm. Let me tell you why!

• The obvious reason. It taught me hard work. It taught me that there ARE terrible jobs in this world and going to college is a good option. Not because I wouldn’t want to farm, but because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life pitching chicken poop. It gave me the adrenaline that employees SEARCH for. It made me a fast worker and the best part is that I learned to do it right the first time. On my farm my dad repeated two quotes that I now live by. “Do it right the first time or you’re doing it again” and “We move right along around here”. My dad was no slave driver, but we had a lot of work to get done so we wanted to do it right and fast. Growing up I cringed when my dad said them. Now I live by them.

The man who has taught me everything. (We were butchering chickens this day.)

• You have less chance of having allergies and asthma. This is proven. Check it out. Click here! I’m only allergic to penicillin. My sister on the other hand is ‘allergic’ to hay, dust, dander, and everything that requires work or she didn’t feel like doing. Just kidding, but seriously.

• Growing up on the farm taught me respect. You had to respect the animals to get respect back. If you don’t know what I mean, go try to sort out one animal out of, lets say, 60 other animals. The one who trusts you most, will work best for you. Growing up I used the same morals I used on the farm. The saying ‘it’s easier to attract bees with honey instead of vinegar’ truly summarizes how things are done on the farm. You can’t communicate with animals besides using your body language. They have to trust and be able to respect you. Just like in life.

• I stayed healthy. Granted I wasn’t fed pop and sugar every 3 hours, but I was outside burning calories. I lifted buckets, square bales, and other heavy things. I was one of the only girls in my class that could do a pull-up. Being a farm kid made sure that you stayed fit and active. I’m not saying it made me an all star athlete, but it made the weight room less intimidating. The farm worked every part of your body. As my body grew the more I knew I could lift, the more I could help dad. Farm kids aren’t forced to lift more than they can handle—why would a boss purposely injure an employee? Think of it that way.

• I began to have a realization of where your food comes from and how much work it really is to grow food for thousands of people. Working in the garden and in the fields really introduced me to a new respect for food and how to not be wasteful. Once you had to dig the potatoes you were eating, once you had to feed buckets after buckets of feed to your beef, or risking getting stung by bees to get raspberries you were less likely to waste what you worked hard for.

• It introduced me to organizations that help people become better leaders, entrepreneurs, and influential people. FFA and 4-H. Need I say more?

• It helped me become a better adult. Agriculture has led me to so many new and exciting things. Without life on the farm I would have never been able to experience them.

The best part is that I did it all. Even with make up on. And perfume. I make ag look good! 😉