Travis Johnson
Member
- Messages
- 2,369
I posted this on the www.mytractorforum.com and I know a lot of people on here also belong to that site. Still there are a lot that don't snd since it was a big hit, I thought I would post it here for what its worth. Its about farming, more of a old class of people than really a career choice.
Well I'm not a veterinarian...
but I have lived and worked around so many cows, bigs, chickens and sheep that I know what hardware is, know where to find some magnetics, know ow to be a mid-wife to a birthing cow and know when is the right and wrong time to give a cow penicillins.
I'm also not an electrician...
But if a rat chews a hole through a wire I know enough to grab some romex, make my way to the electrical panel and put in a new wire. At the same time I can change the contactors on the milk tank pump, hotwire a tractor and can get the generator pumping enough KWS to power the farm when the electrical power goes out.
At the same time I'm no mechanic...
But I have plenty of tools and am not afraid to use them. Between what I have learned, what I do know, being able to troubleshoot with the tractor dealer mechanic, I have enough confidence to tackle the gear box of a bushog, the transmission of a tractor, or replace the bearings in the chopping head of a silage chopper...even if I have never done it before.
I'm also no accountant....
But I do know that spending 9 grand on Urea will produce 15 tons per acre instead of 9 tons per acre, and that amounts to more feed, which will feed more cows and produce more milk. I also can calculate that buying a 25 grand green bay wrapper will give me 20% more milk production, and thus pay for itself in 1 years time or better. I'm no pencil pusher, but by God I can put black inside a ledger.
I can barely spell Industrial Hygentist so I am certainly not that...
But no matter how tired I am at the end of the night of milking, I know I can't cut corners. Peoples health are at stake. I must clean my milk line, my tank, my cows and my parlor properly or people could get sick...real sick.
There is no fancy Chiropractor certificate on my bedroom wall either...
And every night my back hurts from all the lifting, pounding, prying and work I have done throughout the day, but I have learned that if I press my back hard against the milk tank and push, I can get my back to crack a few times and keep myself working. It sucks, and its painful but there are people that rely on me, but well get to that in a minute.
Now the last thing I am is a Geologist....
But I know right now the back 40 field needs more nitrogen, the Davis Place needs more alkaline, and the Kates place more phosphorous, or maybe some 10-10-10 even. I hate working all day with cow manure, but I got plenty of that and since I step in it, work in it, play in it and have so much of it, I know what it can do...both good and bad.
So since I am none of these noble things, what am I...?
Just a dairy farmer, that all, who sells his milk to a company called Agri-Mark. They typically use milk to make powdered milk and send their products all over the nation, mostly to fast food chains. So the next time you are in McDonald's, order a milk shake, take one big gulp, tip your straw to the Northeast and smile. Because there is a lot of hard work in that chocolate shake, but if it tastes good to you, it was all worth while.
God bless every farmer on all points of the compass...
Well I'm not a veterinarian...
but I have lived and worked around so many cows, bigs, chickens and sheep that I know what hardware is, know where to find some magnetics, know ow to be a mid-wife to a birthing cow and know when is the right and wrong time to give a cow penicillins.
I'm also not an electrician...
But if a rat chews a hole through a wire I know enough to grab some romex, make my way to the electrical panel and put in a new wire. At the same time I can change the contactors on the milk tank pump, hotwire a tractor and can get the generator pumping enough KWS to power the farm when the electrical power goes out.
At the same time I'm no mechanic...
But I have plenty of tools and am not afraid to use them. Between what I have learned, what I do know, being able to troubleshoot with the tractor dealer mechanic, I have enough confidence to tackle the gear box of a bushog, the transmission of a tractor, or replace the bearings in the chopping head of a silage chopper...even if I have never done it before.
I'm also no accountant....
But I do know that spending 9 grand on Urea will produce 15 tons per acre instead of 9 tons per acre, and that amounts to more feed, which will feed more cows and produce more milk. I also can calculate that buying a 25 grand green bay wrapper will give me 20% more milk production, and thus pay for itself in 1 years time or better. I'm no pencil pusher, but by God I can put black inside a ledger.
I can barely spell Industrial Hygentist so I am certainly not that...
But no matter how tired I am at the end of the night of milking, I know I can't cut corners. Peoples health are at stake. I must clean my milk line, my tank, my cows and my parlor properly or people could get sick...real sick.
There is no fancy Chiropractor certificate on my bedroom wall either...
And every night my back hurts from all the lifting, pounding, prying and work I have done throughout the day, but I have learned that if I press my back hard against the milk tank and push, I can get my back to crack a few times and keep myself working. It sucks, and its painful but there are people that rely on me, but well get to that in a minute.
Now the last thing I am is a Geologist....
But I know right now the back 40 field needs more nitrogen, the Davis Place needs more alkaline, and the Kates place more phosphorous, or maybe some 10-10-10 even. I hate working all day with cow manure, but I got plenty of that and since I step in it, work in it, play in it and have so much of it, I know what it can do...both good and bad.
So since I am none of these noble things, what am I...?
Just a dairy farmer, that all, who sells his milk to a company called Agri-Mark. They typically use milk to make powdered milk and send their products all over the nation, mostly to fast food chains. So the next time you are in McDonald's, order a milk shake, take one big gulp, tip your straw to the Northeast and smile. Because there is a lot of hard work in that chocolate shake, but if it tastes good to you, it was all worth while.
God bless every farmer on all points of the compass...