God Made A Farmer commercial = EPIC!
- Thread starter cobraclone71
- Start date
I never really thought my Dad enjoyed farming all that much. He got an accounting degree from Iowa State, but decided to farm in the early 70's after getting out of the army. I also thought that he regretted not staying in accounting after he started farming. After getting an off the farm job after 30 years on his own, he did miss completely being his own boss. He still grain farms, but doesn't have hogs any more. He doesn't miss those for sure.
On a completely different note, I didn't expect to see someone from Wooster on here!
It hit home for me, I can remember sitting in the truck with dad waiting for the bus in the mornings freezing my *** off and listing to Paul Harvey. Being a dirt poor farmer when I was a kid definitely wasn't fun, but it kills me that the family sold out in the mid 90's. I hope I can get it back someday when I'm older.
I think for my dad it was more of a family history thing. The farm's been in our family since the 1840's and he was the first son to not farm so I think that was a little hard. But he's still involved in agriculture so he enjoys that.
And I know, it is pretty surprising. I go to the college so there aren't that many of us from Iowa but there are a few. Do you have a connection to Wooster/the area?
Yeah, I think he would have missed it had he had to completely get out 10-15 years ago. There are 5 of us kids, but only one is a boy and he isn't going to farm and I doubt any of us girls are going to marry anyone interested in farming. And it will be a bit sad when it is no longer in the family.
And since this is all about my Dad all of the time, one of his army friends was from and lives in Wooster. We would visit every couple of years. Nice town.
Thursday I spent most of the day on a cow-calf operation in western South Dakota with exactly the kind of farmer depicted in that commercial. Friday, I spent the day with both large, and very small, purebred cattle breeders at a bull show and sale - all of them could have stepped right out of that commercial. Agriculture is not just made up of 15K+ acre land barons that never get their hands dirty. My 84-year old farther is still a force of nature and he's quick to tell you that if he couldn't keep farming he'd roll up and die. Oh and hey, through he wasn't a giant farmer, he could, and did, afford new pick ups and updated equipment.
I grew up on a farm in the 70's and 80's that was built with pure sweat and scratch. My father didn't inherit land till he was in his mid-50's. Guess what - though my father farmed only 500 acres the farm was incorporated. Because he was incorporated that didn't mean he ran the operation from a leather chair in an air conditioned office. There were no hired hands - just my parents and us kids. People using the term 'corporate farming' just to dehumanize the profession drives me nuts.
I think people do need to know where their food comes from. It's not just foo-foo dust put in cardboard boxes and plastic bags in the back of a Magic grocery stores.
I grew up on a farm in the 70's and 80's that was built with pure sweat and scratch. My father didn't inherit land till he was in his mid-50's. Guess what - though my father farmed only 500 acres the farm was incorporated. Because he was incorporated that didn't mean he ran the operation from a leather chair in an air conditioned office. There were no hired hands - just my parents and us kids. People using the term 'corporate farming' just to dehumanize the profession drives me nuts.
I think people do need to know where their food comes from. It's not just foo-foo dust put in cardboard boxes and plastic bags in the back of a Magic grocery stores.
I wish my brothers could just inherit the farm. Estate and gift taxes do not make it easy. My parents are in their late fifties, and won't officially own our farm, that they paid several million for from my dad's parents, for another 7 years. Just in time to retire and turn it over to my brothers. Though they're trying like heck to set up some sort of LLC/Corporation/Trust that accounts for all possible future scenarios. Not easy to do.
Of course not all farms are the type depicted in that commercial, but for those of us that grew up on one or still run one, it sure rings true. And it's always nice to get a little thank you shout-out, and remind people where their food comes from, even if it is ultimately to sell a fancy truck
Of course not all farms are the type depicted in that commercial, but for those of us that grew up on one or still run one, it sure rings true. And it's always nice to get a little thank you shout-out, and remind people where their food comes from, even if it is ultimately to sell a fancy truck
my experience with farmers is them frantically buying trucks before the end of the year for tax writeoffs.
I'm an idiot. I get it now. Sorry.
As some have said, if you think every aspect of farming is drastically different than it used to be, you are wrong. Go work with the cow/calf guys during calving season. Now is the cropping portion significantly easier than it used to be? Sure it is. There's also a business dynamic that didn't exist to such an extent 20 years ago. There's more money to move and marketing errors are much more costly.
Anyway, the commercial was a bit sentimental but I still thought it was cool because you don't see a lot of commercials directed right at farmers on Super Bowl Sunday. It was also a money grab by Dodge but that's every commercial. It beats Mike Rowe blabbering and GM dropping ridiculous things into the box of a pickup anyway.
