How to Get Out of a Family Farm
I hateful exactly what you lot just read in the title: Don't waste your time sticking effectually the family farm. Do you actually want to deal with the low commodity prices, working seven days per week (especially true if you throw some livestock in there) with pay entirely dependent on the markets, and the inevitable family unit arguments?
If you're around my age, you're still trying to effigy out what you desire to exercise with life. You've gotten the nuts down in high school and then went on to college to further your education. Sure, a caste is all fine and swell, but how many people exit school and immediately enter their dream job? And is that dream job actually the i they want forlife?
As for me, I didn't get my dream task immediately out of college. Existent shocker, I know. I'grand a couple of years into my career and I don't even know what my dream job looks like right now. Every bit a college student, I could've totally told y'all exactly what that dream task would expect like, simply to exist honest I don't think it even exists, not to mention my "dream chore" changed three times before I fifty-fifty had a postal service-college job. But I tin tell you what I like in a chore in my field (agricultural communication) and what I don't like in a task in my field and what kinds of jobs I'm not even going to consider in my field if at that place's another option.
If you've read my blog over the concluding three-ish years, have followed me on Twitter, or have read my bio (information technology's over in that location on the right of this page 🙂 ), you probably know that I grew upward on a farm, studied agronomical advice (and agronomy!) at Illinois Land University, moved to St. Louis to begin my career and pretend to be a fully-functional adult, and near a year later on all of the above, fabricated the terrible conclusion to continue on with grad school (jk, not reallyterrible…near of the time). You know how all of that fits together (besides being the mini-narrative of Gracie's post-high schoolhouse life)? It's experience.
If yous know me in person, you probably were surprised when I up and moved to St. Louis with 3 weeks' notice. I grew up in Central Illinois and "moved" a whole 13.7 miles (aye, I just Googled it) to higher, so I'd never actually lived more than than a twenty-minute drive from the farm. I basically dragged myself internally kicking and screaming 160 miles to St. Louis to take a task that I wasn't my "dream job" considering (A) I really liked the visitor and (B) I couldn't stand to be living in my parents' business firm anymore after three weeks post-obit my higher graduation. No offense to my parents, just once y'all've been independent, it'south hard to be back under the parentals' roof with the "rules" and the "where are you going and when are you going to exist dorsum?s".
Anyway, 160 miles (or two hours and 15 minutes with little to no traffic) away from dwelling doesn't seem like a big deal. Tons of people have left domicile and made a cross-country move before. But for me, it's besides far for an evening visit. I miss out on tons of things happening at domicile, with my quondam iv-H social club, church things, family things, friend things, farm things– everything. But I'm getting experience here. I'1000 learning to be more than independent every bit a person and learning how much living in a urban center is actually pretty similar to living in the country (my commute is just as long and, believe it or not, the grocery store I like to shop at isfurther away than the one I'd shop at back home). I'm learning to appreciate the things I get to do on weekend visits habitation more than than I would if they were everyday things like they once were. I know that I desire to live in the area I grew upwards in one 24-hour interval, perhaps next year or peradventure in v years. I have a new appreciation for our farm and for agriculture as a whole now that I've seen it from unlike regional and national perspectives. I know that I probably want to subcontract anytime. I've kind of figured out me.
So yeah, leave the family farm. It's not worth sticking around and missing out on the education (if that'south your thing) or the off-farm job experiences. Learn from others who farm in different areas of the county, country, or region. Explore those expensive out-of-state colleges that have an crawly programme in the field you want to pursue (if yous're from Illinois, those out-of-state tuition bills aren't actually equally scary as you might think). Take that off-subcontract job that will give you lot the experience you need to one day bring dorsum to the farm because Dad and Grandfather have everything covered correct now anyhow. Figure outwhy you want to farm and what you lot are going to bring to the business also an actress set of hands wanting a paycheck.
In all honesty, farming kind of sucks right now. We're in a low office of the cycle where commodity prices are low and it's condign difficult for some farms to break fifty-fifty. But we're likewise entering new and heady times with technology and making our farms more efficient. Accept this opportunity to go do something different, experience the world or more of the ag manufacture or even another industry entirely, and figure out what you can bring back to your family unit's farm. Times are tough now, but that doesn't mean they will still be in five years. Go ahead and leave the subcontract. Likewise, you can ever visit on the weekends. 🙂
Source: https://www.farmkidblog.com/2017/01/16/dont-waste-time-sticking-around-farm/
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