Any old Farmers here?

[DrB]

Came home from from work and the JD combine is in the field on the farm.. dust flying in the air.  Love the smell.

I miss the times when dad and I did that..  Long time ago.  I learned to combine with a John Deere 12A pull behind combine with a 2 cylinder engine, pulled by a John Deere B tractor.  Canvas fed header only 6 ft wide......  Scour Clean to get the weed seeds out that always broke the elevator paddle chain.  Later Dad converted it to a PTO shaft drive.  No safety shields in those days..  I learned to fix elevator chains, put knives on the sickle bar and in general just fix and adjust stuff..

Later we got a JD 30 pull behind with auger feed and was 8 ft' platform.  I was in seventh heaven.........  Had less than half the grease jerks than the 12A to deal with...

Beans dumped into the bed of the old Ford pickup with the wood sides put on.... over one ton on a 1/2 ton pickup with helpers....

I remember my face getting black from the dust and my nose getting plugged up from the dust.  No face masks in those days.  

I miss those days and my dad....

Any other old farmers here?

Dave

[Silentpoet]

Ash is just retired from farming.(autocorrect suggested farting)

[DrB]

19 minutes ago, Silentpoet said:

Ash is just retired from farming.(autocorrect suggested farting)

Yes I know.  I started out as a boy learning and doing things in the late 50's..  I farted a lot in the fields through the years...?.

Dave...

[Al Czervik]

Yep, and I have no fond memories.

[DrB]

I would gladly do it all over again.  I enjoyed those days.

[ASH]

ASH ,  yep  im 49   and old 

 

3rd gen farmer here and yeah like SP said this was my last year  ,  ahh old  combines   you spend more time working on  then riding on lol.  i also remember the smell of soybeans  getting wet  and the stink lol , nothing stinks like rotten soybeans ,   driving to the  mill  pulling the truck  over the dump bars   and tilt bed  . you were right you could not get the dust out of your nose  even with a shower .  

i never had a son  but got 2 daughters   , obviously they were not interested in farming ,  so i gave it over to other family member i can trust, but all the land , equipment is willed to my daughters ,  started picking up leaves in stick barn  and tripping on burners  at age 7 ,  took over completely when dad passed in 95 ,

6 days a week  and sometimes 7   ,something new to do different daily ,  farming is a hard life but i would not change a thing .  i had moved to less tobacco and etc to really getting deep in strawberries ,  not hard to learn   and funny to grow  and alot of money to be made.  you get to sell berries at berry patch ,  then to co ops  then farmers market then  sale the plants  to people all over the country  ,  i finished up few weeks ago , i put down the new plastic for the next berry season .  i will  be around time to time  plus  i got a  non paid job  at NC state  agriculture studies  which i like .  

we can buy what we want ,  we do not want for anything ,  and our kids and grand kids will be taken care of .   we count our blessings daily   a truly lucky . except for having health problems  im content  ive battled the big  C  for a few years  so far winning ,  but  this is what i spend my time on now  ..... my 2 year  grand yougin  Piper

[DrB]

20 minutes ago, ASH said:

ASH ,  yep  im 49   and old 

I got a few years on you.  66 here.  To go back again, I would do it all over in an instant.  First learned to plow pulling 2 12's.  The smell of the fresh turned soil in the spring is to die for....

Dave.

[ASH]

heres to the farmers   .   a dying breed      

 

 

[TBO]

1 hour ago, DrB said:

Came home from from work and the JD combine is in the field on the farm.. dust flying in the air.  Love the smell.

I miss the times when dad and I did that..  Long time ago.  I learned to combine with a John Deere 12A pull behind combine with a 2 cylinder engine, pulled by a John Deere B tractor.  Canvas fed header only 6 ft wide......  Scour Clean to get the weed seeds out that always broke the elevator paddle chain.  Later Dad converted it to a PTO shaft drive.  No safety shields in those days..  I learned to fix elevator chains, put knives on the sickle bar and in general just fix and adjust stuff..

Later we got a JD 30 pull behind with auger feed and was 8 ft' platform.  I was in seventh heaven.........  Had less than half the grease jerks than the 12A to deal with...

Beans dumped into the bed of the old Ford pickup with the wood sides put on.... over one ton on a 1/2 ton pickup with helpers....

I remember my face getting black from the dust and my nose getting plugged up from the dust.  No face masks in those days.  

I miss those days and my dad....

Any other old farmers here?

Dave

I am not a farmer, but have family that was (generational). Sadly, no current family farm (actual farm, there is farm land). 

[jame]

I'm the last of 3 generations farming, and it ends with me.

Carter's grain embargo in the late 1970's pretty much did us in, but we've managed to drag it out this far.  Dad's 83, and I'm in another unrelated profession to allow me to make a living.

We were the traditional midwest farm family, raising corn and soybeans, and hogs and cattle.  I really loved raising cattle, but sadly, they were the last bullet in me.  I lost my ass on 2 pots of black whitefaces (herford angus cross) in 1981.  Interest was in the high teens, the price of corn (feed grain) began to spike a little, and we had a warm, wet winter pitting my cattle belly deep in mud.  It took so much effort for them to move around, my feed to weight gain went to hell, and I had to rent a dry concrete lost to finish them up.  After 8 months, my net gain was about $800.  I was done.

I miss working up cattle.  Making hay.  Harvest and scale tickets.  And being so part of the outdoors.  I used to laugh about people claiming to be "outdoorsmen".  They merely participated in it.  I was part of it; one of it's many components.  It was my office, my workplace.

My heart misses it a lot.

My brains asks my heart what in the **** it's thinking.

 At 59, my body is beaten.  I have scars on every appendage.  Although I have them all, none of my fingers are straight.  They're still carving skin cancer off of Dad.  I've been cut up 3 times, and I know there's more to come.  I'm mostly deaf in my left ear.  My marriage has withstood a hailstorm of ag-finance misunderstandings, meddling family members, (ever do business with family?), and screwed up work schedules.  I'm amazed she's still here.

It's not without benefit.  I know, better that 98% of the American public, exactly where my food comes from and how it's made.  I know that what most people think about food is 100% bullshit.

Me and my two sibling will inherit land of considerable value.

But for me, instead of seeing millions of dollars, I still see legacy.  I still see something that money can't buy.  

I see the spirit of the American Farmer.  

Because I was a Farmer, first.

[ASH]

2 hours ago, jame said:

I'm the last of 3 generations farming, and it ends with me.

Carter's grain embargo in the late 1970's pretty much did us in, but we've managed to drag it out this far.  Dad's 83, and I'm in another unrelated profession to allow me to make a living.

We were the traditional midwest farm family, raising corn and soybeans, and hogs and cattle.  I really loved raising cattle, but sadly, they were the last bullet in me.  I lost my ass on 2 pots of black whitefaces (herford angus cross) in 1981.  Interest was in the high teens, the price of corn (feed grain) began to spike a little, and we had a warm, wet winter pitting my cattle belly deep in mud.  It took so much effort for them to move around, my feed to weight gain went to hell, and I had to rent a dry concrete lost to finish them up.  After 8 months, my net gain was about $800.  I was done.

I miss working up cattle.  Making hay.  Harvest and scale tickets.  And being so part of the outdoors.  I used to laugh about people claiming to be "outdoorsmen".  They merely participated in it.  I was part of it; one of it's many components.  It was my office, my workplace.

My heart misses it a lot.

My brains asks my heart what in the **** it's thinking.

 At 59, my body is beaten.  I have scars on every appendage.  Although I have them all, none of my fingers are straight.  They're still carving skin cancer off of Dad.  I've been cut up 3 times, and I know there's more to come.  I'm mostly deaf in my left ear.  My marriage has withstood a hailstorm of ag-finance misunderstandings, meddling family members, (ever do business with family?), and screwed up work schedules.  I'm amazed she's still here.

It's not without benefit.  I know, better that 98% of the American public, exactly where my food comes from and how it's made.  I know that what most people think about food is 100% bullshit.

Me and my two sibling will inherit land of considerable value.

But for me, instead of seeing millions of dollars, I still see legacy.  I still see something that money can't buy.  

I see the spirit of the American Farmer.  

Because I was a Farmer, first.

bingo my friend ,   

Edited October 20, 2018 by ASH

[astepup]

At 54 I too am the last generation to farm this land (unless for some bizarre reason my grandson wants to farm). My kids are college educated with good jobs, both living about three hours away. Dad retired from the bulk of the operation in '05 but still farms a small bit.

I remember running the old Massey 510 combine with the engine to the right rear of the cab, bean and corn dust rolling in, plugging the rear end when the beans got any kind of dampness on them. Cleaning out the feeder house often. Start disking at 7 am and finally shutting down at 10 pm. Walking beans with a hose and a huge jug of tea. 

Dad's fighting cancer now but still gets out to the farm once in awhile to help mow grass and he's looking forward to pheasant hunting soon. With my job in town we were able to put some acres into a couple of CRP's. When dad's  time comes I'll be alone out here but I'll carry on because I don't have a choice. 

The land's in a trust for my kids so they'll always have the farm income. When I look back...yes there were hard times, hard work, difficult decisions and moments where all you could do was pray.

I wouldn't trade any of it because it's a big reason why and how I became the man I am. The lessons I learned from my dad and this farm will stay with me forever. I only hope I can pass them onto my kids and grandchildren (should I be blessed to have more).

[Guest Fogey]

I'm 76 soon and left the farm in 1960.  I had it and was ready for something else.  At 9 years of age Dad put we two boys on old John Deere two lungers and put us to work.....  By the time we were mid teens we were doing much grain and only enough animals for our own needs.  I had a 38 A JD hand cranker.  Brother Zeke had a 41B for utility work and Dad had the 41A.  We always ran dislate with a gasoline start.   The old 47 GMC 3/4 ton pickup was our office and sometimes more than not our camper and storm shelter.  Mom was also heavily involved.

We each had a line of machinery from two way lift plows to two sets of John Deere 2/14 bottom plows.  Plus transport disc drag disc we hauled to far away fields on a farm wagon. Same with Spike tooth or Spring tooth harrows.  Dad used his '41A to pull the JD 12 A Deere six foot web combine, a one row Bell City corn picker,  the Grain drill, Corn planter, Camel Back sprayer,  Sometimes the neighbors New Holland String or wire tie Balers....  There were many other tools as well.   All the tractors had lifts and power take off....  And were interchangeable at any job.  We always followed strict safety standards and never had any major injuries..... Wish I could say that for our neighbors.....

We contour farmed and bottom farmed, hill farmed, in everything central Ohio offers from shale, flint, gumbo clay and always dust, from everything else at harvest time.  Certain times we spent almost every meal on the tailgate of our old pickup truck.  We were out every day cept for the days even the animals needed to be barned up from freezing. 

I still hear in my memory of the old 38 with a double disc and the four gang spike tooth, PUKKA< PUKKA, POP< POP when I would come to a mile long 40 yard wide turn at the end of a contour strip .  Lining up the October moon between the air cleaner and exhaust pipe on the hood of the tractor and the sounds of the disc and harrow clinking the stones and stalks of corn that was picked earlier that day preparing the ground to plant Winter Wheat the next day..

Too many days doing chores at midnight, fueling up greasing or fixing to the wee hours in the morning then hitting the School Bus intime for a day at school....  Then When we got home in the evenings getting up on the tractors and going to midnight or ??? one more time.... 

Dad had a 4-12 job in a town in a factory for 21 years and Mom had a 11-7 nurses job at the State hospital.  As well..

We had just enough time to watch a tv program, the evening chores, and get into the fields.  As Dad and Mom were out there from day break to time to go to work.....  That was our schedule from day one of our memories.  

My brother lives with in four miles of the old place which was sold in the early sixties.  I lived on the West Coast since the early seventies.   Where I've lived my life at the very fullest every day.  A neighbor mega farmer now farms the Ohio place....  Well I should say his boys do.... Like Dad His lungs filled up with dust and he died not too long ago.  Dad Passed at age 75.  I don't even go back to look around any more....  Even to this day as Dad (we all did).... four hours of sleep and get after it.  Sometime in one or two hours at a time.   I loved it so then and miss it dearly now.   But it was a good foundation to all my morals and needing fairness in life, today.

[Walt Longmire]

3rd generation logging family. Dad worked us boys. I have my own gravel business now for many years here in Alaska. Still love the smell of fresh turned earth, diesel smoke, and sawdust. Toss in some 2 stroke smoke from the chainsaw and we're happy. 

[windowasher]

3rd generation am I.  In 2020, our farm will be listed as a 100 year old Heritage Farm.  My grandpa bought the land in 1920

[Hauptmann6]

Farms have always been an interest to me, but I grew up in a cedar swamp. We farmed deer, cedar posts and mosquitoes.  Raised rabbits for food and shot all the rest of our meat. As a teen moved to the city surrounded by sugar beats, corn and soybeans. Never knew any farmers personally.

 

As I get older, it looks... Like not a horrible idea. Grain only. But I don't have the money to even think about looking at 40 acres let alone the 3-4 sections to make it worthwhile.

[AZ Husker]

I was a farm slave until I was old enough to graduate and join the Army. Corn, alfalfa, and cattle. Seven days a week, 365 days a year those damn cattle needed fed and watered. Army basic training and jump school were a walk in the park. Don't miss it a bit.

[ASH]

one thing a bout farming  , the weather is a cold hearted bitch  lol  ,   i got all gray hair now from farming atleast wife says so  lol .    i cant look  back at changing anything  except maybe  choices  with the weather, 

 

im shocked no dumbasses  has come in here to spoil the thread about subsides lol   

 

if my health  was better  i would continue to farm  ,   i remember a time when you were priming and barning tobacco  it was friends and family  and others  helping , then they found out  i can make more money and not work as hard 

which i dont blame them . farming is a gut passion  if you either have it or not ,  like in my earlier post  ive lived practically my whole life not having to follow rules  ,work with pricks,  and no bosses   ,  i am truly blessed  and i know my family member taking over has been groomed for 15 years to take over and he will carry it on ,  its a nice feeling to be able to retire  and not worry bout money ,  of course  i will still have to keep eye on rental properties  but not to much as i got tired of dealing with renters and hired a company to take over  the BS,

saddens  me the way family farms have gone  , people  will find out one day how important  farming in America is  .  

 

funny story not long ago  i bought new tractor ad sold my old one that was like 20 years old,  dude wanted it bad  , bad enough drove 2 hours with a trailer , and he had no idea how to drive or operate a tractor ,

his wife was with him ,  he id not know how to use pto ,bush hog ,  etc  hydraulics   and he said well i see a leak  here in there and seat is torn  and  on and on , i said dude  its 20 years  old , things are gonna leak , his wife said he wanted to farm dude was my age , i said  listen i want to sell this tractor but your husband is either gonna get killed or go broke ,  you cant start at 50 lol ,  basically i talked then out of ii and said go by a small kubota and do some gardening ,  i did not talk down to them but gave them the straight answer , i felt good about not selling to them ,  

 

week later sold to farmer about 40 miles down the road,

Edited October 22, 2018 by ASH

[DrB]

On 10/22/2018 at 6:11 PM, ASH said:

im shocked no dumbasses  has come in here to spoil the thread about subsides lol 

Been a good thread.... I've enjoyed all the responses, from those who miss and those who don't miss farming.  We all have our reasons.  I am in the camp of those who miss it as was a large part of my life. 

Watched the big JD combine cutting the beans on my land hear the other day.  The smell of the bean dust in the air took me back a few years.  Wheat dust has a different smell as well.

DrB

[Walt Longmire]

I'm not a farmer. Just old. Old and grumpy. Now get off my lawn. 

[DrB]

3 hours ago, Walt Longmire said:

I'm not a farmer. Just old. Old and grumpy. Now get off my lawn. 

And don't walk on my farm land without permission...... Get outa the soy beans....

[janice6]

Work has always made the man!

 

Cities have made consumers.

[Wayward Son]

I'm almost old and have spent many hours on a Gleaner combine cutting wheat and on a 1466 International pulling a disc, chisel and drill.

We run a few head of cattle and put up hay but that's the extent of our farming operation these days. 

At least we've graduated to round balers. I remember bucking square bales one armed because Id broken my arm when I got bucked off a green broke mule.

That sucked but it had to be done.

[DrB]

Gleaner combines..  Used to see them when I was a boy.  Have not seen one in years.  Looked it up and am surprised they are still made.  Anyone here see any in use lately?

Dave..

[jame]

3 hours ago, Wayward Son said:

I'm almost old and have spent many hours on a Gleaner combine cutting wheat and on a 1466 International pulling a disc, chisel and drill.

We run a few head of cattle and put up hay but that's the extent of our farming operation these days. 

At least we've graduated to round balers. I remember bucking square bales one armed because Id broken my arm when I got bucked off a green broke mule.

That sucked but it had to be done.

We've got an old 1466.  It's one hard pullin', turbo screamin' son of a bitch!