We are coming up on our 10 year anniversary of living on the farm. 10 Years ago we were 33. Why does that suddenly sound so young?
Anyhow, we didn't start at 23. The irony is that we would have had boundless energy, but we never would have had the funds to afford land and water. At 23, I did purchase my first house. The sale of said house was what gave us the down payment on the farm.
So 2007, we moved onto the farm. All types of vim and vigor got is head over heels into farming. We've tried chickens, turkeys, guineas, sheep, steer, orchard trees, greenhouse veggies, raised bed veggies, fruits, pumpkin patches, cover crops, etc.
OY. We ended up being successful with the animals, and not at all with the plants. Even though the plants really were my original passion. So here we are 10 years later, fully immersed in chickens, ducks, turkeys and lamb. Still wading our way through how to grow an orchard and how to get plants to grow where chickens like to scratch.
In 10 years we have made a TON of mistakes. We have learned a lot. We have shared a lot of our learnings. We have certainly fed a lot of folks. We've settled into a rhythm, we've got schedules and timings. We've gone beyond beginners to fully ensconced farmers with a niche that we fill.
But 10 years has started to wear us out. The passion is still there, at least with me. I still love my animals. I still love teaching what we've learning and sharing our farm. But in 10 years, I am still working a full-time job away from the farm. I have a daughter that is now almost 8, and she deserves my time and energy, too. And literally, we both have worn out backs. We're struggling with some of the activities that used to be easy. Lifting is getting harder. And now that we both have literally hurt our backs, lifting is really becoming a challenge.
Thankfully, we are in a place where the farm has been profitable enough that we can invest in capital improvements. Things like grain bins, so that we don't have to schlep 50 pound bags of feed, the tractor for moving big hay bales, the livestock trailer so we don't have to lift lambs into the truck bed anymore. We are currently waiting on parts to arrive for a liftgate on the truck, so we literally don't have to lift heavy things anymore. Our backs are spent.
It makes me think about the future of farming. How do we continue this, when our physical bodies are getting more and more tired, and less and less capable? My daughter is only 8. 50 years ago, we would have had at least 4 kids and by the time we were 40, we'd likely have teenagers to help around the farm. So we are into our 40s already and have an 8 year old, who is not quite big enough to help us with the heavy lifting.
So we'll see how this continues to go. We are winding down our winter rest. Our year is pretty well planned. I would say this post isn't supposed to sound like we are giving up. We are trying to face the reality that our bodies are not going to get better. We are not going to have more physical energy year to year. We need to continue making improvements on the farm to help make things easier on our backs. We aren't going to feel like we did when we were 33, but we are smarter now, and we've learned for 10 years and incorporated that into our farm. We need to continue evolving and making things more efficient on the farm!
It was in MBA school many years ago that I heard the words "exit strategy." This was when I realized that a business closure did not necessarily mean FAILURE. That selling a business or closing one may have been part of the plan all along. We don't have an exit strategy. We haven't thought about what that means. My mind always imagines that everything we have will be given to Shannon one day, but that's a lot to ask - to assume a girl who is 8 will grow up and want to take over our farm. Besides, is this back-breaking work what I expect of her? Will I presume she will like this? I guess we have 10 more years to consider how our farming life effects her. She's part of the reason that I have not quit my job to farm full time - I still need to get her through college, and need funding to help with that. Besides, farming doesn't fill my 401(k) either. Believe me, I have a plan for retiring from my day job. But I have not at all formulated an exit strategy for the farm. Maybe it is time to consider those options. In the meantime, we keep going, and we keep teaching. And maybe some day, someone younger can come along and fill in our niche.