[AT] here I go again

[Dean VP]

Ron,

Hail is one of the risks I was referring to. I remember all too well spending an ungodly amount of
hours getting the land ready for planting, planting and cultivating to achieve an absolute gorgeous
and plush 4' high green field and then have it turned into 2" tall stalks overnight.  This was before
Government programs which allowed for insuring for a minimum yield. I always never fully understood or
appreciated how my father weathered that event.  To have so much labor and investment in time and
material all just disappear in just a few minutes was devastating.  I think the only thing that saved
Dad through those years is he was farming land scattered all over the area and Hail tends to be very
localized so not all fields were destroyed at the same time.  Yes we paid for and Hail Insurance but
all it paid for was maybe to start paying for the expenses but nothing in the way of any kind of
profits.  The way I rationalized it after a while was that Dad expected he would get hit every so
often and that was just part of being a farmer.  Some years good money was made other years it wasn't
very good. We usually had around 400 head of feeder cattle on the yard and that was the same gamble or
maybe even worse.  When the cattle reached a certain weight they had to be sold or get docked. One
year the Cattle Market might be up at that time and other years it might be down. Win some and lose
some. Now most cattle are sold before they are mature or the farmer is only providing the labor and
facilities for the feeding program.  Everything is different than when I was on the farm.  I did the
farm books the last couple of years I was on the farm.  I was completely dumbfounded by the amount of
cash my father went through and how little of it he had at the end of the year. It was probably the
best education I could have received.  Dad offered the farm on a rental basis to me after I graduated
from HS.  I turned it down primarily because there just wasn't enough room on that land for two Hard
Headed Dutchman to successfully share responsibility. He was going to be the boss and I was going to
be the hired man no matter what the financial agreement was under the rental agreement.  That is just
the way it was and would always be. I recognized that as a deal breaker.   I've revisited that
decision several times in my life and given the situation I made the right choice.  After I left the
farm Dad purchased his first set of all new machinery(tractor and implements) that he had ever owned
in his life.  The cheap labor was gone and he decided he might as well enjoy it if he was going to
have to farm it all by himself.  He deserved that. Unfortunately he was killed in a tractor/train
accident right after the equipment purchase so he really never got to enjoy all that new Machinery.
My mother offered me the farm to rent again and I again turned it down again.  This decision I have
some regrets about till this day. Knowing some of the financial details of farming I knew all too well
it was going to be a long stretch of living with many hardships and I was too proud to want to depend
on my Mother who needed the income from the farm to live a decent life after Dad's death. This time it
was really hard to turn down but the primary concern I had was having to work for 5 owners of the
land, 4 brothers and sisters plus Mom.  I knew Mom was not going to be difficult but it was clear to
me that some of the Brothers and Sisters and also some of the in-laws potentially could be.  My
brother in-law eventually ended up renting it for 7 years and my concern about the multiple owners
played out in spades.  A sad commentary on family cohesion.  I never really touched another tractor
from 1958 to 1998 and that was when I purchased my first real antique tractor. You can take the boy
off the farm but you will never take the farm out of the boy.    During those 40 years I forgot more
than I ever knew about farming and tractors. It's been an interesting re-learning experience.  One of
my only real regrets is that I haven't been able to get more of my Grandchildren involved in the love
of these old relics.  They were raised in the city with all the comforts of the city and just don't
relate other than the toy aspect.  We just have to  keep moving on.  

Dean VP
Snohomish, WA

They say necessity is the mother of invention. 
Don't know who the father is, probably remorse.
Red Green

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of
Ron Cook
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2014 11:02 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] here I go again

Dean,
     Thanks,  I always was a story teller.  Windy, some folks say. 
Anyways, where I grew up, we actually had loess hill ground to farm 
too.  Not much more equipment required other than a top planter and a 
rotary hoe.  The cultivator got put on the '41 John Deere A the same 
time you folks did.  It worked the hill ground while the other tractors 
were on skeleton wheels working the listed crops with the lister 
cultivators, or low-downs as we called them.  Many called them 
go-devils.  Then the other tractors went back on rubber tires and the 
front mounted cultivators went on,  high-ups, is what we called them.  
By then it was July and a 4th gear pass through the corn and it was 
considered laid by.  I always enjoyed that high speed last cultivation.  
It seemed like you were actually getting something done.
     By the way, the crops really look nice up there in Sioux County 
this year.  There is, however, still plenty of time for hail.

Ron Cook
Salix, IA

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