I’m NOT Just a Farmer

Several years ago I found myself browsing through coffee table books at a local bookstore looking for a book featuring Canadian Prairie photographs as a gift for some American friends. I came across a book titled, “It’s Just Prairie.” Flipping through the book I discovered beautiful photographs of my favourite place in the world – the Canadian Prairies. But something bothered me – the title. I thought, “It’s not JUST Prairie; It’s Prairie!”

I thought back to this book recently when a few people told me about this article titled, “I’m JUST a farmer.” I couldn’t agree more with the writer. A farmer is not just a farmer. Today’s modern farmer is a businessman (or woman), mechanic, marketer, accountant, agronomist, veterinarian, truck driver, human resources manager and so much more. And besides all this, farmers have one of the greatest responsibilities – to help feed a growing world.

The nature of a farmer’s work requires diversity and versatility. Farmers have a whole wealth of skills under their belt but they’re typically not ones to brag about these skills. They’d rather fly under the radar – simply going about their day-to-day lives getting the work done.

Unfortunately, farmers are known for thinking of themselves as just farmers. But rather, a farmer should be proud to be a farmer and say it with pride.

If you’re a farmer, the next time you’re at a party and someone asks you what you do, I encourage you to say with pride, “I’m a farmer,” and talk about the skills needed to run a successful farm.

And if you’re at a party and you hear someone say, “I’m just a farmer,” I encourage you to pipe up and remind them of the variety of skills they possess and need to be a successful farmer.