This column responds to a common complaint of women married to work-driven farmers who neglect important family responsibilities in their quest to make their agricultural enterprise successful.
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It is surprising to me that there are only 12 notes in music. Every song you have ever heard is an arrangement of those same 12 notes. The difference of each song is the songwriter’s expression of those limited notes played in different combinations.
Editor’s note: In the first column in this series, Val Farmer wrote a fictitious letter created to summarize a common complaint attributed to a rural woman called “Carol.”
It should be no surprise that I love words, especially unusual words. Years ago, I came across the word “anachronism.” I was not familiar with the term.
This is a fictitious letter I created to summarize a common complaint. I attribute it to a rural woman I will call “Carol.” These thoughts capture the distress many women feel about the quality of their marital relationships in farm and ranch family business operations.
As I write this, farmers here in north-central Montana are sidelined from harvest by rain. A few overnight showers turned into true rainfall by mid-morning, dashing hopes of being in the field for the next several days.
- By Steve Bohr
Every day at the farm, my Dad, Mom and I would watch Bonanza at 1 p.m. My dad loved the show and my mom loved my dad. I loved westerns so it all worked out.
Some time back I saw a bumper sticker that read, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” I quietly mumbled, “Amen.”
Jeepers Creepers, where’d ya get those peepers?” Now there’s a phrase you probably haven’t heard for a while. Perhaps you’ve never heard it. The line is from a song recorded by Louis Armstrong in the late 1930s.
As a twice-married man and a father, I have been made fully aware of all my faults. One of those faults is my temper. Over the years, I have learned to control that temper… until someone pushes all the right buttons.
- By John Shutske, University of Wisconsin
You may have heard the latest buzz about a technology that will forever change the worlds of business, communication, entertainment, education and … agriculture. We’re talking about massive advancements in artificial intelligence or “AI.”
This Farm and Ranch Life article isn’t about how far humans can travel, nor about how far birds fly, fish swim and mammals migrate.
Danish theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard observed, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” I’ve been thinking about that concept all week.
Years ago I thought it was necessary to welcome the new year with a celebration of some sort. At the very least, I thought one should stay up until midnight to usher in the new year.
If you’re wanting to adopt the latest in planter tech, you can easily shell out $350K for a new 24-row, central-fill machine with all the bells and whistles. But as the price of fresh paint keeps rising, more and more producers are keeping their older planters and opting to install retrofit …
As the end of the year approaches, we close the books on another production year. There are many lessons to be had this year, but none of them greater than “Cash Flow is King.”
If farm people think the holiday season is a good time to resolve intrafamily conflicts about farm estate matters, they probably are wrong. According to professional farm mediators, family get-togethers over the holidays generate more guardedness and stress among the disputants than warm fee…
The world’s most common expression of farewell, “goodbye,” originated in the 16th century as “God be with you.” Through a series of metamorphoses over the next two centuries, it became the contraction we use today — “goodbye.”
There was an old man who lived on a farm and had a loyal dog. After a busy Thanksgiving, the old man decided that he would go walking every morning in an effort to become more fit. His dog was always happy to accompany him, and they walked in the mornings before the sun came up.
I am not a big football fan, but on the rare occasions when I have visited a university stadium, I love the halftime performances by the college bands. In particular, I enjoy the sousaphones.
No wonder sales of utility vehicles have exploded in the post-pandemic years. No other product family sits so squarely at the intersection of fun and functionality. And along with the massive increase in ATVs and UTVs, there’s been a corresponding eruption in attachments and accessories.
This year is testing the endurance of nearly everyone in the U.S. and around much of the world. It’s still too soon to tell how the co-occurring crises in the Ukraine and Gaza will turn out, as well as how challenges to democracy in the U.S. and elsewhere, uncertainty due to climate change a…
We non-smokers are tickled that most restaurants are now smoke-free. No longer do restaurant hostesses ask, “Smoking or non-smoking?”
Ben believed harvest was always a stressful time, but this year had been different. It had been a good harvest season, and he was excited it was almost over.
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