I have spent a lot of time talking to a friend in Idaho who works on his father’s farm, I learned soooo much…I have more respect than ever before as I now know the long hours that go into that whole lifestyle and the hermit type lifestyle they must lead in order to get all the things done they need too, to make money and for us to have the food we need to live. I never knew how touchy farming was and how easy it would be to lose EVERYTHING. I learned that potatoes’ are so wonderful from Idaho because it is so cold at night and warms up so much in the day time, and that you should cut beans when the dew is low (otherwise you lose some beans)….and then you fork the ends to try and save what was missed when they were cut. And then difference between the round and square hay bales, all I can says is WOW….have you ever wondered why some of green wrap and some have white?? I have so I finally asked and well it is just wrapping to keep it dry---who would have known. Who would have known there was such a difference between the square and the round bales of hay? Round makes better hay, a round baler can be pulled with a smaller tractor, they are smaller and don’t smash your fields as much so you don’t lose as much, you can bale at a higher moisture with the round ones(makes sense more in Canada to me at least ;) ) The square ones…are easier to truck and stack, and faster to bale in the field. round ones are cheaper to make then square ones the cost blew me away…..the round ones are about $50,000 and the square ones about $160, 00(might be a little different in Canada but that was the guess of the US prices) this just really blows my mind away that is a heck of a lot of money, especially when you are not sure if you are going to make money in a year. The game you have to play in farming is very, very scary to me, the needing more land to make more money, but then needing newer equipment to keep up and the cost of that a crazy little circle you go in.
Who would have known these things…not this little Alberta girl who has NEVER left Canada….let alone been on a farm really….
All I can say is thank you to the people that put in the long hours and have a lack of social lives for us to be able to have food to eat, the work ethic has changed a ton in our society but even if you do the low end of farming you are still working harder than most these days but those that are doing that old style farming where you out more than you are in THANK YOU so much…..
i am going to add some more photos of my trip in a little bit
