Do You Have What It Takes??

Agriculture is an industry that is often like a roller-coaster ride.  When I was a kid, I loved, loved, loved amusement parks.  Roller-coasters about did me under, though.  Which means, I would force myself to get on them, put my head down in my lap, and SCREAMMMMMM the whole ride.  As I got a bit older, the fear edged in while I stood in line, and disappeared after the first major drop and then it was all fun from there.  Maybe I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. ;)  As a mom, I am not so eager to risk my life, and am a little more fond of stability.  Of course, as I watch the world around me, the ups and downs of farming and ranching I sometimes wonder how it is that those framers and ranchers are able to hang in there, year after year, roller coaster ride after roller coaster ride.  And don't get me wrong, they don't all hang in there.  But, I think that the majority of them ride the ride until they can no longer afford the ticket.  They usually don't give up until they have given everything. 

I guess I have been thinking about this a lot lately because my Grandpa is turning 82 next week.  We live on his cattle ranch, and from the time I was a little kid, he has been one of my heroes.  He is a true cowboy of the American west.  He was riding the range from the time he was about 10 years old.  He shot his first deer at 12 years-old while herding cows around Barclay, Nevada and took it into camp that night to share with the other cowboys.  He spent his summers driving cows and catching mustangs.  As a young man he had a lucrative business herding milk cows from town to pasture each morning and then back again each evening.  He worked off of the ranch as much as he could to become independent enough to ranch full-time, around which time he started his pure-bred herd, in the 50's.  At the time he also acquired 20 sections of rangeland on the Eastern edge of Lincoln County.  Over the years, through excellent management practices, he increased his allotment from 360 to 490 head of cattle. This past year, he has cut back his breeding program, no longer using artificial insemination because of the time and effort that goes into it.  Just recently he told me that he plans to sell off half of his herd this year.  15 years ago, I could barely keep up with him as I spent the summers trying.  When we headed in for lunch, I would be dozing off while he was still driving.  When it was time to head back to the fields, I was thinking, oh, please, just a short nap? ;)  The past couple of weeks, as the snow came and the temperatures plummeted, I would think of him often and worry about him trying to get the cows fed and the calves healthy while his hired-hand is gone more days than not with family problems, and while his best friend's wife suffered a sever stroke, taking his best friend away, and leaving my Grandpa to watch for his small herd, too.  I worried daily when the rains came steadily for a week about the calves that were coming.  Praying constantly that they wouldn't be overly stressed from it all.  They made it through and did well.  So far, the cold isn't stopping them either.  (Yes, he does all of his calving from end of November to end of January).  My uncle is there as much as he can be between his full-time jobs and voluntary positions, his son helps when he's not in school.  I am constantly offering to do more, but he never wants to burden anyone else, especially since I have my kids to take care of.  So, while the roller coaster ride may be slowing down, he will continue to ride the ride.  I don't think that he knows any other way.  The farmers in Florida who have lost thousands of acres of sweet corn and green beans to freezes in 2010 are so much the same.  Those farmers who face drought, flood, inflation, deflation, hail, pests, and whatever else may hit them, are also the same.  There is something in them that keeps them going--a dedication to the lifestyle, a love of the land, of their produce, and knowledge of the important role they play in supporting not only themselves, but our nation and even world.  Is it in the genes, is it inborn?  Is it something that they gain along the way?  Why would someone face those ups and downs year after year.  I remember memorizing the FFA creed years ago, and one thought sticks out 'I believe that to live and work on a good farm, or to be involved in other agricultural pursuits is pleasant as well as challenging, for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations, which even in hours of discouragement, I cannot deny.'

Okay, so one last thing I wanted to share.  Recently I was told the story a a sheep and potato farmer from Australia that is the epitome of having what it takes and not giving up, though it comes in the form of his winning an incredible ultra-marathon, the ability to do so came from the years and years of having what it takes to keep his family farm going.  Here's the story:

An Unlikely Competitor

Cliff Young.  Every year, Australia hosts 543.7-mile (875-kilometer) endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne. It is considered among the world's most grueling ultra-marathons. The race takes five days to complete and is normally only attempted by world-class athletes who train specially for the event. These athletes are typically less than 30 years old and backed by large companies such as Nike.

In 1983, a man named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this race. Cliff was 61 years old and wore overalls and work boots. To every one's shock, Cliff wasn't a spectator. He picked up his race number and joined the other runners.
The press and other athletes became curious and questioned Cliff. They told him, "You're crazy, there's no way you can finish this race." To which he replied, "Yes I can. See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn't afford horses or tractors, and the whole time I was growing up, whenever the storms would roll in, I'd have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 sheep on 2,000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but I'd always catch them. I believe I can run this race."
When the race started, the pros quickly left Cliff behind. The crowds and television audience were entertained because Cliff didn't even run properly; he appeared to shuffle. Many even feared for the old farmer's safety.
The Tortoise and the Hare
All of the professional athletes knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race. In order to compete, one had to run about 18 hours a day and sleep the remaining 6 hours. The thing is, Cliff Young didn't know that!
When the morning of the second day came, everyone was in for another surprise. Not only was Cliff still in the race, he had continued jogging all night.
Eventually Cliff was asked about his tactics for the rest of the race. To every one's disbelief, he claimed he would run straight through to the finish without sleeping.
Cliff kept running. Each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes. He was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he set a new course record.
When Cliff was awarded the winning prize of $10,000, he said he didn't know there was a prize and insisted that he did not enter for the money. He ended up giving all of his winnings to several other runners, an act that endeared him to all of Australia.
Continued Inspiration

In the following year, Cliff entered the same race and took 7th place. Not even a displaced hip during the race stopped him.

Cliff came to prominence again in 1997, aged 76, when he attempted to raise money for homeless children by running around Australia's border. He completed 6,520 kilometers of the 16,000-kilometer run before he had to pull out because his only crew member became ill. Cliff Young passed away in 2003 at age 81.
Today, the "Young-shuffle" has been adopted by ultra-marathon runners because it is considered more energy-efficient. At least three champions of the Sydney to Melbourne race have used the shuffle to win the race. Furthermore, during the Sydney to Melbourne race, modern competitors do not sleep. Winning the race requires runners to go all night as well as all day, just like Cliff Young.

(You can do a  search for videos and more info on Cliff Young, this article came from: http://www.elitefeet.com/the-legend-of-cliff-young )