Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Farming is Gambling

      This year has definitely been one for the books. Nobody could have ever predicted the way this year would go. For the past few weeks while talking to people and farmers I would hear them say, “some rain would be really nice”. Well we finally got the rain and as you all know it also came with some very unwanted extra strong damaging winds. As you drive around the area road farming, you can see the structural damage done, trees down, and corn flattened. There is no way farmers can see or predict what will happen year by year and each and every day really is a gamble. 


    I have heard this saying be used for years. Farming is really gambling. I have never quite understood it until this year when my brother and I started a crop share partnership with a neighbor. Luke and I each have 15 acres of our own. As soon as I signed my name on the papers this saying finally made sense. From the beginning, you are given multiple choices to make almost every day. What type of seed to plant, where will you buy it from, what will you spray, and will you pay the extra money for crop insurance? And the biggest gamble of them all is with the markets changing everyday, what will you do with your bushels, when will you sell? Should I utilize a forward contract? Do I risk storing my grain with extra expenses? My corn is standing this time but will we have more wild weather before harvest? The list goes on and on. Farming is gambling every day. 


     While growing up I was always told to never gamble. It's an addicting world that most of the time you lose in and when you do win you actually end up still paying too much. Well here we are, farmers are gambling everyday so why do they do it? They love the game, win or lose, they still wake up and go to work. They love their farm, their machinery, and their land. And as my dad always says, “If it was easy, everyone would do it!” Let’s hope the farm gambling chips fall in your favor. 


~ Kesley Holdgrafer

 

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