When I was in kindergarten until sometime in second grade I thought everyone had a grandma's house like mine did. Going to my grandma's meant going to the farm and the farm was basically the most awesome place ever to me when I was growing up. In my incredibly small world I thought everyone got to go to the farm and help sort baby pigs, feed calves, and spend summer nights getting eaten alive by mosquito's on the trampoline. Once I got old enough to realize that most people don't live the way that my family did it was kind of a rude awakening for my young self. Once I started having sleepovers at my friends houses I learned that all of my friends had dad's that didn't work on a farm. Most of them worked in offices.
When I tell people what I do for a living I get a few different responses. One that is fairly common is people telling me that their parents, grandparents, etc. used to have a dairy or a farm of some sort. This leaves me to wonder, If none of the younger generations take an interest in farming, then what's going to happen to all of the small family farms? This is a conversation that my sisters and I have had multiple times and I'm sure the conversation will continue into the future.
The McCollum's have been farming out here since the 1890's. The original house is still being used today. I am extremely proud of my family and the legacy they have handed down. Our family farm has survived a lot. The McCollum's have been through both world wars, the great depression, the land crises of the 1980's, and yet we are still in the same place. My great-grandmother was actually purchasing land during the great depression. From what everyone tells me about her she was an incredibly smart woman with a head for business. I never got a chance to meet her and neither did my dad. My dad's grandparents died at fairly young ages, but I am always fascinated by the history of our family. Everything that they did led us to where we're at today. Some people could say that my family didn't get very far since we are still in the same place. My question though is why is that a bad thing? We are very lucky if you ask me. For over a century we have been able to keep a business going.
My dad and uncle were both raised working on the farm and they were expected to continue working on the farm after they graduated high school. If you knew my dad you would know that he had zero interest in pursuing a college education. Frank did go to college and he works as a nurse now as well as working on the farm. Even though college was something they could pursue their parents still expected them to be home back at the farm to help out.
My sisters and I grew up with entirely different expectations. The farm was something that my sisters and I loved to visit. In the summers we would spend days and days at the farm. The only reason we would get dragged home would be so mom could drag our butts to church and force us to finally get cleaned up. I've been able to put a milker on a cow since I was eight years old and I've been able to bottle feed a newborn calf since I was five. I loved every second of my time growing up on the farm. It's where I learned how to ride a bike without training wheels as well as many other life lessons. The huge difference between how we were raised and how dad was raised is that we were never expected to end up back at the farm. Our dad has always made it very clear that it's our choice. The farm is there and if we want to be involved in it we can, and if we want nothing to do with it, that's okay too. I have so much respect for my dad. Him giving us this decision was not easy for him because he loves the farm and it's his legacy to us. He still wants it to be our choice to be there and not something that is forced upon us.
I wonder sometimes that if we had been raised with different expectations if I would feel differently about the farm. I hope to God that I would still love it, but it's hard to say. I'm glad I was raised with the choice. My college degree is my back up plan in case the farm doesn't work out at some point. As dad likes to say the farm could go away, but they can never take an education away from you. My choice is the farm. It's what I love and what I enjoy. Part of why I chose the farm is because I never wanted to lose the farm. I want to know that I did everything in my power to keep our family farm alive and well. Coming back to the farm was always my choice and I thank my dad and God that I ever had that choice in the first place.
