Attitudes?

[cowman]

Talked to a mid fiftyish farmer yesterday who was moving some cattle into a hayfield. Of course we roasted the government a bit and agreed that the hay and grass had been pretty good.
His opinion was that he was stuck with his cows even though he would like to get rid of the whole works. Said after two years of disastrous drought(the two years before) and now the BSE thing he was pretty well tapped out and was tired of struggling. He said he just hated to even go out in the morning and dreaded picking up the mail!
His whole attitude was "LET ME OUTA HERE"
Do you think this attitude is common? Is this what we've come to? An attitude of show me the way so I can quit?

[rookie]

I agree somewhat with your observation of seeing other producers fed up with struggling with endless problems that are out of their control. It saddens me and raises more questions in my mind eveyday as to why things are going the way they are.

I read ( more often now ) the question, solutions, and other types of discussions here, and try to find some of the answers . More often than not I only find some comfort in seeing I am not the only one with these questions and concerns...

Working a couple seasonal jobs I sometimes wonder If I should quit .You know...when will the better times come back ?

Then, and maybe its because of my seasonal employment in agriculture, that I'm beginning not to think of packing it in , but staying around for awhile longer. Why? Because the only answer I seem to be finding everytime I log on here or when I talk cattle witha neighbour along a fence line is that I really love this business / lifestyle . Not some solution to economic grief or low comodity prices.

Because it really is that easy to quit , compared to making that dollar in farming. Or is it?

Just a comment this snowy morning. Ya'll have a good day.

[cowman]

Rookie: You are probably a cow junkie! It gets in your blood and is darned hard to get rid of!
I've always said this whole farming thing is like some kind of disease we have and there is no cure. It doesn't make sense but we keep doing it.
I don't think any of these old boys who are quitting really want to. Just time and money have finally caught up with them. A long time ago there were sons and grandsons to carry on with the work and the farmer never really had to quit.My grandfather continued farming until he died in his mid eighties. Near the end his only "jobs" were poisoning the gophers, getting the mail, and walking the fences. Of course he had four sons to do the work.
About 40 years of neglect and ineptitude by our various governments
have brought us to the end of the line. But that is just how it is! If you enjoy it, do it! Better than sitting on your butt watching TV or chasing a little white ball around the golf course. May not make you much money but it will keep you healthy and busy!