Many of you may watch the current season of The Bachelor. This years main man is a farmer, from the small town Arlington, Iowa. “Prince Farming” his early thirties, good looking, down to earth, and he is also a farmer who just happens to be looking for his soul mate.
The ladies on The Bachelor are mostly city, born and raised, and a few small town Mid-West girls who are also looking for their future husband (at least some of them, anyway). Let me start by saying, I know a few ladies that never grew up farming and came from the city to marry their own Prince Farming, and they adjusted well!
Nothing against all the city girls out there, but I think they should be a little bit more educated about what they may be getting themselves into. Some would probably adjust very well, and others not so much, and you can almost pick out the ones that wouldn’t last a minute on the farm!
So, I have decided to write them an anonymous letter from someone who has a couple years of experience under her belt. Someone like, me. Here it goes…
Dear Future Farmer’s Wife, First off, I want you to know that I am a farmer’s wife too. Being married to a farmer is one of the hardest, but most rewarding jobs there is. You get to be a part of a dying community, but a thriving world that brings food to everyone else’s tables. You probably don’t care now how the markets are doing, or if there is a momma cow having trouble calving her first baby in the old barn, but you will. You probably don’t care now when the tractor is broke down and parts aren’t available until next week Wednesday, but you will. You probably don’t care now how long it takes to plant or harvest a field or do chores on a winters morn, but you will. Oh, how you will.
You might not be used to getting invited to weddings, parties, family gatherings and not being able to attend because it’s haying season. You might not be used to sleeping beside someone who has to get up every two hours to check if a cow calved in the middle of the night when it is 25 below.
You may have been worried before in life, but you’ve never experienced worry until you get a text saying “I got kicked by a cow” or “I’m putting in an all-nighter”, and let me tell you, an all-nighter doesn’t mean he is out drinking with his friends. You get used to the long, strange hours, and the hard work, but you never out grow the worry.
You may know how to cook now, but in a few months, you’ll be able to whip up a meal, have it packed in the cooler with time to spare before he comes in to pick it up before he starts a long day in the field.
You may think dirty laundry is wearing an outfit more than once, but you have never seen dirty laundry until you have married a farmer/rancher. Be prepared to find bolts, pliers, corn, soy beans, manure, and gum in the washer or dryer. Don’t expect to find any money.
Whether you work in town or are based at home, be expected to run and I mean literally run, to town on a parts run. Be expected to know how to stretch your money wisely and cut those coupons from the Sunday paper. Be prepared for early mornings and long nights.
Be prepared for basically anything, dirt, mud, poop, bugs, blood and guts, live animals, ANYTHING that comes through your front door (and onto your living room carpet).
Designer is no longer Gucci, Michael Kors, or Prada, but rather John Deere, Case IH, or flowers, freshly picked from the field he was fixing fence at today, and they could be dandelions. But trust me, you’ll cherish them.
Be prepared to eat dinner no earlier than 7 o’clock pretty much every night. Be prepared to keep your weekends free because Sunday, is basically the only day you get to see him for more than 10 minutes while he is sleeping. And be prepared even on Sunday, for the cows to get out, because cows don’t care that it is Sunday.
Be prepared to spend $50+ every week on sandwich meat, Lil Debbies (if you don’t know what these are, you’ll find out), soda, bottled water, chips, and buns for cooler food during the week. P.S. Cooler season is about from April to November. And during cooler season, sitting down at the table for a hot meal, is considered a date night.
Be prepared to deal with a super cranky man when the combine breaks down during mid-harvest and there is rain coming or when a cow dies from slipping on ice.
Also be prepared for the farm life to completely change your life in such a positive way.
Farmers may have rough hands, but they have a gentle spirit and a loving heart. He already loves you more than words can say. Why do you think he works so hard anyway, to support you and the little family the two of you have made together. And don’t ever second guess yourself, on those lonely, late summer nights, because he does love you. More than the cows, more than the new John Deere tractor, and more than life itself.
Somewhere in between the long and hectic summer days and the freezing cold winter nights, you’ll fall in love with this crazy but beautiful life too. You might not think so now, but you will. Oh, how you will.
The Life of the Fit Farmer's Wife 