job description

I was a grain farmer until I got into vegetables. This is anything from tomatoes, field corn, sweet corn, to pumpkins. I specialize in agriculture and do not raise animals.

Very rare. What used to make up 98% of the population is now 2%. Industrialization has changed agriculture by bringing people to the cities and enabling fewer farmers to manage a larger area.

It is out there. I've heard of plenty of people assume that if you farm, you are not literate. I let it go because I know just how hard, both physically and mentally, this job is. Not many people are self-motivated enough to get up each day before 6:00 a.m. and work according to their own terms without a boss breathing down their necks.

Farming seems really monotonous, but it isn't. It takes a very versatile person to handle a farming operation. My time is spent ordering and researching seeds, planting, harvesting, and selling them. This takes an enormous amount of planning on my part. Different breeds of different crops grow at different rates, and allow me to stagger my harvest perfectly in sync. After that, it is on to marketing to make sure that when I grow these plants, someone will buy them. I'm a manager of an entire picking, handling and trucking staff. The only benefit to all this work is the large breaks that farmers get during the winter.

I love agriculture. I never get tired of producing it or tasting it. Constantly improving my product is something that comes naturally to me.

From year to year, I make little changes to my overall routine. I’ve found a system that works, and I’ve stuck with it. Granted, weather is a big decider in my production, but beyond weather factors, it has become a very exact science.

My day is broken up into distinct categories, depending on the season. This time of the year (winter), I do very little related to my job. Beyond a little financial work and marketing, I'm not involved. During the summer, though, it means I am up before sunrise and working the entire day through. At the beginning of the season, my time is spent in and around tractors, preparing soil and planting seed. Halfway through the season, I am tending to any soil issues or weeds. At the end of the season, I am picking and shipping. That is the craziest part of my year. Many mistakes happen and a lot of risk is present. While I can't let produce go bad, I also have to make sure proper shipments go to the right people. If I have to hop behind the wheel of a truck that doesn't have a driver, then so be it.

Sweet corn has become an Iowan delicacy. Sweet corn is a very temperamental and delicious food that is meant to be eaten on the same day that it is picked. People from all over the country either come here or same-day-ship from here to taste Iowa Sweet Corn. I started out twenty years ago with an experimental patch of produce. It was a tiny fourth of an acre, and I planted three different types of sweet corn. I advertised it in the paper, and pretty soon it took off.

education & career path

When I was a young man, my father was a farmer. I learned the craft from him on a small patch of land that I tended. There, I grew soybeans and field corn. A large challenge that faces everyone looking to enter agriculture is the purchase of land. It has become so expensive that it is nearly impossible to buy a farm or the land for one. Instead, it is usually inherited.

I graduated from high school and went on to take some agricultural management classes at Iowa State University. Beyond that, I still attend seminars and meetings to discuss the latest techniques and information concerning my business.

It is certainly not needed as a bare necessity. That being said, I would strongly recommend it to new farmers. It can't hurt, and most likely will greatly increase your productivity and effectiveness. I think that I would still be able to function well as a farmer without college. It is a very self-driven craft. With college though, I was able to learn about the newest techniques that my peers were using. It gave me an edge that has proven to be very useful.

I've been running some sort of farm for forty years. I reached the structure I am at today about twenty years ago. This is typically the amount of time it takes fellow farmers, also. It is a long-term vocation, with good profit for those in it for the long-term. Anyone looking to make money quickly is not cut out for agriculture. Some years there is record demand and amazing returns, and other years are barren. It is up to the farmer to adjust and make the best of each year for the long-run.

Certainly. The biggest risk to any farmer is the weather. Consumers don't care what the weather is; they still want their produce. When a field of my vegetables is killed because of abnormal weather conditions, it is all lost profit. Fortunately, very few bad years and good planning have helped me become successful. My longevity in this industry is due to my lack of dependency on a single good year. I always plan for the worst, and then celebrate when a year goes well. This way, most of my gambles are well-calculated.

my day

On an average day, I am up with my employees at 6:00 a.m., picking sweet corn. By 10:00 a.m., our refrigerated trucks are shipping out all over the Des Moines metro area. The sweet corn has very high sugar levels, which means that optimal timing and temperature is essential to selling a quality product.

Someone new to farming would not handle the physical demands well. After years and years, you learn exactly what to do so you aren't bleeding by the end of the day. My hands are a little callused, but that is nothing too harsh.

We work pretty closely with grocers and distributors, and hearing what the customer says about my product is really important to me. When I get a call from a grocery store manager telling me that customers are begging for more sweet corn from me, it feels great. It lets me know that I'm doing something right. At the same time though, if I hear criticism, I have to take it well and use it to my advantage. Getting mad at someone who doesn't like my corn does not help me make a better product.

This also really fluctuates. Some days I might just be by myself on a tractor, planting seed. Other days, I might have 20-30 people in the field with me picking corn. Throw in interaction with distributors, and I have a lot of social relations.

The rainy day is horrible on the farmer. I get in such a routine with my work that when weather gets in the way, I'm thrown into a funk. I have to keep myself from just staring out the window all day. After the rain hits, muddy conditions still persist. This could mean missing out on a whole week of work. Since I work all day starting very early, rainy days result in a lot of lost hours. This is normal with any farming job, but it is never easy to accept.

salary & lifestyle

That is an impossible question. It depends on the season, crop, and assets of the farmer. What's more, no one can predict the market. Essentially, there is no limit to how much or how little a farmer can make. That is the scary part. A few bad seasons to a rookie farmer will discourage him to the point of leaving the business. I wish I could nail down a number, but there is no "expected" or "average" farmer's salary.

I am my own boss. Every farmer that owns his own land is. This is great if you are self-motivated. When you can get up each day and complete everything on your agenda, good things happen. The problem is that people get a little too comfortable with their situation. I can't take a day off to watch some football during picking season. It doesn't matter that no one is controlling my salary or vacations; I understand the repercussions of any laziness. It's bittersweet, really, but when the right person gets this kind of freedom, they thrive.

Farming is not for the worriers out there. My wife, who is heavily involved in the operation, has a tough time with this. Some days, after heavy rain, it is too muddy to pick. On those days, I have to plan how I'm going to make up for this lost time and overdue crop. There is nothing I can do about it, so I have to accept the inevitable. While I might not enjoy this, it is part of the job and the risks that I take on.

That question almost doesn't make sense to me. This is my life. This isn't a cubicle job that I have just to pay the bills. Agriculture is what I do in life; it's not just a profession. I have gained such a great respect for the earth and nature, and that makes me love what I do. I feel like I am part of the actual natural process, and nothing could be more gratifying. During bad seasons, I've thought about what else I could do. I got pretty involved in electrical work at one point. But at the end, I am still a farmer. It's in my blood. I love it so much, and could not think of any better way to earn a living.

Like I said earlier, the business gets in our blood. It becomes more than just a job. It is a lifestyle. You live it, eat it, and immerse yourself in it. A lot of farmers have the opportunity to quit around age 70 and just keep going until they die. That doesn't mean that you can't retire if you want out, but some don't. After 50 years of waking up before the sun rises and planting crop, it is hard to give it up.

pros, cons & trends

Errors in judgment. You can pick crops too early, which leads to an underdeveloped and small crop. At the same token, if I pick too late I will get a tough and oversized product. I can't sell either, and that equates to lost profit. Finding the perfect conditions and timing are essential.

I actually really enjoy it. My wife does most of the contacting work with the large companies that buy our produce. The companies have certain people that are in charge of getting produce, and they really bond with my wife. She calls around 27 different places every day to see how much produce they want that particular day. Each person she knows by face, or at least by name. I'm lucky - if I didn't have her, I'd have to hire a secretary or do it myself, which would take away from my field time.

Our pickers used to be college and high-school age kids looking to make some good money. As people that emigrate from Southern countries gradually migrate farther north, we have found that we rely heavily on people of Mexican descent. They pick, plant, de-tassel, and help with anything else on the farm that I need. They are extremely hard workers, and we typically hold on to them for at least a couple seasons. We pay them well and treat them well, and we expect high quality work in return. Through years of working with Hispanic workers, I've picked up enough Spanish to make sure that I can communicate anything I need to say in the fields.

This is a funny question. You could either say everything or nothing. My career is my life and vice-versa. In the sense of my finding other interests, I golf, dance, travel and four-wheel. I have the ability to have other interests when the crop isn't in season. When it is, however, I can't take time off. It is a very polar profession. Either I am in full gear, sunrise to sunset, or I am completely relaxed and not worrying about any farming stuff.

There has been an influx of labor-saving machinery and procedures. When I started, we used a small two-row picker, and a great deal of labor was involved in extracting the grain. Now we have the combine that does all the work for us. Beyond sheer machinery, genetics has played a huge role in my industry. Before I ever plant anything, I know nearly every characteristic of the crop. I can estimate when it will sprout, bud and be at its prime. This is a great asset to a large-scale farmer like me who needs to have picking happen like clockwork. It is this organization that allows me to sell sweet corn the same day that it is picked.

advice

I wish I'd have known about the inevitable perils that come with the job. Machinery breaks, weather turns, and crops fail. Now, I accept these terms and move on. Back during my early years, I was constantly worrying about situations that I could only help so much. On the same note, when a situation arises that I am able to fix, I utilize my options to the fullest. I think it is really important for newcomers to farming to know that on rainy days relax. When the sun is shining, work non-stop.

Mainly people who are self-motivated. I said it earlier, but it is particularly true in an expertise that requires everything to be done independently. No one tells me what to do or how to do it. If I ruin a crop, no one directly punishes me. At the same time, it takes a large amount of insight to understand penalization still takes place. Beyond that, a lot of farmers get involved because they love and understand the land, but lack any type of marketing or financial skills. In a modern world, simply selling produce isn't enough. It takes a lot of planning in the books and in stores to run a successful operation.

I've already said it, but those that live year-to-year. When you are counting on a great crop to bail you out of debt, you set yourself up for disaster. A big-picture outlook is essential. That could mean not buying the latest machinery, taking vacations, or not taking any other unnecessary expense. As long as you are very prepared to have a long and bad season, nothing can surprise you.

People think of the Beverly Hillbillies. We are nowhere close. Farming on a large scale is no backyard garden. It takes a huge amount of start-up capital, years of experience, and in-depth planning to understand agriculture. An office job typically consists of the same tasks every day. Farming has a huge variety, with many different plants needing different care every day. At one point I'm putting the seed in, at others, I'm harvesting it. Both jobs require completely different machines and infrastructures.

Most people think the produce aisle or de-tasseling corn is the best way to learn. These jobs, though, are rough labors that don't result in much education for the individual worker. Farmers are constantly on the lookout for hired labor, and this would be the spot to break through. Typically, these jobs involve overseeing picking, planting, and everything in between. Most farmers even offer housing as part of the package. It's solid pay for a young person and provides them with all the experience they could use.