I was very fortunate growing up working on the farm. Our tractors always had air conditioners. The A/C may not have always functioned perfectly, but the tractors were equipped. They also had cabs. They may not sound like an important distinction, but it is. That means our tractors were relatively …
wes 
Lessons from the Farm: Overlap
I started driving a tractor at a young age. Most kids of farmers do. I cannot tell you how many hours I’ve spent on a tractor plowing a field. I’ve used chisels, sweeps, duck bills, and discs. I’ve started at sunrise and finished after dark, even spending some time running …
Lessons from the Farm: Build Around the Water
Somewhere before or after my senior year of high school (I forget which), we underwent a major construction project on the farm. We tore down our existing corrals (part of which had been there for nearly 100 years!) and built a new set. This was my largest construction project to …
Lessons from the Farm: Adapt and Innovate
My dad is my hero. Part of why I value my time growing up working on the farm is all of the time I got to spend with him along the way. For some reason, there’s one conversation that has stuck in my mind for close to 20 years. It’s …
Lessons from the Farm: Efficiency Isn’t Flashy
I started driving a tractor by myself around age 7, maybe 8. It’s not as dangerous as it may seem because I only went about 3.5 mph most of the time, and it’s difficult to do much damage at that high rate of sloth-ness. As I got older, I realized …