City kids, I tell ya what...

[LoveMoo11]

I work at a university farm, where visitors are welcome. Well today, I was doing some work in the calf barn when a little boy came in with his mom to see the calves. I said hello and went about my business and I heard the kid whisper to his mom "What is that girl doing" and his mom said "well I guess she is a farmer" and he goes "But she's a GIRL! Girls can't be farmers!"
I didn't know whether to laugh or be mad at the ignorance of our world....it just reminded me how people are so stereotypical regarding farmers and it makes me mad. Seems that a lot of people think farmers are just a bunch of low I.Q. hicks in overalls.
Not that I don't love my Carhartt overalls.

 

[alacattleman]

I work at a university farm, where visitors are welcome. Well today, I was doing some work in the calf barn when a little boy came in with his mom to see the calves. I said hello and went about my business and I heard the kid whisper to his mom "What is that girl doing" and his mom said "well I guess she is a farmer" and he goes "But she's a GIRL! Girls can't be farmers!"
I didn't know whether to laugh or be mad at the ignorance of our world....it just reminded me how people are so stereotypical regarding farmers and it makes me mad. Seems that a lot of people think farmers are just a bunch of low I.Q. hicks in overalls.
Not that I don't love my Carhartt overalls.

i thought that was a prerequisite to being a cattleman ;-)

 

[rusty]

Don't let it get you down , people tend to talk before thinking .I understand it was a kid which is acceptable but I also bet mommy didn't correct.Look on the bright side at least your not a dumb ,lazy redneck ,hillbilly from West by God Virginia.
Try going outside of state and people finding that out.You know come to think of it i'm shocked you farmers and cattle people can even read and write let alone turn on a puter.

 

[lavacarancher]

You should have laughed and told the kid "girls" can be any darned thing they wanted to be. It's pretty easy to see how he got that impression though. Most every picture you ever see and all the movies about cattle ranching and farming depicts those folks as men. And no doubt his parents probably led him to stereotype people (girls play with dolls, boys play with GI Joe, etc)

I've met some pretty sharp cattle folks over the years and a lot of them didn't have balls. So don't take it so personally.

 

[CattleHand]

You should have laughed and told the kid "girls" can be any darned thing they wanted to be. It's pretty easy to see how he got that impression though. Most every picture you ever see and all the movies about cattle ranching and farming depicts those folks as men. And no doubt his parents probably led him to stereotype people (girls play with dolls, boys play with GI Joe, etc)

Besides the kid wasnt far off. In my up brining most women never had an interest in farm work (they said they werent as crazy as the rest of us). Nothing wrong with a woman doing ranch work though, lets us men be lazier.

 

[Jogeephus]

You mean Maine doesn't have a law against women farmers like the rest of the states?!? Wow, ya'll are progressive. :lol:

Seems that a lot of people think farmers are just a bunch of low I.Q. hicks in overalls.

I sometimes wonder if this isn't true. Afterall, if we had any sense don't you think we could be putting our many talents to better use?

 

[LoveMoo11]

I sometimes wonder if this isn't true. Afterall, if we had any sense don't you think we could be putting our many talents to better use?

I think it takes a certain kind of person to care for other living beings, putting their needs before their own, all while being a good steward of the land and taking care of a family. If that doesn't take talent, I don't know what does.

 

[CattleHand]

I sometimes wonder if this isn't true. Afterall, if we had any sense don't you think we could be putting our many talents to better use?

I was thinking about that last night. Im actually studying chemical engineering but truthfully wouldnt mind droppin out just to take over the family farm. Its been a big debate for me whether to use my talents to get a better life or do something I can get by with.

 

[Jogeephus]

I sometimes wonder if this isn't true. Afterall, if we had any sense don't you think we could be putting our many talents to better use?

I think it takes a certain kind of person to care for other living beings, putting their needs before their own, all while being a good steward of the land and taking care of a family. If that doesn't take talent, I don't know what does.

You are so right. Not to toot our own horn but it takes a pretty multi-talented person to scratch a living from the dirt. But I think the biggest reward - for me anyhow - is the inner gratification of seeing a something improved and to know I had a little something to do with it. I think this is what truly motivates me.

Cattlehand, get your degree first AND THEN take over the family farm. This way you can have the best of both worlds.JMO

 

[LoveMoo11]

CattleHand-go with what your gut/heart is telling you. I always wanted to be a farmer but my family always told me "no" because my grandparents are farmers and they made some bad decisions and got pretty far into debt. I finally decided that I'm not going to let everyone else dictate my life and instead I'm going to do what makes me happy. If I don't make money, oh well. I will still be able to feed myself and my family, and can always get another job with my college degree. A lot of what I am learning in school will help me be a better businessperson as well, which will be good.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Cattlehand
get your degree then go to farming if that is what you want
That degree may come in handy down the road

 

[hillsdown]

Love Moo around Christmas I was shopping in the mall and I ran into a childhood friend that I had not seen in at least 20 years. We chatted for a while and did the catch up thing ,when it came to what we were doing for a living she was a stay at home mom of 2 and I said that I was ranching/farming. She then said "Oh, so your husband has a ranch." ,and I said "No, he had his own career and is gone a lot so I manage the cattle etc.". Her reaction was " Wow ,you don't look like a farmer." :?

Just what the h@ll is a rancher farmer supposed to look like? Granted it was -30 out that day and I was wearing my full length sable coat and actually had make up on but really, did she think that we go out in our cow sh@t clothes and our hair looking like a rats nest. It kinda p@ssed me off when she said that because the only time I look like a farmer/rancher is when I am working with my cows other than that I look like I always did before I moved to the country, just happier.. :lol2:

Some people need to learn a little more than what TV and the movies depict especially where their food comes from and who really is working in the Ag field..They would get a rude awakening. :nod:

 

[Ryder]

Cattlehand
get your degree then go to farming if that is what you want
That degree may come in handy down the road

Cattlehand, listen to AC and Jogeephus. They are talking wisdom.

 

[chrisy]

Cattlehand ditto to the above.
Hillsdown not all of us Townies are ignorant, to the fact of where our food comes from, and that girls, ladies can be farmers. but I know what you mean, when I was teaching I was amazed at how many children didn't know where eggs or milk came from, got the
answer Tesco's, Sainsburys, the shop that made me mad. busy parents cant sit down and tell their kids how things work, if they know themselves, I wonder. :???:

 

[Victoria]

Get used to it. I don't know how many people ask me what I do for a living. I tell them I raise cattle. They look at me for a second (yeah I am small and when I go out my hair and make-up is all done) and then say something brilliant like: "Oh, but you have a hired guy working for you?" I tell them I am the hired guy that I work with and for my mother. "So it is just you and your Mom?" At this time I am getting this look like I may have told them that I cater alien weddings for a living. I smile and nod. Then they ask what my husband does - I tell them and they say "So he doesn't help out on the ranch?" I say "Well, he fixes some fences on weekends sometimes." They get this knowing look on their faces as they say "Ah..." meaning "So your husband does all the work with the cows. That makes more sense." Even when my husband tells them that I work the cattle they don't believe him.
Then there are the supportive guys the ones that say "That is good that a couple of girls can handle that many cows, never thought it woudl be possible." :lol2:

You are right about the low IQ thing though, a lot of people seem to think that we do this job because it is all we can do. When I tell people that I graduated on the Dean's List they don't believe me. They'd never guess that a small, smart woman would want to spend her days with a bunch of cows. Maybe I am crazy!?! :help:

 

[LoveMoo11]

. Maybe I am crazy!?! :help:

If you are crazy, I'm crazy too!! :lol:

 

[Jogeephus]

. Maybe I am crazy!?! :help:

If you are crazy, I'm crazy too!! :lol:

I know I'm crazy. But have you ever noticed how crazy people are normally more happy than all those folks that feverishly chase the almighty dollar. They will chase it at the expense of their family, there friends and their religion. Fast forward their lives and you will find them in the homes with only loneliness and paranoia as their companions. Its a shame that they wasted their life for a piece of paper.

 

[CattleHand]

Thanks for the advice. Its good to get it from people that have already gone down that path.

 

[Jogeephus]

Thanks for the advice. Its good to get it from people that have already gone down that path.

You can't go wrong with a good education whichever career path you choose in the end. I had a friend, God rest his soul, who was a farmer and an engineer. With the practical knowledge he learned on the farm he invented and manufactured some of the best ag equipment in the country. He was richer than four foot up a bull's arse but if you didn't know better you would think he was a poor old dirt farmer. One day some "rich women" stopped by his house as he was doing yardwork. They asked him how much the Lady in the house paid him to keep up the yard. He just looked at them and smiled. He then said, "she don't pay me a dime, but she lets me sleep with her every night". He was a fine fella in my book. Oh and he had a heck of a farm.

 

[hillrancher]

Love Moo around Christmas I was shopping in the mall and I ran into a childhood friend that I had not seen in at least 20 years. We chatted for a while and did the catch up thing ,when it came to what we were doing for a living she was a stay at home mom of 2 and I said that I was ranching/farming. She then said "Oh, so your husband has a ranch." ,and I said "No, he had his own career and is gone a lot so I manage the cattle etc.". Her reaction was " Wow ,you don't look like a farmer." :?

Just what the h@ll is a rancher farmer supposed to look like? Granted it was -30 out that day and I was wearing my full length sable coat and actually had make up on but really, did she think that we go out in our cow sh@t clothes and our hair looking like a rats nest. It kinda p@ssed me off when she said that because the only time I look like a farmer/rancher is when I am working with my cows other than that I look like I always did before I moved to the country, just happier.. :lol2:

Some people need to learn a little more than what TV and the movies depict especially where their food comes from and who really is working in the Ag field..They would get a rude awakening. :nod:

Hillsdown I have seen some very pretty farmer(ranchers) out in the coral and fields to me they were a perfect model.
I watch the news in the mornings and leave mad as a hornet because those news anchors and ect do not know how hard the rural population work and how important they are to the world. When they do give us some attention they down play us as the uneducated portion of the population.