Happy Thanksgiving! Today is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the food, spending time with family and, most importantly, taking the time to be thankful for the positive moments of the past year.
That last part might be a bit harder this year for folks on farms due to the impacts of the drought, low crop prices and lower yields in some areas. So I know it might take a little more effort to find the positive moments from this past year.
If nothing else, I think we can all appreciate that the slew of political ads has ended, along with the junk clogging our inboxes, mailboxes and text messages.
For me, the Thanksgiving holiday is a great celebration for the American agricultural community. The fruit, vegetables, turkey, desserts and other dishes traditionally consumed on this holiday are all the products of hard work by farmers nationwide. But it’s not just the farmers; we can’t forget the truck drivers, feed mill workers, turkey processors and the rest of our workforce who interact with the agricultural community to support our food system.
While today is the day for the turkey to shine, we also need to recognize the dairy farmers who helped contribute to today’s feast. While dairy may not take center stage, it plays a very important supporting role in many of the dishes on the table. What are rolls without butter, mashed potatoes without milk, my glass without eggnog, or pumpkin pie without whipped cream? Even the green bean casserole likely has dairy ingredients to thank for its delicious flavor.
Dairy families know that the cows come first, and arriving at family events this time of year can be challenging, if not impossible. While we may want to lounge around recovering from a food coma while watching a football game, the dairy cows see it as just another day. They need to be milked, fed and cared for, and they don’t care that it’s a holiday. There will be families patiently waiting on a family member to finish chores before starting their meal, nervously hoping the turkey doesn’t dry out. And it seems that the world has a way of throwing emergencies at us on holidays just to test us.
While the unpredictable nature of farming is stressful in general, it is even more so when schedules are busier than usual, and activities butt up against chore time. I’ve seen the frustration first-hand when everyone else is ready for dinner, but one person is still in the barn because milking took longer than anticipated. It can be easy for frustrations to boil over, especially for non-farming family members who don’t understand why you “can’t just hurry up”.
I guarantee you that the farmer feels the pressure, and they are doing their best to make it to every family event on time.
This Thanksgiving, I would like to say I’m thankful for the farmers. They work day and night to care for their dairy herds, to provide a sustainable income for their family, and to continue to produce food for our country. While they may be late for Thanksgiving dinner, or skip the football game to head back to the barn, they certainly deserve a little grace, and probably the last piece of pie, too.
