The heroes of hard work
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
The remarkable productivity of Madera County’s farmers was underscored this week by the release of the crop report for 2007, which broke $1 billion in crop value for the third year in a row. Production totaled $1.2 billion, an 18 percent increase over the previous year.
The big three, milk, almonds and grapes, accounted for more than half the total. The rest of the top 10 commodities are all high-value crops, which like the top three require capital, management skill and hard work to make their production successful.
Gone are the days when a cow milker who had saved a little money could acquire 20 cows, start his own dairy and make a living with it, as it was possible to do three generations ago. Now, a dairy producer must tie up millions of dollars and be a skilled business person, a veterinarian pro tem, a food scientist, a personnel expert, an environmentalist and — yes — a cow milker and a calf feeder.
Nut and grape growers need to be experts not only in producing their crops, but must be involved in marketing them, in securing water, and in advocating for public policies that don’t make it any harder to farm than it already is.
All farmers need to be mechanics, plumbers, electricians, welders and politicians. They need to be truck and tractor drivers. They need to be carpenters and metal workers.
Most farmers leave the house clean and come home dirty, which means they have to work harder at home than their counterparts in town who don’t have so much laundry. Farmers also are in the law-enforcement business. They have to watch out for thieves, for drug users and manufacturers, and for vandals.
Right now, we see farmers and those who work for them coming home tired. No wonder. They are the heroes of hard work.
