National Farm Day?

To the Editor:

My nostalgia for Veteran’s Day goes back to the 1940’s when I was a little boy living in a farming community in Western Colorado. We kids were expected to spend part of a Saturday, the town’s market day, going around with other kids “selling” VFW Buddy Poppy’s. I have one on my desk now. We had a can with a slot in the top. Adults put dimes into our cans; we gave them poppy’s. We were sent door to door and were surprised that women answered our knocks with dimes in their hands. We knew that we were working for democracy and opposing “the bad guys.”

Today, I am likely to spend part of that hallowed day watching TV programming. How many times have I seen “Band of Brothers”? This year I saw the standard homage to the military personnel and to the industrial workers who turned out the tanks, bombers, battleships and bullets. Then, it occurred to me. Why don’t those programs pay homage to farmers who did not serve in the military during WWII but who fed, sheltered and clothed the nation and the military personnel? Experts examine the “Agricultural Manpower Shortage.” My uncle farmed three places so other farmers could serve. Older couples who had “retired from farming” got back to work. Western Colorado farmers irrigated by furrow watering; long hours had to be spent tediously and precisely guiding water to crops. Animals had to be fed; cows were milked. Fruit was picked, and grains harvested. In other states, cotton had to be picked. Timber was harvested. In the grain production belt, plows, harrows, and combines worked from light to dark; high school kids did “men’s work.” Farmers kept our nation going, but film clips tend only to show industrial workers.

So, I propose a national day to honor farmers as we honor veterans, industrial workers, and of course July 4th. Some might say that fairs honor farmers, but that is not the same. Fairs honor harvest and not as part of the war effort.

A national day set aside for honoring farming might be too late. Corporate farming across the nation is making traditional farm families into “share croppers.” The average price of farmland in Iowa is $11,835 per acre. The price in Mississippi is $5,498, in Illinois $8,700, in Kansas $3,060, and Texas $2,570. Toss in the high cost of equipment and the uncertainties of drought. Thousands file for bankruptcies each year. Corporations set the prices for harvest.

So, let’s have a national farm day. Some might ask, why honor nostalgia? For the same reason we honor others with a special day, to respect those who have brought us to where we are today.

Bob Heath Carmine