YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

Farmers and ranchers never give up

By Gene Hall

Never give up.

Texas farmers and ranchers wear that philosophy like a badge of honor.

Because agriculture is difficult. Challenging. Frustrating. And one of the riskiest businesses around.

Sometimes there’s too much rain. Crops don’t get planted. Or harvested.

Sometimes it’s too dry. Cattle have little to eat. Crops wither in the field.

Sometimes Mother Nature is cruel. High winds take out a crop. Hail devastates a maturing field.

Sometimes markets don’t cooperate. Prices are low. Margins are thin. Or non-existent.

Sometimes all of this happens in one year. Like this year.

Yet farmers keep at it. They love the challenge. Frustration seldom gets the best of them. They take the risk. Sometimes they win. Many times they lose.

Yet they plant seeds the next year. They nurture a new calf crop.

Agriculture is more than a business.

It’s a way of life. Sometimes not pretty. But always rewarding.

Farmers and ranchers never give up.

Thank God.

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.

You may read this week’s editorial above or listen to the audio version.

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