July 2019 - 28

AG LABOR REVIEW
Results are often all in a good day's 'rest'
MICHAEL MARSH
President & CEO
National Council of Agricultural
Employers
Michael@ncaeonline.org
later. And, although it's nothing like a day
bucking hay, setting water or digging a
ditch, full days of marching across a hard
surface tend to make your dogs bark.
But, few things worth doing ever
Farm and ranch kids grow up learning
early the meaning of hard work. They
learn, often with siblings who double as
playmates in rural places, few things worth
doing come easy.
In that lesson is a good one for all.
I was reminded of this recently by a
good friend who grew up on a dairy in the
Central Valley of California.
Years ago, he and his brother had been
up since before dawn feeding calves and
irrigating. Together they'd split bales of hay,
mixed rolled corn, silage and cottonseed
and made sure rations were put together
just so for the cows. Irrigating could be
muddy and busting up hay for rations was
dusty. Swirls lingered around them.
After five hours or so, when it was
about 10 in the morning and the sun was
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stretching further into the sky, the boys took
a break to guzzle some water and rinse away
some of the grime from their morning's toil.
Their father saw them catching their
breath and asked what they were doing?
My friend, the older of the two boys, not
yet men, replied, " We're resting. "
Their dad, he recalled, looked them up
and down, scratched his head, pointed and
said, " Well boys, while you're resting, why
don't you unload that truck full of hay? "
And so it goes.
In that story are good lessons for my
colleagues and me who spend our days
working for farmers and ranchers on
Capitol Hill. First, few things worth
doing ever come easy. Second, like the
good people we work for, there's always
something else to do while resting.
Some days it may seem we're spinning
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our wheels traipsing from office to office
pleading our case. Fewer members of
Congress come today from districts where
agriculture is key. And after all, food comes
from the grocery store, right?
Our reception in some offices is warmer
than in others and few, thankfully, are
downright frosty.
Representing farmers from the East
Coast to the West Coast means that
offices in the buildings surrounding the
Capitol open at 8 a.m. and close 12 hours
come easy. We slog through the swamp
adjusting messages and talking points and
persuading a few who might have been
skeptical. We share data and statistics
until they leap from our voices rather
than from the page. We press again and
again why change is necessary for farm
and ranch families, illustrating the dire
consequence of the status quo.
Excited, we grin when we see the light
bulb turn on in an audience now receptive.
And then, just as offices begin to clear
and staff heads for the door, the cell phone
vibrates. It's staff from your first meeting
of the day and their boss' interest has been
piqued. Would we mind swinging by and
walking through this one more time? What
does this mean to his or her constituents
and why is it important?
Of course!
We express thanks for the call, letting
them know we'll be right there. We
do this knowing it's turned out to be a
pretty good day, even if it might be a
little longer. We hustle quickly to the
next building not wanting the chance to
slip past, ignoring what you hope isn't a
blister beginning to bloom.
And so it goes.
After my buddy and his little brother
finished unburdening the truck of its load
of hay, they shuffled wearily to the house
for dinner as twilight fell. Their dad saw
them coming in dragging.
" Now what's wrong with you two? " he
asked.
" We're tired, " they said as one.
" Why are you tired, " their father asked?
" You two boys have been resting all day! "
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ROETERS FARM EQUIPMENT, INC.
565 - 120th Street, Grant, Michigan 49327
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28 | FruitGrowersNews.com
Phone (231) 834-7888 * Fax (231) 834-8655
Email: roeters.eq@att.net
www.roetersfarmequipment.com
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July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2019
