Decompress from harvest and embrace the good this holiday season

Saying when harvest is over on our farm is kind of difficult. The combines are being blown off, washed, winterized, and put in the back of the sheds. However, we do cover crops on all our acres, so I never consider harvest over until those are in the ground. Whatever season you call it, things are still busy. I’m married to the Energizer Bunny himself, so there is no slow time on our farm with him.

Every season just keeps rolling in to the next.

My husband, Matt, is one of the lucky few who is so passionate and in love with what he’s doing. It seems like there are so few among us who wake up excited about their days and truly thrilled they get to do what they get to do. I asked him the other night — after we’d had just a few hours of sleep and he was working to fix equipment after dark — if he enjoyed what he was doing. Wouldn’t he rather have set hours, set pay, and a low-stress job with weekends off? He looked at me as though I was crazy. This is when every truck we have was broken down, there was lots of work to do, very little sleep happening, and no rain in sight.

Lots of bad things happening and he still was dedicated and wanted to do what he was doing. I love that about him, but it also drives me bonkers sometimes.

I really can’t believe I’m writing this, but the year really does feel like it’s wrapping up. We’re approaching the holiday season. Then another year will begin. Amid election cycles and such much else, there is a lot of division in our world and society. It can be easy to find the bad and argue with our neighbors. As agriculturists, our falls are busy harvesting, prices aren’t looking so great for our crops in our neck of the woods. Frankly, there’s a lot of stress.

Here’s what I know. Time is finite. None of us know when our time is over. So much of a farmer’s year is filled with stress and the pressure to keep running, running, running, and running. There’s always something to do. It’s hard to relax without feeling guilt of what is being neglected. It’s hard to spend money on date nights and dinners out pampering our spouse when we know how much less we’re getting for our crops this year. It’s hard to relish in family gatherings knowing there’s probably going to be somebody who disagrees with what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.

As we wrap up this harvest season and head to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, I’m imploring each of us to find the good in people. We are always going to have differences of opinions over all the things in life with people. That doesn’t mean we can’t love these people. Disagreeing with people doesn’t automatically make us enemies. I believe that the majority of us are good-willed people. We might have different thoughts on what qualities our elected officials should have. We might have different opinions on whether pumpkin pie or apple pie is the official pie of Thanksgiving. The point is, we are all unique human beings with different life experiences. Each perspective is different.

Many of us become introspective during the end of the year. We question whether what we’re doing is what we’re supposed to be doing. We think about the coming year and what we want to change. We start planning goals. Keep in mind that life is very, very short and none of us get out alive. The things that we think are the most important while living the busy, is often not what people that are close to the end say truly matter.

Farming and ranching is such a complex operation normally. There are sometimes multiple generations involved and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars involved. There are off-farm siblings. There is labor versus capitol inputs. If you are planning on returning or being involved in the family farming operation, make sure it’s what you actually want and not just what you feel obligated to do. Not everybody is as passionate about making the farm work as my husband is. I’m afraid we are heading in to some lean times on the farm. Take a hard look at what it is you truly want to do with your life. If you have a spouse and family, consider them. Don’t just do it because it’s what you’re supposed to do.

This lifestyle is a dream, but it’s also incredibly stressful. It’s a beautiful life we get to lead when we love what we’re doing. Take the time to enjoy family this holiday season. Appreciate the ones that get us through the difficult. Approach people with love and kindness and see where it gets you.

Kelsey Pagel is a Kansas farmer. She grew up on a cow/calf and row crop operation and married into another. Kelsey and her Forever (Matt) farm and ranch with his family where they are living their dream and loving most of the moments.