Hurry Up and Wait

Sometimes farming is nothing more than a game of hurry up and wait.

And lately, we've been getting plenty of practice.

This past week, we waited on combine mechanics to diagnose and repair problems that were beyond our ability to fix. All the while, we watched good harvest weather slip away, knowing there were acres of crops standing in the field and work that needed to be done.

Once the combine was back in the field, we were reminded that Mother Nature operates on her own schedule. So we waited for the dew to dry enough to get back to harvesting.

And today? We're sitting in line at ADM in New Haven, Indiana, waiting to unload soybeans.

Different days. Different reasons. Same result.

Waiting.

One of the challenges of farming is that so much of what we do depends on things we cannot control. We can maintain our equipment, plan our work, watch the weather, and do everything possible to be prepared. But a broken component, a damp morning, or a line of grain trucks can bring everything to a standstill.

And the frustrating part isn't necessarily the waiting itself.

It's knowing what needs to be done and not being able to do it.

Then there's the added pressure of watching everyone else get things done.

You drive past a neighbor's field that was standing yesterday and is harvested today. You see combines running, grain carts moving, and trucks heading down the road. Meanwhile, your combine is sitting in the barn waiting for repairs, or you're sitting in a line of trucks wondering how long it's going to take.

You can't help but start comparing.

How many acres have they finished? How much do we still have left? Are we falling behind?

And then there's the question we don't always like to admit we're asking.

What are the neighbors thinking about us?

Farming is a business, but it's also a community where progress is on display for everyone to see. There's no hiding the corn still standing in November or the soybeans that haven't been harvested while the fields around them are empty.

Nobody has to say a word. We can create plenty of pressure in our own heads.

Maybe the neighbors are judging. Maybe they're not. Maybe they're too busy worrying about their own harvest to give ours a second thought.

But that doesn't necessarily make the pressure any less real.

We know the calendar is turning. We know the days are getting shorter. We know there are still crops to harvest and plenty of other jobs waiting for our attention.

And we know that no amount of worrying about what the neighbors are doing will fix a combine, dry the dew, or move a line of trucks any faster.

Of course, everyone else is dealing with many of the same challenges. The trucks ahead of us have farmers behind them who are just as anxious to unload and get back to the field. The mechanics have other customers waiting. And those neighbors whose fields are already harvested probably had their own share of frustrations along the way.

Patience is a virtue, or so we've been told.

But sometimes, especially during harvest, our supply runs a little short.

So we wait. We watch the line move a few truck lengths. We check the time. We think about what else we could be doing.

And when it's finally our turn, we'll unload, head back to the farm, and hurry to get something else done.

Until the next time we have to wait.

Just another day of farming.

J&K Smith Family Farms

Your Land. Our Responsibility.