Ag Line: How do farmers spend their time?
By Wade Parker

I was reading this month’s edition of Cotton Farming and came across an interesting article. This article discussed the different activities that farmers participate in during their off time.

In reality, farmers have little or no time off during the course of a year. Even when all of their crops are harvested, there is still plenty to do. It is time to start taking soil and nematode samples, which can be time consuming if done correctly. However, the winter months are not quite as pressing. Anyway, the article in Cotton Farming presented the results of a survey on how farmers spend their time during the off season.

The poll was conducted via the web and asked the primary question, “What do you enjoy doing during the off season?” After tallying the votes, the majority of the respondents (37 percent) chose spending time with family, followed closely by 32 percent who like to hunt and fish. Nineteen percent named other activities such as flying, traveling, and playing golf. Farmers who enjoy watching football and snow skiing weighed in at seven and five percent respectively.

The following is a sampling of some of the comments made by responding farmers:

 “Spend family time. Too broke to do anything else.”

 “To get charged up after ½ bale of cotton is going to be a challenge. To be honest, I have already hunted/fished, played and watched football, and had family time with the wife and kids. My challenge here in north Mississippi will be snow skiing if I can just figure out how to get duals on them skis!”

 “Flying. It is the one thing that allows me to forget about everything else as it takes my total concentration.”

 “Hunting and fishing gets me in the outdoors without the stress of the farm. I thank God for the year we’ve had. Remember,

it could always be worse. When I go back to the cabin and find the family, I know life will be OK.”

These are just a few of the quotes from the article. How do you spend your time? I am actually planning on taking a few soil samples during the off time! We will be off next week for the Christmas holidays.

I hope each and everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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