A "Sharecropper" is a farmer who works the land for a “share” of the harvest. The landowner receives a percentage or portion from the top of the harvest. My dad (pictured on his combine) was a sharecropper. He was responsible for the labor, equipment and the cost of planting and the harvest. After harvest, at …
Category: Lessons From The Farm
Lessons From The Farm: The Coffee Can of Nails
It was a milestone of an era. Everyone I knew kept a coffee can of nails. There were all types & sizes… roofing, finishing, 10-penny, and framing nails. And they were bent. But why keep bent & used nails? Why not throw them away? My parents, my friends’ parents & families had experienced the Great …
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Lesson From The Farm: “What Do You See?”
I asked a dear farmer friend, "What are your thoughts when you plant?" He quickly replied, "I see the harvest!" Think about that. My friend is a seasoned farmer. He has “put-in” a lot of crops. He knows the hard work that lays ahead. He has experienced the enormous risks of poor crop prices, insects, …
I Was A Flag-Boy
Once the rice was about knee high…when it’s hard to see the snakes, my job was to be a flag-boy for the pilot flying fertilizer, herbicides, or insecticides. It was always just after the sun came up that I would wade into the rice field with the mosquitoes. A flag-boy is the focal point or …
Lesson From My Grandpa’s Farm: The Power of The Seed
In the last few years of God using me to publish “Today’s Good News” I have recognized how He orchestrates His Way. It begins with an idea (that I now know is His whisper), or a memory or a verse, it’s what someone says that leads to a message. It’s a word of two someone …
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Lesson From The Farm: Compacted Soil…
It was a week or so after we had planted the soybean field that I noticed the tire tracks across the field. The new bean sprouts had burst through the soil…except where I had driven across the newly planted field. Yep, those seeds never came up. When I drove across the field I thought, “What …
“What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?”
I remember this gnawing question as a child, a teen, and young adult…the searching for significance. This “searching” took me down many roads…roads that usually led to failure, disappointment & painful consequences. We have witnessed many changes & advancements through history but when you think about it the Dominant Operating Culture (DOC) of the world …
Lessons From The Farm: “Do The Lights On Your Tractor Work?” Part 2
Growing up on the farm meant getting started early and working late. Usually, it began as the sun was coming up and working until the sun went down. But on this day…it went past “dark-30”. Planting & harvest have windows of time when they must be done. If a farmer misses the planting days, there …
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Lessons From The Farm: “Do The Lights On Your Tractor Work?” Part 1 of 2
It was around 5 o’clock the afternoon I drove my tractor out of the field and pulled up to dad with my important question, “What time are we going to the house to eat?” My dad, a man of very few words, responded, “Do the lights on your tractor work?” He answered me with a …
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Lessons From The Farm: Planting Time
There are 2 basic ways to plant in the spring, Broadcast-Spreader (top picture) and Drilling. Growing up we had a red seeder wagon pulled behind a tractor. I remember we planted rice after we pulled the levees. My job as a 10- or 13-year-old was to ride in the back and shovel rice seed into …
Today's Good News 