"I love to fish,"says California farmer Frost Pauli when asked what he
loves about being a farmer.
"I pretty much love to do anything outdoors, but fishing is more than just
a hobby to me; it is a passion. One of my favorite parts about being a farmer
is that I'm always close to a place where I can fish.
"In fact, there are a lot of times when as soon as I am done with work
for the day I pull my fishing rod out of my truck and start fishing in the
pond or stream right next to where I'm working," he continues.
Pauli's enthusiasm for his work (and his fishing!) is obvious, just like
it is with most farmers. If you love being outside working with the land all
day, then there's a good chance this is a job you'll love. But for Pauli it's
not all about working outside.
"My favorite part about working on a farm, other than being outside a lot,
is that day to day, I am almost never doing the same thing," he says.
"One day I can be driving a tractor, and the next I could be planting trees
or vines, or working in my shop fixing a piece of equipment. On a farm there
are a lot of different jobs that must be done."
Pete Bauer is the owner/operator of a commercial cow calf operation in
Northern California. Among other things in his work, he does all the duties
of a farm laborer. When asked what he gets out of his job, he doesn't have
to think twice.
"I get to ride a horse for a living -- admittedly, not every day,"says
Bauer.
"I spent today out in the forest placing salt blocks for my cows. I had
to cut a ton of fallen trees off the road, so I worked my tail off, but I
had fun. I took my dog and my rifle and my four-by-four pickup and went to
the hills. I have bad days, but even my worst day is better than most office
jobs."
Like Pauli, Bauer loves the variety that working on a farm involves. He
says that 99 percent of the time, he does something different every day.
"Some days I get to go out in a small four-by-four pickup to a ranch that
I rent and I drive the jeep roads checking feed conditions and cows and fences,"
he says.
"Before I leave, I stop at the house and visit with the folks that own
the place. They love the company and we have a good time. Another ranch I
do similarly, and I have a knack for showing up when something hot and fresh
comes out of the oven. Don't ask me how, but I do!"
One way that the industry is changing for farm laborers is mechanization.
This means that there is more machine-based labor, as opposed to physical
labor done directly by people.
"There's going to be different job openings, especially when you move to
mechanization,"says Ron Bonnet, president of a farmers' organization. "There's
less of the hands-on, labor-type jobs, but there's lots of jobs for operators,
mechanics, technicians…"
Pauli agrees that mechanization is changing the way people farm. He says
that farmers now use machines to do work that in the past was only done by
hand, and that's a good thing. But he says machines can only do so much.
"[Mechanization] is wonderful because it saves money and hard work,"he
says.
"The one thing that we look at very closely, though, is that
we are never giving up quality. Farming and ranching will never be completely
mechanized. There are simply too many things that a machine cannot do that
a human being can."
Despite the changes in the industry, it all comes back to the basics for
those who work on farms. It's all about a love of the land and, for many of
them, that's a love that runs generations-deep.
"For me personally -- and I think that a lot of farmers and ranchers would
say they feel the same way -- I love being a farmer,"says Pauli. "I like what
I do because I am outside a lot, I get to see the work that I do actually
mean something every year when we harvest the crop, and I am carrying on the
work that my family has been doing for five generations."