I have seen that a lot. A 60 year old man who is nothing more than a hired hand to a 90 year old man. Similar thing happened to my father. Grandpa was running the show and making some piss poor decisions his entire life. Basically he went with doing nothing because that was the cheapest route. He almost lost the farm for us, sure didnt do the farm as a business any favors. I hope there is a special place in hell for old men like that. I remember what he did to our family and Ill never forgive him. My father on the other hand allowed my brothers and I to make decisions and mistakes. The farm while not a cash cow is successful and will hopefully continue on another generation.

That is one reason children leave the farm. The older generation refuses to let go and so the son or daughter says to hell with it Ill go to town and make twice the money and have a normal life. I wont have to have this old man breathing down my neck questioning every dollar I spend and every choice I make. The older generation may mean well but they end up doing more damage than good. I always liked Val Farmer’s column in the Illinios Agrinews. He talked a lot about this and has a great website.

Reminded of a story that I heard a long time ago, so it must have happened decades ago. Don’t remember how it all goes, but seems that there was a company that was making something, forget what but might have been electricity. This company had waste products, including heat that was drawn off by water which was dumped into a holding tank. Somebody got the bight idea that this could be used to make even more money as the tanks were about the right temp year round for farming fish. Well, the fish waste lead to doing something else, which lead to something else, which lead to more yet. And because most of it was absorbing some sort of waste, it was far more cost efficient, and profitable.

Try something like that now days and watch the bureaucrats go nuts trying to see how fast they can shut it down over some infraction. But think of how much more efficient things could be run. Farms pressing their own produce for the oil, making bio diesel out of the oil which they sell through their own service station, feeding the remains to animals which could be butchered and sold as cuts of meats, or in their own high end eatery, their wastes being used to run a methane powered generator. Waste oil from the service station could be burned to heat the restaurant and barn. The leftovers from the restaurant could be fed into hogs in turn, and…… Well, I think you get my meaning. I’m sure there might be a few out there, but it would be mighty hard to get going in this present bureaucratic nightmare of an age.

It could also bring families closer together as well. It could help keep a few people employed, more self sufficient, and many would get a much broader exposure to how things really work: engineering, financial concepts, etc.

Brazil though, they already have the startings on such operations. Hmmmmm, who do you think will be the economic powerhouse in this century, the US, or Brazil? The US’s politicians are not interested in any of this though, they only care about staying in office, with the exception of a few which are purposely, knowingly, trying to destroy the country from the inside out.

Grandpa never let go of his farm. He pushed his kids away. There was one job to do and one way to do it. One son died bitter. The other son moved to the city and stayed there. Most farm families can relate to this. There may also be a 65 year old son still working as a hired hand for his dad.

Our goal is to encourage our kids to stack enterprises of their own onto ours. This is primarily because I’m not good at letting go, but also because I want them to create something that is their own. I can think of dozens of on-farm operations that would create income for them and wouldn’t be in my way. In fact, they could help me a lot. I would like to have a band mill and a wood chipper but all I need are the chips and sawdust and occasionally some lumber. Mostly I want to babysit, home school and mentor my grandchildren.

Once the kids are properly inspired and have a vision of their own the next hurdle is overcoming regulations. It’s hard enough to wade through the regulations to market a dead bird. I can’t imagine if my kids designed a new car and tried to get it to market. Or if they (GASP!) tried to hire help. Maybe we should move somewhere that wants people to be employed and independent. Where is that again?

I got disgusted with the MSM in August, 1966. I erred in making a few-sentence statement to a reporter at the Charles Whitman brouhaha. I just thank the Lord that my name was mispelled in the misquote.

I have since coined the term “Mediahcrities” for that claque.

Around 1990 I was westbound on I-10, west of Deming, New Mexico. I spotted a 1956 Ford Victoria on the eastbound side, with the hood up. A trucker came on the CB: “Well, they ain’t got better with age…”

Neither has the MSM.