OFI 1798: The Hard Work And Payoffs Of Farming | FFA SAE Edition – Featured Freshman | Lauren Comes | Atlantic High School FFA

Lauren Comes is a farmer and FFA student from Southwest Iowa.  She has just completed her first, full year of FFA and is preparing to launch into even more FFA activities as sophomore.  Lauren farms with her father and brothers on their multi-generational farm, primarily raising commercial cattle, but also growing some row crops.

In this interview Lauren and I spoke about the payoffs of farming.  As she talked about in the show, not every aspect of farming is pleasant or enjoyable, but they are necessary to keep the farm going.  And, eventually there is a payoff, and I don't mean money.  That payoff is different for all of us.  For Lauren it takes place in March when she gets to spend time with newborn calf and its mother in the barn.  For me, it is in mid-July at the end of a long day watching the sun go down and listening to the cattle graze.  Either way, there are those moments on the farm that make those unpleasant moments worth it.

Lauren is pouring all of her energy in the FFA and farming.  She doesn't know what she wants to study after high school yet, but she knows it will be in agriculture.  And certainly there is wisdom built into her father's choice to have the kids hand stack, heavy bails of hay in the hot, Iowa sun.  There will be a day in Lauren's future that test her, possibly even makes her wonder if pursuing her career goals are worth it, and then she will remember stacking those bales and her motivation will return.  It works the same for all of us who have ever done an unpleasant, physically taxing job.  It pushes us forward and helps us get to where we are supposed to end up.