Page 31 - CFAN_Jul2014

June bloom smells good, but is not good;
pumping, the price of hay and quarterly reports are necessary evils.
Price of fruit in grocery stores, the cost of borrowing money, NAFTA
and late start-ups are depressing.
This day’s tasks are determined by the season.
A good day is when “nothin’ don’t break.”
A good number of us were put into tail-spins by fruit buyers
who took our crops and never paid.
We miss the days when a man was as good as his word
and stood behind it.
If we don't know the man here to do business today then we look behind him
to his father, his grandfather to understand his character.
Those of us who tucked in, buckled up, scratched, scraped and replanted after
the ’57, ’62, ’77, ’83, and ’89 freezes are tougher for it and think smarter. WE commiserate and comfort one another;
we share information at the post office, the corner store, or in the board room.
We take care of our own and don’t compete with each other most of the time;
we are a brotherhood.
We don’t spend money in June, July, August especially if in pick ’n haul.
Start-up is expensive.
We work our cattle and go to market,
if this year’s price is right— to keep up cash flow.
We lay off our crews and bale the hay,
pray for rain one week, pray for no rain the next.
We take the family to the beach, the mountains, or Disney
we make up for lost time, long work days and coast a little.
We pay a fortune for fertilizer,
for truck tires and to keep our groves “looking good.”
We see our picking force dwindle year after year
as migrant’s children pursue college and other careers
more and more.
Often perceived as wealthy, many of us are just hanging on,
land rich and cash poor some years, some years not.
It takes more money to make money these days.
The middle man prospers off our sweat.
It rankles.
We’ve been used, abused, rode hard, and put up wet.
ag
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