The editorial on the page opposite talks about encouraging young people to enter the farming business. Evelyn Schnaider of Barthel, Sask., is doing her part to achieve that goal.
After the sudden death of her husband, Rudy, Schnaider continued running the 1,200 acre farm with the help of family friend Harold Maier. Matthew Maier, Harold’s nephew, never misses an opportunity to ride in the combine with Evelyn during harvest.
“This young lad has ridden in my combine as often as he could for the past five harvests. His job was to swing the auger and pull the unload button on the John Deere 9600.”
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According to Evelyn, Matthew, 10, has always embraced farming: “All his toys are farm equipment.”
The occupation also plays a part in his schoolwork, which is the reason Evelyn contacted us. She wanted to share Matthew’s poem, which won first prize in a contest at Green Acre School in Rapid View, Sask.
The Combine
Harvest at the farm
Is a hard job.
Watch the arm swing
Out it’s a beautiful sight.
Look at the golden wheat
Pour down like rain.
When it hits the trailer
It makes a thump.
Harvest at the farm is a
Beautiful sight.
Early exposure to farming appear to be key in attracting youthful interest in it as a career. There are fewer farmers than there used to be, and their average age is 53.
It’s not that old, but likely old enough for many to appreciate the wit of golfer Billy Casper: “Like a lot of fellows around here, I have a furniture problem. My chest has fallen into my drawers.”
That’s what we’ve got in farming: a furniture problem. The house of agriculture needs constant refurnishing, and people like Matthew Maier are the ones who will do it.
“He sits in the combine and hardly says a word, he’s so shy,” Evelyn says. But when his sister came along for a ride last fall, Matthew talked a mile a minute.
“It makes farming fun,” says Evelyn. And there lies the golden key that will open doors to new farming entrants.
Evelyn enjoys farming and communicates that joy to young Matthew. It appears the message will stick. When asked if he wants to be a farmer when he grows up, recounts Evelyn, Matthew replies, “I am a farmer.”
