From the moment you first get up in the morning you make choices. As your feet hit the floor, you can decide to look at things on the positive side and thank God that you did wake up or you can decide to spend the day looking at what happened to poor me. I’ve always noticed that if you think positive then you and others around you will enjoy the day better.
This week is the beginning of Saint Patrick celebrations. In some places, Saint Patrick’s Day is March 17 but in the valley, it lasts a week or two. Some critics say, “look at all those drunken Irishmen.”
In a valley that was carved out of the wilderness by Irish or those who descended from Irish most people wear a little green and celebrate at least one day.
Next week, from March 13 to March 15 it is the Ottawa Valley Farm Show (OVFS) where millions of dollars worth of new, shiny equipment will take centre stage and hundreds of new ideas in farming will be introduced. Farm families will take the kids to see the new tractors.
When I was a kid, going to the OVFS was my favourite day in the year. It’s a great chance for non-farming neighbours to see what new technology is available for today’s farmers and how expensive some of that new equipment can be.
After spending some time looking at and pricing some of that new equipment, everyone wonders how the farmer can make a living at all. When looking at these new, big, shiny tractors I remember what my neighbour Russell once said; “no matter how big the tractor is, if you don’t spend time in the seat, nothing gets finished.”
When the farmers get home from the farm show they start to make a list of repairs needed to be done before cropping, haying, harvesting, putting cattle out on pasture, updating the milking system, etc.
For those with bad memories like me, before putting a machine away after use, I used to write repairs needed on a piece of paper and tape it to the machine where it couldn’t get rained on or blow away. This way before next season I could remember what to fix. Often machine dealers have deals on off – season parts.
Many years, bad weather and wet fields can make good planting and haying days very scarce and already too late. Getting machinery in tip top shape before those few good days arrive can sure ease the stress on the farmer and the family. A few days spent in the shop doing preventative repairs can often save time, money and maybe even a crop later on.
Whether it’s a farm shop or your favourite mechanic’s shop they will all be very busy very soon. Everything from the lawn mower to a 12 row corn planter needs preventative maintenance. Even oil and filter changes take time. We all get accustomed to last minute deals and sales but we never gain by procrastinating on repairs.
In a famous song that the late George Jones wrote, was a line, “living and dying with the choices I made.”
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com
