"Poisonous" Farmers

Spring break is almost here! Which is beyond exciting because that means a two-week break

from college! You are probably thinking I’m excited because that means two full weeks of

helping out on the family farm in the middle of calving season... well that’s where you are

wrong. I am excited because I will be boarding an 18-hour-long flight to Australia. Sending a

huge good luck with calving season to my brothers and I’ll watch the calving cameras from the beaches of Australia! I’m not going on a normal fun trip with friends, I'm going on a study abroad adventure through Iowa State and learning all about Australian Agriculture. Before leaving, I attended my Australia Study Abroad class every Wednesday night. In class, we learned all about Australia. Last class, we learned all about the poisonous animals to stay away from, and the many many many big scary spiders to definitely stay away from. (I didn’t tell my mom about the spiders until she reads it here or she might not have let me go. She hates spiders!)

After hearing all about things to stay away from and beware of, it got me thinking about farm

life. When outsiders come in, what should they be informed of to stay away from or beware of

before visiting? So here is my impromptu list of things you should be warned about before

visiting a farm.

To start off, this all depends on what season it is. Everyone should be warned about the

craziness of spring and harvest season. You never want to catch a farmer in the midst of an

equipment breakdown. They too can be described as “poisonous” in this state. You should also be warned about when a farmer's tools are not where they think they left it. They swear it is always there, but when the time comes and something breaks and they need that specific tool right now and it’s not there... beware! Also, you should beware of a farmer when they have missed lunch or breakfast, they can be deadly in times like these as well. If you catch a farmer in the middle of a calving season you must also beware because usually that farmer is running low on sleep and food. They are also spending most of their time with new mommas and we all know sometimes they can be a little crazy. Farmers are like a ticking time bomb in these seasons, beware.

In class, we learned it’s best to just avoid these animals at all times, but if you are found with

them they explain to us the process of what to do. It’s best to just avoid farmers in these

situations as well, but sometimes it’s simply not that easy. The process of what to do next can

also sometimes be just as fixable. A tool to best fix a farmer in these situations is food. Food is the best tool, whether it’s a dessert, their favorite snack, or in this case, maybe even their

favorite beverage. Good luck staying on your toes and being aware at all times at home and I’ll beware in Australia! ~ Kesley Holdgrafer