I received an email the other day from a Loos Tales listener in South Dakota. He was pleased that I talked about how farms teach our kids work ethic and responsibility but mentioned that I always seem to use livestock show kids as an example.
He pointed out that there are many young people who only want to farm or ranch and have no interest in showing livestock. Ironically or not, I received that email on the same day Kelli was buying straw for next winter from an entrepreneurial 15-year-old. I couldn’t agree more with my South Dakota listener.
I am confident that I am in one of those stages that all parents experience, but I seem to have reached the age where my prevailing thought is about what is best for my girls. At the end of the day, it is always about what my focus and efforts are having on the next generation of kids coming into adulthood. On the other side of the equation is this: What are the kids doing? As my travels throughout the country have once again ramped up, far too many people are asking the question, “What is wrong with kids these days?”
As I write this piece about how farm kids that seem to be so young are making adult-like decisions, it hit me that I need to look back at my favorite era in American history. I just love the trail drive era from 1865 to 1881 when 6 million head of cattle were driven from south Texas to railheads in the north. Literally this was an effort that rebuilt our nation on the heels of the Civil War, and the drovers responsible for moving those cattle averaged about 15 years of age.
“You get what you expect” is a phrase that I reference frequently when working with young people. As parents, I believe most in farm country expect their kids to excel and to pull their own weight. With those standards in place, we have created quite the independent souls that do not sit back and wait for anything or anyone.
When you boil down the current status of our nation, most things have come too easily for the next generation. The education system has indoctrinated these kids into being an entitled generation. However, I can’t give too much credit for that to the school because an involved, ethical parent will overcome that indoctrination every single time.
I had a great experience recently at the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Convention in the Smokey Mountains. Organizers granted me the opportunity to visit with a small group of the junior members, ages 8 to 19. I did not lecture to them but rather had every single kid engage and share their thoughts about life and agriculture. What I learned from all of that was that they observe everything that is happening around them right now and are still extremely positive about the cow business. They have friends at school telling them that cows are the source of all evil in the world and all they want is someone to give them the confidence to set the record straight.
Let me close by setting the record straight. The next generation to take over this land is full of bright, eager minds who want to be part of the solution and they are just waiting for positive direction and input. Are you contributing to the needs of these kids in your community? As much as I’d like to take credit for these great ideas, the Bible tells us that children are the blessings of God. It is clear that “it takes a village to raise a child.” Their success and ultimately the future of the world depends on how well we prepare them to take over, not how much we hand over to them.
Editor’s note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].