Work commitments, more than lifestyle has kept us on this farm. The farmer has been on his own now, having left a farming partnership with his brother almost ten years ago. I have had a reliable off-farm income for many years now.
We acknowledge that work is essential to a positive sense of self and despite enjoying it for many years, perhaps now it is time to reflect on opportunities for change. The farmer was born here. It’s his land. He returned home from boarding school and has worked on the farm ever since. A vexing issue is deciding on a good time to hang up the boots and lead an easier life.
Farmers’ work hours
Over the years, we worked darn hard. All those late nights, early mornings, and super long days are thankfully a thing of the past. But that is what it took to get where we are. Country living has been tough but it is nevertheless rewarding.
Many a night at 3 am, I would awake to find the farmer not yet in bed. He would still be working, driving the tractor at seeding, or harvest, on a farm 50 km away. I worried a lot those nights. Driving home that late at night (or early in the morning) meant that he could have fallen asleep at the wheel. You would hope that he didn’t, but it was pretty normal to work a 19-hour day for so long. Yes, it was dangerous, but there aren’t many other vehicles out on the roads at that time. To feel him alongside me in the bed in the early hours was pure relief.
Such was the early starts that at 4 am, the truck drivers would start work, often leaving home early to be at a farmer’s shed by 5 am to load sheep for the next 4-5 hours before taking them on to their final destination, often hundreds of kilometres away.
My work
My work, on the other hand, while good, and having moved up the pay scale commensurate with my qualifications, has, for the most part, meant working with the same few colleagues for many years, in the same office. I have never lamented the fact that my work office is a 4-minute drive from home.
It simply became too stressful. See Work Pressure.