March 2008: Farmin' With My Dad

Editor's Note: We flashback to March 2008 and David Kragnes' first piece for The Sugarbeet Grower. Over the last 10 years, "Farmin' With My Dad" has been one of our most popular and requested poems of David's. We are happy to share it once again with our great readers and subscribers. We hope you enjoy this step back in time on a timeless piece of literature. ​

Strong men in plaid shirts and straw hats, pretty wives with hair tied in blue bandannas, suntanned kids, checkered tablecloths and cows or harvest equipment in the background. That's the picture many see as the family farm. While parts of that may not be precisely accurate for your operation, we are almost all part of a family farm. 

It may be that the capital needed to start a farm from scratch is too huge. Perhaps aggregating enough land in one area for a viable operation is impossible. However, I feel the most important reason "farms are family" is the complex and diverse learning curve that is nearly insurmountable without a relative as a mentor. 

I farmed with my dad for 30 to 50 years, depending on when you count the starting date. You see, I was heavy enough to hold down a clutch at an early age. I wrote this poem when he was still around. It meant a great deal to him. If you, like me, have too much stoic Scandinavian background in you to tell your dad, "I love you," just highlight this and leave it out where he can find it. 

I miss him.

Farmin' With My Dad
By David Kragnes

   I remember driving our 8N Ford
When I was just a lad.
I guess that's how it all began;
Farmin' with my Dad.

Doing farm work after school
Never started up a fad.
But I was always kind of proud
To be farmin' with my Dad.​

I went off to college,
Living uptown in a pad.
Then came a chance to get some beets,
Start really farmin' with my Dad.

I became a real time farmer,
Even bought a shirt of plaid.
A wife and kids and big-time plans;
Still farmin' with my Dad.

Dad said, "I think I'll slow down." 
But it was still only just a tad.
He has never left me all alone;
I'm still farmin' with my Dad. 

I know someday this poem will end,
And I'll be very sad.
It's hard to think of life alone;
Not farmin' with my Dad.

There are way too few kids
With the chances I've had.
So count yourself as lucky
If you've been farmin' with your Dad.

RELATED: Farmin' With My Lad (Sequel to Farmin' With My Dad)