Cyndi's Two Cents

Friends help us through droughts and harvests

One of the highlights of my summer is a “girl’s week-end” at the Lake of the Ozarks with a small group of women, most of whom I’ve known for many years. We range in age from 27 to 56, work in the agriculture industry, and most of us have skin in the game in production agriculture. We have 3 rules that were made to be broken: No make-up. No pictures go on Facebook unless they are approved by those in the shot. What happens at the lake stays at the lake.

The truth is most of us are comfortable enough with ourselves at this time in our lives that none will get a nose out of joint if someone bends or breaks a rule or 3. I, for one, take full advantage of an opportunity to spend as much time as possible without make-up.

No subject is off limits and we’re not afraid to tackle the most divisive issues. Over sloppy joes on the deck Friday night we rehashed the events of the prior few days in Washington, D.C. as the controversial nutrition title was stripped from the 2013 Farm Bill by the House of Representatives, making it an ag-only bill. None of the women around the table were afraid to voice their opinion, and believe me, we all have opinions! Although we all want what is best for agriculture and our country, we are not in total agreement and that makes for a healthy and enlightening discussion.

We talk about everything, from the fastest way to get from one office building to another on Capitol Hill, to the best jar lids to use when canning green beans, to our favorite mobile apps. There are a lot of side conversations about everything from sunscreen to A.I. bulls to shoes. There are also minutes of silence, where we float in the water or lay on the deck in the sun, enjoying one another’s presence.

A few of us are or have been agricultural journalists. I have traveled through China, Japan, Russia, Jordan, Mexico and Belgium with some of these women, asking questions and collecting information to paint the picture with words for our farmer-listeners and readers back in the Heartland of the United States. We have grown up together in the agriculture industry.

One of the biggest compliments I have had is from my husband. He says that no matter where I go or what I do with my career, I am still, in my heart, just a farm girl from Scott County, Illinois. I think that sentiment is what drew many of my “Lake Girls” friends together. We haven’t forgotten growing up on a family farm. We haven’t forgotten the sacrifices our parents and their parents before them made. We love the smell of corn pollinating, freshly cut hay, and soil.

We all know that you can work very hard and do everything right to raise a fine corn crop, but the final yield at harvest time is not in your hands alone. It’s important to have friends to support us on our journey, through droughts and bumper harvests alike.