I don't know if my dad ever bought a hat, but he sure had a lot them. My dad was a farmer and by default a hat collector. Many of you know someone who is passionate about their hats. Their hats need to be the right color, the right style and the perfect fit. The hat becomes one with them and without it they become unrecognizable to their friends and family.
My dad's hats were a little different, they were farm hats. If you're a farmer the agricultural community has a hat for you. You buy seed from your local FS, here is your hat. You buy a tractor from Case IH, here is your hat. You participated in Farm Bureau's Tractor Trek, here is your hat. When you factor in everything it takes to own and operate farm, it's pretty easy to gather a couple dozen hats.
My dad wore a lot of different hats. He was the care taker of his land, his machinery, his crops, and his cattle. Each day, he was the one making the tough decisions. He would buy our farm's inputs (feed, seed, plant fertilizers and protectants), and he would sell our farm's outputs (corn, soybeans, hay, milk and finished cattle). He also partnered with others who contributed to the success of our farm. The veterinarian would help him care for his livestock, the crop specialist would help him grow his crops, the mechanic would work on his equipment, the trucker would help him get his crops to market, the lender would help him with his cash flow, and the weather forecasters, well sometimes, they were helpful too.
My dad along with most farmers wore the volunteer hat. He donated his precious time and his hard earned money to several community efforts. He also dedicated countless hours to the girls softball league. He would even take a break from his own farm work to help another farmer in a time of need.
My dad stood out as someone special. As I got older, I began working for other farmers on their farms and after college I began a career working on behalf of farmers. I found out that farmers in general are special people. They are the people who get up in the middle of the night to check on a cow having a calf. During planting and harvest seasons they will put in 40 hours of work by noon on Wednesday and work another 60 hours by the end of the week. They are the people who sacrifice profit to preserve their land and feed some critters (AKA wildlife). They are the people who volunteer their time and talents to non-for-profit organizations and governmental bodies. A group of them will rally around a fallen farmer, harvest his crops with their machinery, their labor and their fuel, and not accept more payment than a bite of food and a bottle of water. They are farmers and they are special!
I admire our farmers for producing our food, fiber and fuel. I also admire them for what they do for our organizations and our communities. I'm not sure if farming produces the type of character these people possess or if farming draws in people who have a certain type of character. It really doesn't matter much because the two seem to just go together. A farmer without character, well that would be like the hat enthusiast without his hat, it just doesn't work.
Dan Volkers, McHenry County Farm Bureau Manager
