8 pitfalls of farming with your child

You may remember the 10 pitfalls of farming with your dad that Farmers Weekly‘s Rhian Price wrote. Well, her dad decided he had some thoughts of his own on farming with his daughter. Read his eight points about the pitfalls of farming with your child.

Rhian with her dad and grandpa

Having a daughter who is keen to muck in and do some farm work is great, but the older she’s got, the more I’ve had a sense of deja-vu occurring…

  1. Whatever I do isn’t good enough, the kids can always do better. The sheds are too old, the breeding policy is all wrong etc.
  2. Then there’s the equipment. Apparently it’s all dated and needs replacing. At what cost though? I’m not Rothschild (for you youngsters, this was a rich family. Google it).
  3. When it comes to general tractor work, guess who’s always driving the newest tractor? The one that I have paid for. Yes, you guessed it – I get the old one that I’ve had for 20 years, with no air-con.
  4. “What have you broken now?” I say. “Well,” comes the reply. Remember if I break it I pay. If she breaks it, I still pay. The repair bill is a fortune.
  5. “Dad, can I have some cash to go out tonight?” I hand it over and say “Don’t forget the change”. The change never comes.
  6. Have you noticed whatever they’re doing, they’re always on the phone? Face what? Snap who? Tweet why? Just catch that ewe and put your flipping phone away.
  7. When it comes to the weekend, and your budding apprentice has been out to a YFC dance, they suddenly come down with a dose of blanket fever and won’t get out of bed. But I’m afraid that this job goes on seven days a week.
  8. Take over the reins. Run the place yourself. You have a plan? Any more big ideas? Don’t forget you’re dagging lambs tomorrow, so you’ll have all day to think about your future. 

Of course I tell her I never had the same conversations with her grandpa (although I vaguely remember being late for milking after a night on the pop on more than a few occasions). But she doesn’t need to know that, does she?

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