Pictured above is a young man emptying a hay wagon. But there’s more:
- The young man has a productive use for his extra energy.
- The young man is learning to deal with work in non-ideal conditions. Heat, dust, abrasions, blisters, fatigue all go with this job.
- The young man is working as part of a team and has to time his work to match the speed of the others.
- The young man is helping to assemble an organized stack of hay out of the random mess of hay found in the wagon (put there by the baler’s “kicker.”)
- The young man’s organized stack of hay will require extra work at the corners and edges or they will collapse. Attention to detail here is important.
- The young man is participating in storing something up for winter use. This balances out a “just-in-time” delivery mentality.
- The young man is supporting a small family enterprise thereby honoring his parents.
- The young man’s work helps support the neighbor from whose farm the hay has come.
- The young man helps keep an accurate account of the number of bales received so that the proper amount is reported back.
- The young man is developing a skill which
can behas been used to earn money at other farms.
We could go on, but you get the idea.
And yes, our girls help unload hay too. But the boys do the bulk of the work.
(Did we mention learning the responsible use of motorized equipment?)
