Fields of formation

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, February 19th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: hard work and what it’s worth. This is the second and final part of our larger feature on the agricultural workforce.

REICHARD: As American ag relies more on migrant labor and aging farmers, some are asking whether the problem is economic or cultural.

WORLD’s Emma Eicher has the story.

EMMA EICHER: Phil Rheingans points to a herd of round-bellied red and black angus. They’re standing in thick mud, looking back at him with soft brown eyes.

PHIL RHEINGANS: I won't have wild cattle on the place where I'm worried about the grandkids getting hurt …

It’s important that his livestock are gentle, as his grandkids spend a lot of time around them. On the ground are a few small grain buckets for them to feed the cattle.

RHEINGANS: My goal is that this is something they long for.

Rheingans is a life-long farmer. He sowed acres of wheat in California, then made his way here to Moscow, Idaho. He raised his four daughters here, and four grandkids live just down the road.

Farming is a lifestyle he wants to pass down.

RHEINGANS: And so my grandson, he's two, you know, and he'll ask his mom to call me because he wants to come feed cattle. And then after that, we'll go in and we'll read books.

In the summertime they pick fruit together and dehydrate it for the winter.

His grandkids understand springtime planting, autumn harvest, and the needs of the livestock. Rheingans says what used to be common knowledge is becoming rare.

RHEINGANS: And you know, these tie into all kinds of things in terms of them caring for their own family later on, because they're used to these things that were just an inherent part of life, until, say, two or three generations ago. You know, we're getting more and more disconnected from that.

As American farmers face a shortage of domestic employees, many are turning to seasonal migrant workers, or to the family, relying on sons and daughters to continue the daily grind.

Growing up in California, Rheingans remembers a different time.

RHEINGANS: A lot of the workers were white guys that had come back from World War II, and working on a farm was a good fit for their level of education and capabilities.

As those men aged out of the business, there was no one to replace them. It became impossible for Rheingans to find local workers. Instead, he relied on immigrants eager for the job.

RHEINGANS: Their standard of comfort, having grown up in Mexico, was much lower. And so they came up here for opportunity, and you know, just some really wonderful, fine people that were willing to live a life with some level of discomfort. It's not something I was ever able to find white kids that were willing to do those things...

Rheingans says the widespread rejection of hard labor shows a cultural failure.

RHEINGANS: If you've escaped suffering your whole life, there's certain aspects of your character that are unlikely to come to full bloom.

When his grandchildren carry buckets of grain to the trough, Rheingans sees developing character traits, like discipline. 

Most family farms span generations, and they follow a similar pattern: parents teach their children the value of the work as it’s handed down.

DAVID BENTREM: You know, my grandfather bought this farm in 1963, and then my dad purchased it from my grandfather.

David Bentrem owns Three D Ranch in western Pennsylvania. He and his brother raise cattle alongside their families. They’ve been here for four generations now.

BENTREM: You know, but we don't look at it as work, in a sense, you know, I don't know. Maybe it's because that's the way I was born and raised.

Eventually, Bentrem wants to pass the farm to his young sons, who are old enough to help their dad with chores.

BENTREM:They seem like they have the passion. They seem like they enjoy it … so hopefully they stick with it too and want to do it. …

SOUND: [Wind, opening cattle gate]

Bentrem leads me on a tour as a cold wind whips over the grassy hills. 

SOUND: [Wind, opening cattle gate]

Ruby red North Devon cattle dot the landscape. Like Rheingans, Bentrem raises calm, gentle cows, so his kids can play safely around them.

BENTREM: If I can't bring my kids out or if I can't bring out because I fear you might get run over, this or that, it's not worth it in a sense, you know? I'm a big believer of you know, love the animals and you love the farm.

The cattle watch from a distance, but a friendly steer named Lincoln walks right up to Bentrem. Lincoln is the kids’ favorite.

SOUND: [Cow snuffles]

BENTREM: He will eventually be beef, yep.

EICHER: Oh, that's kind of sad.

BENTREM: You know, we are a working farm, so it's one of those things that, you love 'em, but eventually, it becomes time.

The average age of the American farmer is 58 years old. Small farms are at risk of dying out, as time ticks on. 

Here’s Rheingans:

RHEINGANS: But really at the end of the day, it's about a family and about raising kids, and it's about passing on these things that I think are important in terms of character development.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Emma Eicher in Moscow, Idaho.

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