Do farmers take vacations?

[HoLeChit]

I honestly think it sounds like a dumb question, but I’m curious. Those of you who farm/ranch, do you vacation regularly? What size is your operation? How do you manage to vacation?

I was talking with the wife about how we could pay for the land I want with a certain amount of productivity/livestock, and she hit me with the “how would we get away” question. Is it possible with a small operation?

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

We just have a tiny hobby farm with a few goats, chickens and guineas. We can't be away from home without someone to care for the animals.

Large operations probably have employees, or hands, to fill in when the owners are gone.

 

[sklfco]

Farming is a lifestyle, not a job.

 

[NationalMatch]

Livestock certainly complicates it, unless you intend to take them on vacation with you. Tell the motel manager the bull is just a big dog?

Otherwise you'll have to have someone reliable to feed and water them. Good luck with that.

 

[hunter966]

Short trips, as in a half day or so if you have livestock, depending on what ya got, they gotta eat too. Chickens, ducks, dogs, hogs obviously gotta be fed a couple times a day.

Cattle, horses, just about any big stock, if you have them in a big enough pasture with a good supply of grass and water will keep for 2-3 days but if it’s been hot like it has here I check mine at least every other day.

Or you can have your inlaws move in and basically have help at your fingertips.

 

[cowadle]

unless you are milking cows it is possible to to get away if you want.

 

[Aku]

We typically had family take care of the livestock while gone. Wouldn't go every year, but something special, plan for fall, early winter, after the field work was done and sewing done.

 

[adamsredlines]

The farmers I know here in Nebraska do. One usually spends a month in Arizona right after planting is done. He's not a huge operation but seems the helpers do the basics while he's away.

He doesn't have animals though, just does corn and soybean. I think he farms somewhere in the 5k acre range.

 

[Catt57]

As a teenager I spent several summers tending to a small local farm while the owners were away for 2-3 weeks. They paid me of course. They always made sure to have plenty of feed on hand and had feeders setup to where all of the animals could be fed and watered once a day. Only took about 1-2 hours a day. It just takes good preparation and someone trust worthy to keep up with it while you are gone.

 

[jakeman]

I lived with a great uncle (when I was in college and roughnecking thru the school breaks) that wheat farmed about 12k acres and ran calves on his winter wheat. A bunch of calves. Like a whole bunch, strung out over two counties.

If he would have taken a vacation he would absoutely have had to hire someone to count those calves, cause as far as I know if they didn't get counted twice a day they would all lay down and die right there where they stood. I'm surprised we didn't count them to death, or at least until they lost some hair or something. I also didn't know why I had to count the ones on my side of the pickup when he was counting them on both sides anyway, and faster than I could count the ones on my side in the first place. I told him counting them that often was probably bad for them and would keep them from gaining weight, but we counted them anyway.