in ,

Cody Morrison: What Farming Means To Me

Hello, My name is Cody Morrison. I am from a small town North of Fargo called Hunter. This is where I have spent most of my life learning all about farming when I’m not on the farm, I love all kinds of activities from bowling, golf and disc golf, to pickup basketball, baseball, and any other different activities I can get into.

I go to Northern Cass High School and participate in school golf and football. My dream in life is to farm to provide for the people of the world for as long as possible and to enjoy the community of hunters and always improve on my bowling and golf game. I have 3 older sisters and, by that, I mean they are much older as the youngest is 20 years older than me. This means I had become an uncle 2 times before I was born. I have 10 nieces and nephews that are my whole world.

Farming is the biggest part of my life. I’ve been around it my whole life. I grew up a few miles away from my godparents’ farm. My summers went from riding bikes and finding something to do with my buddies to work, in a hurry.

I started working every day when I was 12 years old, riding my dirt bike out there to the farm. I was doing everything that Mark, my Godfather, was doing. The one job that’s engraved in my mind comes from my first year. I had to clean out a rotten wheat bin. It was the middle of June, 90 degrees outside and I didn’t know what was coming.

I had heard about cleaning out a grain bin and being young and dumb but I didn’t think it would be that bad. I stepped in and that initial wave to my senses was like, “Man, it’s hot and dusty in here!” But the first break of the rotten wheat made those senses feel like nothing. Even through a mask, the smell hit me like a freight train. The dust just plastered to my sweat and made me want to walk out and call it a day. In spite of that, I still love farming. Getting rid of the old and getting ready for the new is part of farm life, just like digging fields for planting in the spring.

Farming is all about taking risks and managing those risks. In 2019, the weather was a big problem, we ended up finishing in the spring of 2020 when we had to prevent plant fields. The weather controls a farmer and the markets and all risks can be navigated, they are reliant on the weather. Risks navigated correctly result in relief and a paycheck. But most important of all, another year of farming. Risk doesn’t just put us in a difficult situation but our families, community, customers, and the land.

Farming makes me feel like I have a purpose in society. I realize most people feel like their work has meaning, but I feel the most beneficial when I’m farming. My responsibilities are to the people, the land, my family and myself. My job is to feed, clothe, and help power the world. The land is getting taken over by investors, industries, and housing, and I hate seeing family farms dying off to this. A farmer doesn’t just own the land, they nurture the land: work the land by tilling, plowing, seeding, burning, or even no till.

Some farmers feed the land by giving it nutrients, rotating crops, and preserving topsoil. For some properties, a farmer has to drain the land or irrigate the land. Lastly, you harvest the land to repeat for as long as possible. Farming isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle for my family and me. My responsibilities are to keep the farm going for generations to come. I owe it to myself to take risks to fulfill a promise I made to myself.

In the farming community, what goes around comes around. When people are in need of help, you do your best to help, because those same people would do the same for you. You don’t ask anything in return except the bare minimum. Doing these acts helps you recognize needs in every aspect of your life and ways to be helpful. Farming provides job opportunities, but without people interested in those opportunities there wouldn’t be farming.

The top 5 things farming has taught me are:

  • Responsibility
  • Hard work
  • Integrity
  • Flexibility
  • Open mindedness

I don’t know where my life would be without farming. It’s my lifestyle. I want to be able to farm my whole life and be able to pass it down to my children one day. I feel fortunate to be able to have this opportunity.

What do you think?

Barn Owl Precision Agriculture

Plug and Play Feature: Barn Owl Precision Agriculture

RED E, LLC is Helping Farmers Feed the World