My dad had a lot of home-grown wisdom. He came from a time when common sense was a lot more common than it is now. I was very fortunate to grow up and later partner as an adult under his guidance and advice. One thing Dad really believed in was a keeping a farm in good shape – curb appeal is how some would term it. We were never wealthy monetarily, but like many of you and your families, we were dang resourceful.

Remember hauling cattle as a kid? I guess I am showing my age here, but I remember helping Dad build a portable, adjustable loading chute in our shop when I was barely in grade school. It was long and heavy (probably too heavy, but that was Dad’s way).

More and more, it is becoming likely that the farmer sitting next to you at the local association meeting is “wired-in” to the virtual world. To be sure, as some of you read that first sentence your retort was, “I will never do that!”

Most of us have some piece of machinery we have held on to … sometimes too long. The reasons can be varied: It belonged to Grandpa; it is a collector’s item (if only to you) – or probably the No. 1 reason: It is too expensive to replace it.

“Man, you got it made! Farmers talk about how tough their work is, but I see you riding around in that big tractor with the air conditioner going full-blast.” Ever hear that from a non-farming friend? I sure have. I counter by asking them if they have ever sat in a parked car with the windows up in the full sun – and follow by asking them to consider the realities of a tractor cab.

As a boy growing up on the farm, I witnessed my dad build many of our buildings, barns and sheds as he transformed the farm he had purchased into a modern working dairy. We had several smaller (8- to 20-ton) feed bins that were erected on the farm, and I recall the “fun” of piecing them together a bolt at a time along with the roll of sealer/caulk to make the bin watertight as we went.

“Keep shields (guards) in place!”  We’ve all seen these warning signs on nearly every piece of equipment we own. So why is it that so many PTOs, shafts and pulleys have no cover and operate almost daily on our family farms?