Favorite Farmer Entry: Misty DeDonder
Growing up in a small town, I have been exposed to agriculture all of my life. I saw the hours the farmers in the community put in, and the blood, sweat and tears that went into their livelihood. I vowed at a young age, that I would never, no matter what....marry a farmer.
Fast forward 20 years, and I did exactly that. The things I see now with the blood, sweat and tears are totally different than I imagined. There is certainly blood. The blood I saw as a kid was the blood shed in an accident, but the blood I see now is running through the veins of my four amazing kids. This is the same blood that is pumping through the veins of the amazing members of my family's farm. There is absolutely sweat, but I would not have it any other way. Without the toil of their hard work, the life we live would be completely different. The tears my husband and his family shed are tears of joy, tears of love and tears without the negative and salty connotations.
As the wife of a farmer, you would think I would feel obligated to say that my husband Kevin is my favorite farmer, but that is just simply not true. Without the patience, love, hard work and nurturing that his father before him put in (and still puts in) my husband would not be the man he is today. He would not know the value of hard work and the importance of a Sunday. My kids would not understand what it means to put everything they have into something. They would not understand that a bad crop or a poor year farming does not make a bad farmer. My favorite farmer is Kenny DeDonder, and never in the ten years I have been a part of his family, or in the next 100 years will I ever be able to describe to him how grateful I am to him. Thanks, Kenny, for everything.
Misty is competing in Alltech’s Favorite Farmer Contest. The photo with the most likes on our Facebook page will win a trip to the Alltech REBELation in Lexington, KY. It’s an opportunity to meet farmers and other agriculture people from all over the world.
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