In this Jubilee year, farmers again ask for blessings of seed, soil, animals and equipment as they approach another planting season. This season, like many others, will find farmers working long hours to get their crops in on time so as to get a good field in the fall. The planting season is normally a very expensive time for farmers with the cost of seed, fertilizer, fuel equipment and labor.
Most farmers spend the winter months anticipating the spring planting season.
This year, many farmers have had to think long and hard about whether to plant or not. Many are put in the position of having to choose between farming and off-farm work to survive. The farm papers are full of auctions. We are losing farms everyday in Wisconsin and other areas, too. Those who weathered the farm crisis of the eighties and the droughts and floods of the nineties are really questioning if they can and want to continue into the new millennium in the same manner.