Since I first began writing my blog, when I joined the
AgriNews team back in the fall in 2011, I have written on a wide range of
topics, from my love of couponing to my total lack of cooking skills.
However, the one issue that I have expressed my opinions on
many times is my extreme passion for the agriculture industry and the daily
sacrifices that farmers make to provide food for the world.
During the Super Bowl, a single commercial produced by Ram
trucks summed up the sentiments that I have been trying to get across over the
past months about the life of a farmer.
The pairing of Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer” speech
with the still shots of people involved in farming and various aspects of the
agriculture industry left me speechless — and judging from silence in the other
room, it had the same impact on my parents and sister.
When I used to go on farm visits and tours as a little girl
with my dad, he always would have the radio station tuned to a talk show, rather
than country music like I requested. But I never minded when Paul Harvey’s
famous voice came on, and he would announce that it was time — for the rest of
the story.
As soon as the Ram commercial was broadcast in the fourth
quarter of the football game, I immediately felt transported back to the days
when I would ride along with my dad and meet farmers who made their livelihoods
by waking up with the sun and staying outside until it set in the evening.
Each picture that the ad showed really drove home the
powerful words that played from Paul Harvey’s speech. The one that nearly had me
tearing up was the last picture that was shown, which was of the little boy
standing while holding his cowboy hat over his heart.
While the little boy stood there, overlooking the vast
farmland in front of him, these words from Paul Harvey’s speech could be heard:
“Who would laugh and then sigh and then reply with smiling eyes when his son
says he wants to spend his life doing what dad does — so God made a farmer.”
Besides the commercial that gave attention and credit to
farmers, the Ram brand also will donate up to $1 million to the National FFA
Foundation, based on the number of views that the video receives.
Watch it and learn more about the “Year of the Farmer”
declared by Ram at: www.ramtrucks.com/en/keepplowing.