“So God Made a Farmer” was a speech given by radio broadcaster Paul Harvey at the 1978 Future Farmers of America convention. The speech was first published in 1986 in Harvey’s syndicated column.
The speech borrowed a few phrases from a 1975 article written by Harvey in the Gadsden Times, which was itself inspired by parts of a 1940 definition of a dirt farmer published in The Farmer-Stockman. The 1940 article was copied verbatim by Tex Smith in a letter to the editor in the Ellensburg Daily Record in 1949.
The speech was given as an extension of the Genesis creation narrative referring to God’s actions on the 8th day of creation. Harvey described the characteristics of a farmer in each phrase, ending them with the recurring “So God Made a Farmer“:
And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker”
–So God made a Farmer.
God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board”
—So God made a Farmer.
“I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild; somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife’s done feeding visiting ladies, then tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon — and mean it”
—So God made a Farmer.
God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt, and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say, ‘Maybe next year.’ I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps; who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, and then pain’n from tractor back,’ put in another seventy-two hours”
—So God made a Farmer.
God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds, and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place
—So God made a Farmer.
God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark.”
It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church; somebody who would bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says that he wants to spend his life “doing what dad does”
—So God made a Farmer.
Backup of video:
Both of my parents grew up on farms. Dad ran horses when he was little eventually ending up a computer repair technician. Mom had one sister and 7 brothers, the sister and two brothers became farmers, the rest became builders. Mom became a nurse.
So I didn’t grow up on a farm but worked for many years with two of my uncles on their dairy farms. Mr Harvey’s description of a farmer fits them both to a T. The number of hours, the care of their animals, the straight rows, the fixing of equipment, and of course the church. Mom and her sister both played the big pipe organ at the church which was just across the road from one of the farms (and 1/4 mile down the road from another.) The organ could be heard easily from the farm and my uncle often said his cows were most content when it was playing.
I have heard this piece many many times and get a tear or two every time and I think of Uncle Bill and Uncle Will every time.
I WAS A CITY GIRL AND MARRIED A FARMER, WE FARMED FOR 30 YEARS. WE MILKED COWS AND FED THE CALVES ON BOTTLES…THE KIDS RAISED CALVES FOR THE FAIRS, IT WAS A LOT OF WORK FOR THEM BUT THEY LOVED IT, THEY ALL TURNED OUT TO BE GOOD KIDS. I WISH WE COULD GO BACK TO THOSE DAYS WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG, LIFE GOES BY SO FAST. THEY ARE MARRIED AND HAVE KIDS OF THEIR OWN….NONE OF OUR KIDS TURNED OUT TO BE FARMERS…
Thx for sharing. My dad grew up on a farm and that was the last of our family ancestory to live that way. So sad. Most say “the grass is always greener” when growing up where ever they are. Many farm children may prefer the city and vica verse, but in the end your own land, house and farm is truly the American way. Not having to worry about starving or being homeless are not so frightening when you have a farm. However, even then, if you own the deed and title, you are still listed as a “tenant” and not entitled to the mineral and water rights and all that BS. So, what can you do?
God bless.
Yeah, me too.
My grandparents were literally born on farms. Some of the smartest people you’ll ever meet, and most down-to-earth. I don’t know very many people today who could hack that life; it took fortitude and a deep faith in God. It’s a privilege to be able to claim that I come from a long line of farmers.
In case anyone missed it, Mr. Harvey’s reference to “so God made a farmer” is Genesis 2:5-8. There was no ‘8th day creation’, however. Chapter 2 is improperly separated from Chapter 1. Chapter 2 is a reiteration of the creation of ADAM more in-depth to include Eve and their ensuing fall from grace. Adamites are the only true farmers on this earth. Hunter/gatherer upright walking hominids existed before Adam, but they were NOT farmers. Agriculture did not exist before the creation of Adam-man.
Well said. I also caught the reference to the 8th day… to justify beasts of the field being hominids, which is not correct in translation and is an Edomite reiteration of what was well known back then by Moses, who wrote that nearly 4,000 years after the fact. Well done. We now live in the 7th day of rest, but Papa won’t rest until his children are at rest and wanting to sit at his feet, waiting to listen to Papa’s words.
I never knew much about farming, being a city boy, but occasionally came into contact with one. I soon worked out long ago just how tough and resourceful these people were.
What is not mentioned is that farmers are also business people who have to deal with market fluctuations and the caprices of the weather. Then they often have to deal with that lowest of all creatures, the banker, to get them through (with interest). Why anyone does it I will never know.
It is one of the most fulfilling professions a white man could ever know. Agriculture is the wealthiest way of life we could endeavor in…when it isn’t being subverted by the jew. No exaggeration, white people were created to be farmers, as we are the only ones capable as per Paul Harvey’s monologue.
A song from 1967- Mr. Farmer by The Seeds. Can’t make heads or tails of it then, or now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrtD77dmto0
This was beautiful.
Amen
Wow. Brought tears to my eyes. Paul Harvey was the very last of his breed allowed in the mainstream controlled media. He always hit the nail on the head as a white Christian man to the core!
Those are my people. I love them. Good to the core. I’m humbled by the kindness and love we once had for each other. There are brighter days ahead!
Yes indeed there are, brother! Praise Christ!