Semi View/Farming is a game; but which game?

It was one day a while ago that I heard someone say that farming was "just a game." They said something about it being "a game" where "big boys had big toys."

Hmm. And all this time I thought it was a business -- a sometimes-tough business at that.

After all, my three farmers work hard all the time and if it was a game, you'd think they would all be having more fun.

So I got to thinking, if farming was a game, which one would it be?

How about Blackjack, or some other game of chance? After all, you put all your chips on the table or in our case, the field. We never know what cards will fall. It depends on a large variety of factors that are way beyond our control: the weather, the markets, hail, wind, bugs, fungus, disease, etc.

We could get 200 bushels per acre or we could get none, both have happened. The prices could be under $2 a bushel or like this unusual year $7 a bushel. Once again, we have little control, except for when we sell. Our costs would be the same either way. We could win or we could lose, so definitely either way it is a gamble. But, even though he does it every year, my husband would say he wasn't a gambler.

So maybe farming is like football (my personal favorite sport). After all, we start on the zero yard line every spring and hope by the end of fall, we successfully get to the endzone. In this case the "endzone" would be the getting our crops to the elevator or bin.

Yes, and we take plenty of hits along the way. Not to mention all the "passing" -- including this year the extreme "passing" on to the farmers the high input prices!

And there is plenty of "tackling." The "tackling" of tough chores, tough conditions and not to mention the real "tackling" I see when my two overgrown bearcubs race to see who gets the tractor with air conditioning for a particular day's chore! But my husband, a football fan , too, of course, nonetheless would say he wasn't a football player.

Okay, so what about baseball? Yes, farming could be like baseball. Getting to first base could be putting on fertilizers. Second base could be working the ground or preparing the seedbed. Third base could be planting. Getting to home plate would be harvest.

Suffice it to say there are no home runs, just a lot of "singles" trying to get from one base to another without weather, breakdowns or other unforeseen disasters. And this year we definitely could have done without all the rain delays.

Then I got to thinking maybe farming isn't a team sport, maybe it is like a Milton Bradley or Parker Brothers game.

Monopoly comes to mind. After all, in farming it seems you take a few steps forward and then you end up having to go back three spaces by replanting a crop that didn't come up. And of course when I play Monopoly I always land on that perfect piece of property just about the time I have no money left to buy it. No matter what I mortgage I still can't come up with the money and have to end up letting someone else buy it. Yes, farming can be like that.

But what about some of the other games I found like:

--SpongeBob Ants in the Square Pants: Besides the fact that I like the name, I guess that could describe the times we are waiting to get in the field. It definitely feels a bit like "ants in the pants."

--Travel Memory Game: Yes, but when we travel I am hoping my husbands "memory" goes away and he forgets at least for a little while all the things he has to do at home.

--Twister: Well, let's hope not. I think one of those in a lifetime was enough. And I wouldn't wish a twister on anyone.

--Risk: Definitely. It goes along with the business.

--The Game of Life: Oh, so true. Like most things in life, there are no guarantees and farming (and most businesses) is definitely like that. Not to mention our whole life is wrapped up in the farm.

--Kerplunk: Oh yes, in farming sometimes just "one wrong move" and the whole thing could come crashing down around you.

My personal favorite and the game I wish would be farming is Ouija Board. Wouldn't it be nice to "magically" predict what would happen in the future. Think of it. Maybe it could tell us when to plant and when not to. Or perhaps we could know when to sell our crops and when to store them for a little longer.

And maybe we could actually know what the weather is going to do, so we wouldn't have "Ants in Our Pants" waiting for the ground to dry.

Yes, if farming is a game and its how you play the game that counts, then most of the farmers I know deserve a cheer. They are playing the "game" to the best of their ability, providing Americans and others the safest and cheapest food supply in the world

And that's despite the fact that the "rules" keep changing.