For the Love of Farming: Missouri Farmer Won’t Give Up

There are the pressures of commodities sinking even lower, the reality that input costs seem to keep getting higher, and the uncertainty of whether farm families and their neighbors will be better or worse off in the months ahead because of President Donald Trump’s insistence of raising tariffs.

There is economic strain from the possibility of another year of diminished income, the continued weight of higher borrowing costs, and the potential labor shortage if migrants disappear from the agricultural workforce.

Plus, there is the additional burden that this generation does not want to let down the previous generations who spent their lives on the same ground that their ancestors cultivated before them.

Farming isn’t glamorous. It isn’t a 9-to-5 job with weekends and holidays off. And there is always the temptation to cash out because their farmland has never been more valuable than it is today.

RELATED: This Missouri researcher who grew up on a farm explained to American Farmland owner what he has shared with members of Congress about the needs of agriculture.

Blake Hurst Headshot

Blake Hurst’s Life on a Missouri Farm

Farmers like Blake Hurst, a corn and soybean farmer from Westboro, Missouri, insist that they will keep going. His family’s farm and nursery work to withstand the challenges of the outside forces that can tear a person up on the inside.

Could he call it a day after three decades on the farm?

“Well…” Hurst replied with a laugh, “I enjoy it, you know. We've got a family, and we've got a business.”

Hurst previously spent a decade as a statewide advocate for farmers. “I spent ten years as President, Missouri Farm Bureau. So, I was away a lot,” he said.

But as he approaches 70 years of age, Hurst now appreciates family even more now that his time with the Farm Bureau ended. “And now I'm back, and I'm not sure the kids are totally happy about that situation,” he joked. “But they do need my labor in order for it all to function the way it is.”

Hurst’s return to full-time farming has been about more than just keeping the business going. For him it is also about continuing a conversation he has been having for decades.

“I’ve been writing about this stuff and talking about it since I started farming,” Hurst, a freelance writer, said. “And I just find it endlessly fascinating.”

Pride of Being a Farmer

That fascination is matched by a strong sense of national pride and perspective. Hurst reflected on the inevitable challenges farmers face — from unpredictable weather to market volatility — and emphasized the importance of seeing the bigger picture.

“My favorite quote is… ‘there’s a lot of room in a nation,’” he said. “You worry about all these problems. But one thing about doing this for as long as I have is…we’ll get through this. We always do.”

He cited billionaire business investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett’s wisdom as a source of inspiration: “Buffett said when you're born an American citizen, you've just won the biggest lottery ticket ever. And I believe that with all my heart. This is a good place to be, and a good time to be here.”

Despite modern pressures, Hurst acknowledges that today's farming comes with its own advantages. Comparing his experience to that of his grandfather, he said, “I wouldn’t trade my life for the life my grandfather had when he was 68... He wasn’t riding in an air-conditioned tractor, gabbing on his iPhone. That’s for sure.”

RELATED: Blake Hurst shares his story on the American Farmland Owner Podcast on how higher tariffs are already making his family farm life more difficult.