EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION

All risk in agriculture can be summed up into one: economic risk.  As I reflect back to my family’s farming experience that was largely positive, I see one incredible advantage and wise choice taken by my father: He paid cash for the farm!  We had no debt. All the land, equipment, and cattle were paid for. This is unheard of today.

It wasn’t that my father was born into wealth. Quite the contrary. Along with 5 siblings, his dad (i.e. my grandpa) was a railroad depot master in a small rural South Carolina town, where the train stopped to pick up primarily bales of cotton grown in the area. Dad managed to take a few courses at a local business school.  In the late 20s, Dad must have wanted to see a bit of the world and he answered an ad to work at a hotel in Burmuda.

His became an Horatio Alger story. Starting at the bottom as a night clerk, he worked his way up, and effectively became hotel manager. As we milked cows and talked at 6AM, he would say, “Monty, have integrity, work hard, and be responsible. With this, you’ll set yourself apart and go far.”  And he did. Dad was asked by the hotel company president if he wanted to move to New England, where his boss had bought some hotels dirt cheap due to the 1929-33 depression era. So dad moved to Boston and lived in the Parker House, a famous landmark hotel. From their kitchen came creations such as Boston Cream Pies, Parker House rolls, etc. And it was THE hotel to stay in while traveling to Boston, and he mingled with many celebrities and elites.  In fact, Joseph Kennedy, the matriarch of the Kennedy clan, lived in a suite at the Parker House. One noteworthy name was baseball great, Ted Williams. He and Dad were fishing buddies, and Ted would call dad to escape the relentless crowds during his famous baseball career. In fact, Dad gave Ted’s wife a job at the Parker House.

Dad was also single and eligible. Many tried to set him up with female matches but it wasn’t until my mom, who worked as secretary to a business executive in California, traveled to Boston,  stayed at the Parker House, and they met.  Moving from this hotel career in Boston, Dad and Mom took a 6 month holiday in Hawaii, and then he tried his hand at ranching in Montana, where I and my three siblings were born.  We then moved to South Carolina soon after I arrived as a small bundle.

All this is to say that Dad was in a position to accumulate and invested enough money to pay cash for the dairy in South Carolina.  He wanted a ‘country life’ for us. This didn’t impress me too much. I remember asking him to the effect of: “So Pa, tell me again why are we here at 6AM and milking cows in this smelly barn and it’s freezing outside…and we could be living in Boston and we’d be millionaires?”

Dad would laugh. We all truly believe the dairy and outdoor life is what kept him healthy until his passing at age 97.  All I know is that the life taught me the value of work…hard work. And maybe a bit of common sense. It has also kept me fairly healthy as enter the retirement years. Although I don’t think retiring is in my future, not only due to the health factor, but because I didn’t adhere to his lessons on accumulating wealth. And the risk that comes with not having it.

Thanks for reading.