The Commercial I Still Love

Super Bowl Sunday is Tomorrow!

 Even if my Minnesota Vikings are not playing in the Big Game, I will be watching. I will be watching because I like football. I will be watching because I like Justin Timberlake. I will be watching because Minnesota is this year's host. I will be watching because I like the commercials.

I have posted this commercial each year since 2013 when this commercial was first broadcast during the Super Bowl. It brings tears to my eyes each time I view it. It makes me cry knowing I am a sixth generation farmer, and I think back to the hardships my ancestors have endured as farmers. 

But this year it makes me especially sad knowing so many of my fellow farmers have had to leave farming because the struggles of farming are too great. Low prices for our goods have caused many farmers to leave the career they love. Many farm families have taken jobs off the farm to supplement their income, hoping to hang on to their farms. Some farmers are discouraging their sons and daughters from farming, knowing that it is a tough way to support a family.

I am not writing this to complain. I don't want sympathy. I am writing this to make you aware of the situation farmers are facing. It is real. It is serious. It affects all of us. Yes, you too, the consumer.

Thank you are purchasing milk. Thanks for stocking your refrigerator with yogurt and cheese. Thanks for buying that ice cream you love. Thanks for your support of the farming community.

So God made a farmer. Thank God he made us resilient.