Annie's Corner
Eulogy to Barns
by Anne O. Stout 

Traveling to our most recent camping adventure, I took notice though not consciously at first, of a kind of sad state of affairs, not only in New York but other states as well. 

 I was admiring the scenery of the Catskill Mountains when I start noticing what once were stately, productive, well built structures that housed herds of cattle and/or horses at one time, now in disrepair. Not barns that just need a little TLC but barns in such sorry shape that they are leaning to the point of falling in, and collapsing. Some were just piles of rubble with only the silo remaining to give a hint as to what once was in the spot. 

 Some were just the framework, the skeleton of the structure, standing naked with the sides bowed in and around it. 

 I feel saddened as each of these collapsing structures was also surrounded by neglected, weed-infested farmland. What once was pastures and fields, now a haven for briars, thorn trees, and weeds of all kinds. I counted more then a dozen such farms in a little over three hours. 

 These dilapidated structures are a sign of the changing times that make me sad. The farmers and ranchers founded this country by moving into the new territories once the explorers came back and reported on the land.  These tillers of the soil would move in, and make their homes. 

 Farmers and ranchers tamed the land and put up their structures, raising their families; passing their legacy on to the next generation. Each generation would work hard to add or improve the legacy to pass on to their own children.   The falling down structures and neglected land is a sign of the increasing numbers of farmers no longer able to stay in business. A legacy dying and generations moving away from the family farm, unable to keep going due to the high cost of running the farm, and the farmer's pay not keeping up. 

 What will happen to this country without the farmers and ranchers?  And if you think food is expensive now what will it cost if the government ends up running all the farms and producing all the food?

 Growing up on a dairy farm gives me a different perspective then some but without the family farm, and the love and care those folks put into their calling where will we be? I say "calling" as it is a job with lots of hard work so one must really love it to want to do it.