BY CARROLL SMITH
EDITOR
In 1978, Paul Harvey, a popular radio broadcaster, delivered a speech titled, “So God Made a Farmer,” at the Future Farmers of America convention in Kansas City, Mo. Thirty-five years later, the beloved voice of the late commentator was heard once again during the Dodge Ram trucks commercial, which aired in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVII.
A voiceover of Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer” speech from the FFA convention was
accompanied by well-chosen still photographs taken by 10 photographers. Following the game, everyone was talking about the “Farmer” ad – TV and radio announcers and personalities, print and e-news articles, my friends on Facebook…the list goes on and on.
In case you missed the commercial when it ran during this year’s Super Bowl and would like to view it on YouTube, type in “Official Ram Trucks Super Bowl Commercial ‘Farmer.’” By the afternoon of Feb. 11, the commercial had received 10,929,950 views. Following are some excerpts from Harvey’s speech:
“And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker.’ So God made a farmer. God said I need someone to get up before dawn, milk the cows, work all day in the fields, milk the cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at the meeting of the school board. So God made a farmer….
“God said I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt and watch it die and dry his eyes and say, ‘Maybe next year.’ I need somebody who can shape an axe handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, can make a harness out of hay wire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. Who, at planting time and harvest season, will finish his 40-hour week by Tuesday noon. Then, pain’n from ‘tractor back,’ put in another 72 hours. So God made a farmer….
“It had to be somebody who would plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed and breed and rake and disk and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk. Somebody who would bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing. Who would laugh and then sigh and then reply with smiling eyes when his son says that he wants to spend his life ‘doing what dad does.’ So God made a farmer.”
As for myself, I am proud to be a part of the agriculture industry today, and I salute all of the farmers that God made.
You are truly something special.
Send your comments to: Editor, Rice Farming Magazine, 1010 June Road, Suite 102, Memphis, Tenn., 38119. Call (901) 767-4020 or e-mail csmith@onegrower.com.