Farm Family Friction

When it comes to Farm Families it is hard to tell the difference where the farm ends and the family begins. This often creates tensions, lack of communication and makes tough times even worse. Even the smallest decision impacts the farm and the family because they are so intertwined. Growing up on a family farm, I have felt these pressures and seen the effects of economic difficulties. I found an article at the Washington State University website that gave some tips on how farm families can cope with stress and not have it affect family relationships.

In any other line of work, it is a lot easier to leave the stress and headaches of work behind. But when your a farm family, your stress from work carries on into the house. In many farm families, the most difficult tasks of the days aren't getting the chores done, it's communicating to your family what you really want, what your goals are, and how you want to get through the day. My family, like many other farm families, has problems with communication and expressing our actual feelings. We experience the ups and downs of the milk prices and I have figured that our good and bad times, moods, communication, etc are up and down like the milk prices.

Farm Families sometimes take for granted the family part. Here are some tips I found in the article that could be useful to farm families on how to keep the family relationships healthy.

• Keep communication open and clear.
• Share farm, parenting, and home responsibilities.
• Find constructive ways to deal with anger.
• Do something fun with family and friends on a regular basis.
• Remain active in social, school and community activities. 

Farm Families are unique in that they work together, live together, eat together, and never really have their own time. I believe everyone needs their own niche to get away and be their own people. The farm is a major part of many families lives, but it shouldn't be their whole lives.

Here's where I found the article:

Diede, A. (2000, January). The Farm-Family Connection. Retrieved February 8, 2011, from Washington State University Cooperative Extension: http://www.ffsn.wsu.edu/documents/Farm-Family-Connection.pdf