One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway-it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all of his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
As members of a rural community we can so many times feel like the farmer who thought his donkey wasn’t worth saving, or the well worth fixing. But as I read the statistics from the Ag Censes Data, the Midway District is home to 410 Cow/Calf Producers, 10 Swine Operations, 23 Sheep and Goat Facilities! That is a resilient number of people who believed and kept moving forward through drought, fire, hail, floods, and any other secret thrown at you from the Great Plains. Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up!
Shake it off, and take a step up.
For more information about livestock and forage topics contact the Midway District Extension office or call (785)483-3157 or (785)472-4442. Dusti Lynne Betts serves as the Midway Extension District Livestock Production Agent. All Kansas Extension education programs and materials are available to all individuals without discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or handicap.