Another week has come and passed in a blur. Although I didn’t venture outside my hometown, I enjoyed a peaceful week of catching up on computer work and editing photos and videos at home. My desk is set up looking out to the east at our farm, so I can easily watch my sister and dad working their hearts out. Typically, this time of year is busy for my sister and I as we are preparing to take our steers and heifers to the state fair. If you couldn’t find us in the barn or at the wash rack working with our animals, you could find us engaged with various projects for my dad. You know it’s officially project season when our family is done baling little squares, and my dad normally finds some major tasks to tackle before my sister and I head back to school in the fall. This year is no different as he has us putting in a new section of fence in a couple of paddocks, replacing broken posts, and preparing for weaning season to begin in a few short weeks. There are a number of things that happen while working on these: we sweat (thanks to Iowa’s great humidity), we dream about other things we should be working on, and we talk “cheap philosophy” as my dad likes to say.

“Project” is a relevant term in the LG Seeds world, too. Many of the photos and videos that I gathered as I traveled must be edited so they're ready to be used for content on our social media platforms, website, advertisements and more. Just like pounding and tamping posts take time, so does editing a video. The audio and footage have to be just so, you have to work diligently to find the right music to go underneath, and locating the perfect graphic to start out the video is critical. Our goal is to make the video as perfect as we can, just like you would make a post as straight as you can (using a level of course and not just eyeballing it).

In everything we do, we have choices. Whether it’s buying a new vehicle, going to the grocery store to grab a gallon of milk, or picking out your outfit for the following day, we are constantly challenged with choices. Certainly, we have a strong representation of that in the agriculture industry as we are regularly surrounded by new technology – drones, soil mapping, GPS, and so many other tools. Whether or not we use this is another matter, but everything is at our fingertips.

We also have personal choices. We can choose between right and wrong. We can choose our attitude. We can even decide what morals and values are important to us. Henry Ford shared some wise words of wisdom: “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.” Our attitudes determine how we go about tasks, activities and shape our mindset for what is to come. We can choose to have a bad attitude about what we are doing, or we can make the most of it. My dad reminded my sister and I consistently growing up that “actions have consequences.” The choices we make affect our reputations and relationships with people, sometimes determining the future of our lives and careers.

I love the Kid President “Pep Talk” video on YouTube. He starts off by saying, “The world needs you to stop being boring – yeah you! You’re gooder than that!” Life isn’t a game. You don’t have plays; you can’t plan it out. He shares a quote with us from the “not-so-cool” Robert Frost: “Two roads diverged in the woods…and I took the road less traveled. And it hurt MAN! Rocks! Thorns! Glass!”

Whether we have chosen to take the road less traveled or stay on the beaten path, we must assume an attitude of optimism. No matter what stage of life we are in, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, we just may not be close enough to see it yet.

Well, you’ve had your cheap philosophy for the day, and you got exactly what you paid for. If you were to take anything away from this, remember that we always have choices. The choices we make now affect everything that we do down the road, we may just not have a clear picture of what that is yet.

Unfortunately, “Adventures from the Corn Belt” is nearly over as next week marks the last week of my time with LG Seeds. However, I have great optimism that it will be one for the books. Keep your eyes peeled and ears tuned for the final “Adventures from the Corn Belt!”