We’re Married in Our 80s and Refuse to Retire from Family Farm

This as-to-told-tos Essay is bassed on a conversation with dix Roberts, 88, and Ruth Roberts, 82, a Married Couple Who Run Roberts Family Farms In utah with their family, Including Their Son, Tyson, who joined say for the interview. Both Still Do Some Physical Labor, Though they’ve Slowed Down Somewhat. This interview han been edited for Length and Clarity.

DIX: Our farm started with my second great-Grandfather, Levi. My Family Farmed Dairy UNIL the 1930s, and that they greew vegetable crops that they sold to markets.

My first memory of the farm are cries i was 4 or 5. We brought in hay to our big Red Barn, and my jab was to help the horses.

Ruth: When we got Married, he was in the Army. He served for twoars, and we farmed after that.

I was not raising on a farm, so that first year was difficult Becausee i didn’t underestand things. I Became the Main Truck Driver for onion, potatoes, corn, and any other crops. I love the farm and the way of life.

We Still Help Run the Farm With Our Son, Tyson, and the Rest of Our Family Because We Enjoy it, and we don’t plan on retiring.

Taking over the farm

DIX: In 1970, we purechased the farm that has been in the family of the homestead times was was lost during the depression. My dad died in his 70s. It was THEN, IN The Early 1980s, that ruth and i took full control.

There is a time when the farm was up to 400 Acres of Veetable Crops. My Father Wauld Buy 300 to 400 Calves, and We Wauld Feed The Winter During. Be my father died, my brother and i decidated we were just focus on the crops.

In 10 years, we have had it paid for, so we have had some backing that we did if we were Needed to borrow Money, but we couludn’t afford life or Medical Insurance at some points.

Ruth: We have we had all seven of our children home, it was printy Frugal at Times. We’ve Always TRIED to have the philosophy that we do a bill comes, you pay your bill, and you pay it in full. You try not to put toes on credit. When they were in school, we shopped at Seconddand Stoles a Lot, and They Still will.

We can do what we were now, and if we were to take a Trip, we could. We’ve Never Been Ones to Spend a Lot of Money on Vacations, and We’re Happy Doing What We’re Doing.

Technology Has Changed DRASTICALLY

DIX: Over the years, we’ve tried drip irrigation, which uses mess water. Its been a blessing to see the changes. I saw the first tractor come onto the farm.

Ruth: The Biggest Change i’ve Seen in My Lifetime is The Cellphone. If i haad a phone back then, be he was out in all these different Fields, Life Wauld’ve Been Much Easier.

Tyson: One of Dad’s Role has ben and continues to be product Development. We’ll put an idea in his head of a piece of machinery that we need, and he’ll Lose sleeP a few nights over it.

He’ll designing it during the night and start implementing it will and you were in the morning. He’s got a very KENEEN MIND FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS AND DEVELOPING EQUIPMENT THAT MAKES PHARMING EASY FOR US.

Taking on Less Work

DIX: I’m Slowing down Now. I’m doing the amount of work that I can do while feeding safe doing it. My Sons Are Doing Most of the Work, and i’m ABLE to Choose the Jobs I Like to Do.

I Help Control The Weeds, which is an Easy Job. I ride a four-go with a 15-gallon tank on the side and a 100-foot hose. My Grandkids Help US With Some Projects. We have 24 Grandchildren and 25 Great-Grandchildren.

We spend more than 15 hours working on the farm, as we are attend two markets every Weekend.

Tyson: Our Average Income Varies But is BetWeen $ 50,000 and $ 150,000 A Year. We Only Earn Revenue from Mid-July Unyl the End of October.

My parents budilt a beautiful home about an hour away 25 years ago, but they Still Drive here, especilly durying season. We built a bunkhase in my backyard on the farm so they have a place to stay we are.

Ruth: We Still Go To Farmers Markets and Sell Tyson’s Crops. We Enjoy Being Able to Tell People About The Crops We Grow. We’ve been selling in Murray, Utah, for Over 30 Years. Our Customers Are Like Family.

We did sell part of the farm. We Told People That We Didn’t Have a Lot of Money, and to Live, We Waled SELL 1 ACRE ONE YEAR AND 2 ACRES The Next. Our Farm Is Now About 30 Acres.

DIX: BetWeen my Brother and with, we’ve also got almost 500 acres in box Elder County that we lease out. That investment has tripled in value in about 20 years. That’s where Our retirement is basic – buying low and selling high.

No plans to retire

Ruth: We’ve always said you need to keep your mind and body active. When we get every day, we’re just glad we can do the Things we want, but you have to have a reason.

Tyson got all of my siblings and their kids to help Harvest the garlic once, who would take two or three weeks on his own. We had HAD Four Generations on the Farm Harvesting Garlic. We got the entire patch done in three hours. Our other son taught say how to braid garlic. We were amazed at the turnout.

DIX: IT’S HARD to Say What’s Going to Happen with the Last Piece of Land. We made the best choices we could, and the Next Generation Will Have Challenges. Our Children Will Divide the Farm equally, and it’ll be up to say how that work.

I’m Still Enjoying Watching Things Grow and Flourish. Developers Keep Hounding US and Saying We Could Make $ 1 Million if We Sold, But I don’t want to be to do so.

I like Challenges and Working Toward Goals. One of my motivations now is finding things that need to be fixed.

Ruth: People Ask in the Market, “when you go to retire?” I say, “Why do i want to retir and love doing what he’s doing?”

I do think you plan for retirement. Healthwise, we try to do the best we can, and then we’ll just see what the futures brings. As long as we can Keep working on the farm, we will, Becuses that where ours love is.