Paul Harvey SuperBowl text of God Made A Farmer speech

Paul Harvey ‘So God Made A Farmer’ Speech

The text and audio of Paul Harvey’s original 1978 ‘So God Made a Farmer’ speech.

I originally posted this years ago. However I am republishing it today (FEB-2020), given recent uncovered comments by democrat presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.

Democratic president candidate Michael Bloomberg drew mockery after a viral clip of him showed the billionaire media tycoon belittling farming at a 2016 business school talk and contrasting it with the “gray matter” necessary to work in the modern information economy.

“I can teach anyone how to be a farmer. 1 dig a hole. 2 put a seed in. 3 put dirt on top. 4 add water. 5 up comes the corn”

~Michael Bloomberg

Here’s the text and audio of Paul Harvey’s original 1978 ‘So God Made a Farmer’ speech, that played in a Super Bowl commercial by Ram Trucks in FEB-2013. It stood out from the rest according to many Americans.

Unfortunately the American farmer is a dwindling breed… one which would make a resurgence out of necessity should our systems and dependencies ever collapse around us.

And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.” So God made a farmer.

“I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife’s done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon — and mean it.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, ‘Maybe next year.’ I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain’n from ‘tractor back,’ put in another seventy-two hours.” So God made a farmer.

God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place. So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church.”

“Somebody who’d 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 he wants to spend his life ‘doing what dad does.'” So God made a farmer.

Paul Harvey Farmer Speech

https://youtu.be/AMpZ0TGjbWE

Bloomberg, you can go f- yourself.

I appreciate every bit of effort put in by our farmers. Thank you.

Continue reading: 60, The Average Age of Farmers in America

42 Comments

  1. i have been married to one for 21 years and that seems to be an accurate description to me. thank you for this.

    1. Most of the farmers i know, provide food for thousands of people.
      Its not easy, is a thankless endeavor, most have huge debts, huge payrolls, and incredible responsibility.

      So yea, i want to see these turd dems put their mone where their mouth is

  2. Paul Harvey.
    I can remember listening when the older folks had him on the radio. I was told to be quiet, and maybe I would learn something. Well I did.

    Another good one was “If I were the Devil.

    PAUL HARVEY’S ‘IF I WERE THE DEVIL’ TRANSCRIPT

    If I were the devil … If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee. So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’

    “To the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is ‘square.’ And the old, I would teach to pray, after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington…’

    “And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d pedal narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.

    “If I were the devil I’d soon have families that war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves; until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions — just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.

    “Within a decade I’d have prisons overflowing, I’d have judges promoting pornography — soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money. If I were the devil I’d make the symbols of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.

    “If I were the devil I’d take from those who have, and give to those who want until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.

    And what do you bet I could get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich? I would caution against extremes and hard work in Patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on the TV is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure. In other words, if I were the devil I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.

    Paul Harvey, good day.”

    1. It’s amazing that he said this in the ’50s. It sounds like the 24/7 news of today. Sad but True.

      1. The 50’s?? wow. I remember him doing “and that is the rest of the story” or something like that at the end of ‘I think’ 60 minutes.

        1. aka. Yah
          It’s weird. Before I was born he was on the radio describing every year that most of us have lived.

        2. “And now you know, the rest of the story. Good day.” I always loved and hated to hear those words. Loved it by the way the words rang. Hated it because that meant the clip was over.

  3. VP Pence also posted this video in response to Mini Mike’s comments. MB is a truly awful person. Hope he blows his considerable fortune in a failed attempt st the presidency.

  4. I remember this commercial, and we were a Paul Harvey family when he was on the air. We still talk about him, and of course “the rest of the story”. Readers Digest did an article last year about how suicide rates are rising among farmers. It was sad to read. Farming is a tough life. My family appreciates everything the farmers of America do! God bless the farmers.

  5. I grew up listening to Paul Harvey on the radio, and still remember some of the things he said.

    I grew up and still live in a farming community. I’m grateful for the two family farms up the road from us, one in each direction. We can hear and smell the cows, that fresh country air. I’m thankful to be able to raise my kids where this is still the way of life.

  6. How many of you know a farmer or farming family? Perhaps it’s you yourself…

    I had an Uncle who was a dairy farmer.

    My neighbor down the road is sometimes a ‘pig farmer’ (we help with the feeding and such – he only has ~ 6 pigs at a time though).

    Another neighbor a bit further raises cattle for beef. Not a lot, maybe a dozen heads or so…

    Just about everyone in town is a ‘mini farmer’ of one variety or another. Good size personal gardens, chickens, goats, etc… (that’s rural life).

    There are a good number of large corn fields around (family farming).

    A very large dairy farm on the edge of town.

    Anyway, I’m curious if you know someone who is farming on a commercial scale. And I wonder how old they are… Wondering if there are any young farmers out there (as in, under 60?).

    Seems it’s all going the way of big agriculture instead…

    1. Ken,
      Yes, I have a cousin (DW’s side)(just 40yrs old) who is a dairy farmer. His brother sells farm equipment.
      My family used to farm. My parent’s generation is the first generation not farming.

    2. In my neck of the woods, it’s slow farming. Silviculture – trees for lumber. Some big commercial operations have thousands of acres, many individuals own 40-acre blocks. There are poachers of old big leaf maple in the area; it’s valued for making musical instruments. I have a couple that am thinking of harvesting so I get the value. Also alder for veneer. Christmas tree farms farther south. Log trucks make the winding highway here dangerous.

      Lots of cedar goes into shake mills. There’s probably a dozen within a few miles of me. Large logs for lumber and export. Smaller logs and logging litter go for hog fuel to make biodiesel.

      Those with tree plots permit out harvesting of salal for florists and greenery for Christmas wreaths. Again, quite a bit of poaching there too,

      Lots of seasonal harvesting of wild mushrooms and blackberries for restaurant trade.

      Quite a few folks have hay fields. There’s a guy in his late 60s next road over who cuts and bales for the neighborhood. He keeps half and sells it. On my road there’s a farming family in their mid 40s who grow micro greens on a couple acres for the restaurant trade.

      One neighbor has the horse riding concession at the beach and pastures his horses on a number of leased fields right by my place and across the river.

      A different sort of agriculture here from my grandparents’ wheat farm in Kansas.

    3. Both my grand fathers were farmers, cotton and grain. One was also the community blacksmith. I spent part of my childhood in his shop, learning to use the forge, sharpening plows and sweeps, fashioning iron and steel into tools and implements.

      My father learned his trade as a mechanic as a teenager, working on tractors and vehicles brought to that shop looking for repairs.

      My Dad made his living as an independent mechanic in the small, agricultural based town where we lived. The overwhelming number of his customers were farmers, mostly cotton. Most were share croppers (worked the land belonging to others, sharing the profits, if any, with the land owner…….and the bank that loaned them money to survive from harvest to harvest).

      Part of my childhood, we moved to a large, corporate farm, that convinced my Dad to close his shop, move us to the home they provided, and Dad take care of all their equipment, design and build specialty equipment for their operations. This operation included feed lots, slaughter house, packing plant, a dairy operation, chicken and egg production, feed mills, truck farming (vegetable growing), and growing much of the grain, sorghums, and hay needed to keep the operation going.

      My first paying job was on that farm. They paid fifty cents an hour for labor. They didn’t care if you were 9 years old, like I was at the time) or 60 years old, so long as you did the job. I bought an electric fan with my first check, to help survive the Texas summers in an non-air conditioned home.

      We were never actually farmers ourselves, but we were immersed in the culture. My brother, after retiring from his automotive repair business, ran around 80-100 head of beef cattle on his Arkansas Ozark land. I dabbled in cattle myself on a smaller scale, until they were costing more than they brought in return.

      I have nothing but respect for those who make their living off the land.

    4. I know quite a few who are younger, my neighbor and wife are in their 40s another guy who Used to be a buyer has been expanding Is farm, he is also in his 40s, the lady and her husband up the road who have been expanding are mid 30s and there are more.
      That said, these are all relatively small farms, very productive, but still considered small.
      The older folks around here have been letting it go, too much regulation and costs climbing ever higher, most of the ranch/cattle type operations are held by older people, i think mostly because of the cost of land.

    5. I know a ‘young’ farmer and watched him grow from high school. He set his sights to be a farmer when he was in high school. He graduated college and got some type of an Ag degree, then he bought his aunt’s farm while still in this 20s. Now he is a contract pig farmer and also runs cattle. He’s doing very well, lives within his means, and he’s now in his mid 40s. And he’s still a full-time farmer who is happy.

      Others I know who are farming but are less commercialized — they buy and sell cattle and pigs. Some grow fields of corn and hire out to harvest, others grow hay. They all have second jobs and/or a spouse with an income. Then there are the horse farms but they’re basically equine facilities — none are young people and none are able to afford to run their facilities full time w/out spousal income. There are some chicken farms a bit south, all contract farms to grow out day olds to 6 weeks, then to slaughterhouses. Those farmers all have spouses with jobs.

      Orchards are common around here but I don’t know any young orchardists. I don’t know anyone young who is harvesting food crops, but that’s not to say it isn’t being done on a small scale (farmer markets) — I just don’t know any of them. I’ve sold some Nubians to small scale farmers who sell organic milk, milk products, and soaps. Their ages are between 35-60+ years of age.

      Big Ag is here and it’s a threat to America. You’d think the brainiacs running this country down would take their own advise about ‘diversity’ and would have ‘diverse’ farming businesses in the farming sector. We surely aren’t doing this with Big Pharma, and having most of our medicines and devices made in China is going to be a huge wake-up call very soon.

    6. I worked on a farm for a good part of my life. Milking a couple hundred cows. We grew most of the food the animals ate except for milk powder for the calves and mineral supplements for the cows. I always carried pliers and some wire with meat all times. Because, if it can’t be fixed with wire, then it really is broke. We didn’t use bailing wire as it was so thin and because we didn’t use wire for the bales . We used twine which was always the temporary stand in foe wire if we ran out of what we had on hand. Pliers are the multi-tool of the farming world. It can be used as a hammer, pry bar, cutting wire, twisting wire, screwing in bolts without using wrenches, noise maker to bang on the stanshions to wake the cows up at 2:30 in the morning, pulling nails, and the list goes on and on. I guess that is why even today I carry a multi-tool pliers with me all the time. Otherwise, I kind of feel baked without pliers of some sort.

  7. My gr-grandparents were farmers and dairy farmers. “Brown’s Dairy and Pony Farm”

    Those who think you can just drop a seed in the ground and it’s going to produce are severely misinformed.

    I want some of those seeds Mr. B is talking about !!!

    1. Bloomberg must have magic seeds. Maybe that’s how he made all his money.

    2. Genesis: 3

      17To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

      In my estimation, God didn’t say the earth would give up it’s bounty easily.

  8. Bloomberg ain’t got a clue what it takes to be a farmer!! I grew up on a farm and after a stint in the US Navy, worked for my father for 20 years, and then for myself taking over for my father after he passed on for another 5 years, only quitting when it seemed that the government was trying to put the smaller farmer out of business. With only 500 + Acres, I was considered a small farmer. The last year, I worked it all by myself except during the summer when my two sons were out of high school and they helped with all the irrigation of rice, soybeans, and grain sorghum. I’ve been out of farming for 35 years now and the technology has advanced in farming so much now that even I with 25 years experience wouldn’t have a clue how to get started again. The dig a hole, drop a seed in, cover it up and then water it only works for a small garden, and then only if you put in three seeds and put them at the correct depth, and then get a little luck with temperature. His comments just show how stupid he really is and not only insult farmers, but all the home gardeners in America too.

  9. I have now lived in “farm country” for 11 years. The DW and I have 35 acres that we have put into a small 6 acre vineyard, and some hay. I have been successful in growing Hay and getting it cut and sold for a number of years now. Vineyard just starting to come into its own. All very, very hard work.
    We have cattle ranchers to the south , and corn & bean farmers to the north and east of us. Sweet and field corn. Pinto and soy beans. Most farmers here are all in their 50s, or older. Over the years we have made friends of a lot of them. Mostly the older ones. lot of knowledge there that they love to share with someone who is genuinely interested. Hard work, a lot of savvy, a little luck, and God’s watchful eye make for a successful farmer.

    This fella Bloomberg is a fool. yes, he has learned to make a lot of money in a corrupted city environment. But he is still a fool. A fool does not know, what he does not know. A fool thinks he knows all about everything. This klutz fits the description perfectly. Because he is a fool, I tend not to follow his dribble.

    Farmers are a noble breed. I respect them immensely. I hope that after another 11 years here, I will have learned enough, grown enough, and worked hard enough to be called “a farmer”.

    1. tmcgyver,
      Yeah, he is “funny” all right, “funny in the head”. Why sure all these labor jobs are easy to do. guess that’s why about 1/2 the miners I know are also farmers too, they can do both jobs! work hard, play hard, that is their life. Gotta respect that for sure. Hard rock mining, easy as pie, just watch them thar’ gold nuggets falling into the pan! LOL.
      “Little Mikey” is an urban moron, imho.

  10. Many of us here come from farm folk. Most of the country was rural at one time. Where I live now is mostly agricultural. As you drive around you begin to notice the farmers who have very good timing. Meaning planting and harvesting. They seem to have a sixth sense and almost always get it right. I don’t think there are any corporation farms here. There is one family who does own a lot of land, they own the grainery/dryer. However this county is in a building boom much to my dismay. What was hay and soy bean fields is now becoming small subdivisions. sigh……
    Paul Harvey, yes used to listen to him too.

  11. I spent most of my younger life around Farms and Farmers in the outskirts of Cincinnati (66 years old now). Was a good life and yes a hard life. I do remember those 20 hour days racing to get crops in, and was ALWAYS taught to respect that Deer that was dropping in the middle of the field. ALWAYS and I do mean ALWAYS stop, and wait, no hurry when the miracle of God was happening right there for you to witness. And yes there were a many of times that one would just cry because that miracle failed.

    I took a different path in life, became a Carpenter and been in construction for most of my life. But guess what? I believe that “Farmer” is still alive in me, and many MANY of folks out there that work their Garden as if it were 5000 acers. We may be looked at as ones that “1 dig a hole. 2 put a seed in. 3 put dirt on top. 4 add water. 5 up comes the corn” by that asshole michael bloomberg and others like him, but the sprite is there each time I see a seedling pop it’s head above ground. And yes I have had a Garden every year of my life.

    I have the GREATEST respect for those in this country that actually work for a living, and I do mean work, not sit on their asses and play the markets or swindle others (thousands of others) out of their hard earned money (think .gov and taxes here).

    Farming, Ranching, and thousands of other occupations are HARD, and to have pukes like michael bloomberg belittle us, ALL OF US….. I had better stop now before Ken needs to put me in the corner for a Time-Out….

    Rant Over

    PS” I have been a Paul Harvey fan for many MANY years, would always tell other to shut up when his piece came on….
    God Bless him.

  12. “Tip your hat to the man up there on the tractor”

    Farmers have a thankless job and the small time, family owned farms are being pushed out of existence.
    The dairy farm, where we purchased Sadie, and many like them are giving up.
    Sad. The farmers, ranches are what once brought prosperity, only to be demoralized by a clueless politcian(s).

    Ole Paul.
    My grandma was sure to turn to the local radio station to listen….everyday, I would imagine, five days a week.
    “It’s time for Paul Harvey”
    Then….the obituary announcements.
    Just to make sure she “wasn’t on the list or if anyone she knew had past”

  13. ….had passed”

    Thanks, Ken, for also adding the video. I had to listen to it a couple times.
    Paul had a great radio voice/ personality/broadcast.

    …and grandma had stacks of Readers Digest, near ‘her’ rocking chair.
    Grandma would rock listening to Paul….then stop…..just to hear that important/meaningful comment….then start rocking again.
    Ahh, memories.

    1. Joe c;
      personally I enjoyed the Paul Harvey “Letter From God”
      look it up on UT, is good.

  14. Thanks NRP.
    It was good!
    I’m sure grandma woulda stopped rocking thru the whole thing.

    She was a fragile, but strong old lady…..and a believer

  15. Both my husband and I earned our first money from farming.
    I sold homegrown produce: strawberries, tomatoes, ears of corn, and squash at a roadside stand that my folks built for me and my brother to sell from. We had to pick and package, and do all of the selling.

    My husband worked tobacco. He lived in southern Maryland and began working at 13 — he would do transplants, and then cut, bundle, and hang the bundles to dry in the tobacco barns.

  16. Unfortunately some of the most meaningful occupations are also often the most underrated. Farming being among those at the top of the list.
    No farms, no food. Without which, those of us of non-farm occupations will not last very long.
    Paul Harvey’s words are right on the mark. A timeless classic!
    Thank God for the farmers. We couldn’t make it without you.

  17. Our town is a farming community with many cows, pastures, and cornfields, gardens, and even backyard homesteads. They hay is amazing and so is the corn and other vegetables produced here. Some are dairy herds, some are meat, and some are even fiber animals. Sadly, many of the smaller dairy operations are going bankrupt as they overextended themselves at the bank. Even the Amish are shutting down dairies. The trucks won’t haul your milk unless you produce a huge amount of milk so no outlet to get milk to market.

    The Amish farms are smaller and each community is diverse. While they each have their own gardens and fields, some are blacksmiths, some are carpenters (furniture, kitchens, or buildings), some make and sell tarps (buggies, sheds, boat covers, etc.), and some are shops that sell wares and foods to the public. Some raise sheep, some dairy, some goats, some train herding dogs. They generally do not take on debt, But even the Amish dairy farmers are closing up and moving or waiting out the local issues with transportation.

    All these farmers and their families that we have met thus far, no matter their religious belief or background, are hard workers often working outside the home as well as on the farm. They support their community generously with their time, their money, and their prayer. We are so blessed to live in this amazing community!

  18. When SHTF I’m moving back to the North Country. From what I’ve seen the Amish are taking over a lot of the old dairy farms and brining them back to life. I love it!!

  19. I’ve been gone a lot, and am just now catching up on older articles, This one hit HOME, dead center.

    On my whits tailgate in 4in black letters it says, ” And on the 8th day, GOD made a Farmer”. “You can’t fake tough”

    I kid you not. Been there since 2013

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