Ahhh, love.
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As the reality television series Farmer Wants A Wife continues to prove, the concept of romance and agriculture are closely related.
It tickles the heart, simmers the emotions, seasons life and knows what the correct tractor gear is without asking, in order to pull that downright stubborn ute that won't start again.
Farmers and agriculture producers have long been the romantic types - all those Instagram-worthy rural sunsets, wide verandahs for deep conversations, and natural rugged beauty that comes from a life in the sun swallowing dust.
But true love goes beyond red roses, sparkling jewellery and Hallmark poetry.
READ MORE:
Love is a verb, and nowhere is this more true than in rural production.
With this in mind, here are 32 acts of devotion (if not exactly passion) from the paddock.
True love, on the farm, is...
1. A meal dropped out to the header during harvesting.
2. Turning a blind eye to the mud off the boots through the kitchen.
3. Delivering on the requested manure for the rose garden.
4. Sitting through Escape to the Country.
5. Having the in-laws over for lunch at 12 noon, Sunday... during Landline.
6. Remembering the song from the bridal waltz.
7. Knowing how many sugars in the tea for the smoko cuppa.
8. Buying a copy of (insert favourite magazine here) while doing a town run for that o-ring.
9. Knowing the e-mail password but not deleting all those industry body newsletters until he/she has had a "proper read" of them.
10. Eating the undercooked meatloaf, with a smile.
11. Pulling the washing off the line before rotary hoeing that dry block beside the house.
12. Using the hat rack. For hats. (And maybe stockwhips.)
13. Taking all four kids to the sale while mum ducks into town.
14. A new saddle.
15. Holding hands at the races, in front of the crowd.
16. Remembering the golden syrup on the camping trip.
17. Answering the wife/husband's phone even when the number shows it's his/her mother calling.
18. Keeping the family photo as the smartphone background, even after purchasing the new ute.
19. "Getting" the gates without being asked.
20. Removing the dead possum out of the roof.
21. Not questioning a late arrival back from the shed.
22. A welcome hug despite the lingering smell of manure/fertiliser.
23. Pushing that last piece of vanilla slice across the table.
24. Sticking around until that critical lost bolt is found on the shed floor.
25. Offering to drive "that stretch of road".
26. Diplomatically delivering the news the best-loved jeans no longer fit.
27. Doing a leather treatment on the better half's boots.
28. Providing hints for, but not the clearly obvious answer to, that Wordle he/she is stuck on.
29. Tagging along to help pull out that sheep/calf stuck in a dam.
30. A coffee delivered to the yards.
31. Offering up the "good swag" first.
32. Jumping in to get the fecal samples.
Ashley Walmsley
Ashley Walmsley is the editor of ACM's only national, fresh produce magazine, Good Fruit & Vegetables, while also covering horticulture stories for the agricultural papers and websites. He also writes the weekly, The Ringer, column in the Qld Country Life.
Ashley Walmsley is the editor of ACM's only national, fresh produce magazine, Good Fruit & Vegetables, while also covering horticulture stories for the agricultural papers and websites. He also writes the weekly, The Ringer, column in the Qld Country Life.
