There’s No Bad Years for This Montana Farmer

As I broadcast our live radio show from the Montana Farm Bureau Convention in Billings on Tuesday, the words of a Glasgow farmer from Monday stuck with me.

It's been a rough year for farmers in Montana with a late Spring freeze during planting, and an early Fall snowstorm- not to mention the low commodity prices. That's why I can imagine the shock when someone asked Glasgow farmer Don Fast how his year's been going:

Don: Somebody asked me, how was your year? I said, oh, it was really good.

Q: Yeah. Well, what was the toughest year you ever had?

Don: I don't think I've ever had a tough year. And I got to thinking and I says, well, maybe 1968.

Q: Well, what happened then?

Don: Well they had monsoons there, but I haven't had a bad one since.

Many of you may know Don Fast from his years on the US Grains Council, the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, and his service in other ag organizations. But what you may not also know is that Don Fast is also one of our great Vietnam Veterans.

On Veterans Day at the Fort Peck VFW Post in Glasgow, Don told us that you have to look around and realize that "a lot of people have a lot more problems than we have." He added:

There's a lot of strife and a lot of poverty, and things. But you look at other countries, and we are so grateful. We have it a lot better than almost 99.5% of the other countries. We're still very fortunate even though we have a tendency to dwell on the negative.

And of course he started our conversation by paying tribute to the other great veterans who call the Fort Peck VFW Post home. Click below for the audio:

Credit Aaron Flint, Montana Talks radio show