World-class farmers, athletes won’t be denied

"Do or do not. There is no try." 

Clearly, Yoda wasn’t thinking about farming when he pressed Luke Skywalker to lift a fighter jet with his mind in The Empire Strikes Back.

But whether you’re a Jedi-in-training, a pro athlete, or a farmer who aspires to leave a lasting legacy, determination is essential.

Just ask Brandon Myers, a former Hawkeye great and NFL pro who learned a fundamental truth about success in football while growing up on his grandparents’ crop and livestock farm near Prairie City.

“It’s work ethic. It’s grit. It’s waking up every day, and going out and doing it every day, even if you don’t feel good or the weather’s not the best,” said Brandon as he reflected on the parallels between farming and football.

Grit is the characteristic that enables an unheralded, small town Iowa kid to become a first team all-Big Ten tight end and embark on a successful eight-year NFL career. And it’s the essential ingredient in first generation farmers who dare to dream of a farm that will eventually be passed on to their kids and grandkids, despite a USDA-forecasted 25.5% decrease in net farm income in 2024, on the heels of a 16% decline in net farm income in 2023.

Of course, it’s unrealistic (and unfair) to cite willpower as the only factor in success.

You need plenty of grit, knowledge, talent and good fortune to reach the pros or join the 439 farm families who received Century and Heritage Farm awards this year, for keeping their farms in the family for at least 100 years.

Even then – with the building blocks of success stacked together – it can seem impossible.

Without determination, it probably is.