After reading a plea for help posted on the Internet by a farm wife, I thought I needed to provide a courage transplant to a few busy moms, grandmas and young women on the farm. After all, we are headed into a busy season for agriculture and things won’t slow down until January or February … HELP!

Let’s just begin with the facts: You are the plate-spinning extraordinaire. There is no one in this world who can keep as many plates spinning as a woman on the farm who is a mom, off-farm employee, church volunteer, committee chairperson, board member and 4-H leader.

As you look at your garden full of tomatoes and think about the 500 quart jars of canned food your mother had in her basement, you may feel like a total failure because you only canned 53 quarts of tomatoes, made five batches of three different kinds of jams and put up 80 bags of sweet corn and pickles of every shape, size and kind.

Or maybe you don’t feel worthy of the beautiful century-old family farmhouse you live in as you look at the dishes piled in the sink, the dirty laundry spilling out of the laundry room, the unmade beds, the sheets that haven’t been changed since Fair Week and the clothes that are stacked on the treadmill in the bedroom.

Or just maybe, when your sister-in-law stopped by on her way to work to give you that plate of warm sweet rolls for breakfast, you felt a pang of guilt because she was dressed for success and you were still in your barn clothes with your hair wadded up in a ponytail – and you were happy because you had a clean mug for coffee to sip with the sweet rolls.

Let’s just stop the defeating self-bashing going on in your head and assure you that if we began to pluck off layer by layer the work and pressures that keep farm women covered up, we would find a wonderful woman who met the needs of her family yesterday because she hugged her kids goodbye, told her husband she loved him or remembered to order farm fuel.

We would also find a dedicated employee with a bank of knowledge from not only education, but experience.

We would uncover a woman who loves her children sacrificially, demonstrating this by spending money on eye black and football cleats instead of manicures and pedicures, or a woman who volunteers to make four dozen cupcakes instead of taking a much-needed nap, and a wife who thought about her husband enough to remind him to be safe this morning when he headed to the field.

Ladies, the bottom line is: You are special. I’ve preached this over and over and over, and I will keep preaching that women in agriculture are a unique bunch who are unmatched in this world.

While you remind your farmer to be safe today, I’m going to remind you to take care of yourself. We need you. Your family needs you. Your value is endless. Don’t forget it!

Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.