THE FARMER
Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009), better
known around the world simply as Paul Harvey, was an American radio
broadcasting legend for the ABC Radio Networks. He was known to both
city folk and farmers for his News and Comment every weekday morning
and mid-days, also aired at noon on Saturdays. His famous The Rest of
the Story segments garnered ever greater popularity.
At his peak, his listening audience was estimated at 24 million people a
week, carried on 1,200 radio stations, 400 Armed Forces Network
stations and 300 newspapers. In retrospect, his broadcasts and news-
paper columns have been reprinted in the Congressional Record more than those of any other commentator.
He was also a popular speaker at conventions, and one of his classics, "So God Made a Farmer," was a speech
delivered to the 1978 National Future Farmers of America Convention in Kansas City. In that speech, the golden
voice extolled the virtues of a way of life that, as a society, we have nearly forgotten.
Paul Harvey's FFA speech was used again during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVII in a two-minute Ram
Trucks Super Bowl commercial entitled "Farmer," quickly silencing bars and living rooms around the country with its
spotlight on farms, faith and family. Immediately, blogs and Facebook entries began spreading the word, causing
many to call it the best, most touching commercial of the night.
It's one of the best sermons many people have heard in awhile, causing a renewed, enthusiastic appreciation of our
nation's legacy, farming heritage and the liberties we enjoy.
Here’s the full transcript (the text in brackets, though in the original FFA speech, didn’t make it into the Dodge
commercial because of time constraints):
- Classic Paul Harvey Speech
a Broadcast Hit...Again!
Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009), better
known around the world simply as Paul Harvey, was an American radio
broadcasting legend for the ABC Radio Networks. He was known to both
city folk and farmers for his News and Comment every weekday morning
and mid-days, also aired at noon on Saturdays. His famous The Rest of
the Story segments garnered ever greater popularity.
At his peak, his listening audience was estimated at 24 million people a
week, carried on 1,200 radio stations, 400 Armed Forces Network
stations and 300 newspapers. In retrospect, his broadcasts and news-
paper columns have been reprinted in the Congressional Record more than those of any other commentator.
He was also a popular speaker at conventions, and one of his classics, "So God Made a Farmer," was a speech
delivered to the 1978 National Future Farmers of America Convention in Kansas City. In that speech, the golden
voice extolled the virtues of a way of life that, as a society, we have nearly forgotten.
Paul Harvey's FFA speech was used again during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVII in a two-minute Ram
Trucks Super Bowl commercial entitled "Farmer," quickly silencing bars and living rooms around the country with its
spotlight on farms, faith and family. Immediately, blogs and Facebook entries began spreading the word, causing
many to call it the best, most touching commercial of the night.
It's one of the best sermons many people have heard in awhile, causing a renewed, enthusiastic appreciation of our
nation's legacy, farming heritage and the liberties we enjoy.
Here’s the full transcript (the text in brackets, though in the original FFA speech, didn’t make it into the Dodge
commercial because of time constraints):
| FROM THE BEST BOOK Behold, a sower went out to sow. —Matthew 13:3 |
| THE COUNTRY PARSON, Benjamin Parsons, has tended to hurts and hearts in North America's most remote frontier regions, including the Pacific Northwest, the Canadian Rockies and Alaska. |
Go to the index of selected recent COUNTRY PARSON
features
Would you like to begin a walk with God?
Would you like a closer walk with God?
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Would you like to begin a walk with God?
Would you like a closer walk with God?
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| All contents © 2013 MyBestYears.com. No portion may be used in print, for broadcast or on the Internet without prior permission. Contact: admin@MyBestYears.com |
And on the eighth 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 field, milk cows
again, eat supper 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 wrestle a
calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own
grandchild; somebody to call hogs,tame cantankerous
machinery, come home hungry, have to await lunch
until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies, then 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 axe handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse
with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of
hay wire, feed sacks and shoe straps, who at planting
time and harvest season will finish his forty hour week
by Tuesday noon and then, paining from tractor back,
will put in another 72 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, and yet
stop in midfield and race to help when he sees first
smoke from a neighbor's place - So God made a Farmer.]
God said I need somebody strong enough to clear trees
and heave bales, yet gentle enough to yean lambs and
wean pigs and tend to pink combed pullets; who will
stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a
meadowlark - So God Made a Farmer.
It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight
and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed,
breed, and rake and disk and plow and plant and tie the
fleece and strain the milk [and replenish the self-feeder
and a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church.]
Somebody who would 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 want to spend his life doing what dad does
– So God made a Farmer.
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 field, milk cows
again, eat supper 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 wrestle a
calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own
grandchild; somebody to call hogs,tame cantankerous
machinery, come home hungry, have to await lunch
until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies, then 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 axe handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse
with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of
hay wire, feed sacks and shoe straps, who at planting
time and harvest season will finish his forty hour week
by Tuesday noon and then, paining from tractor back,
will put in another 72 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, and yet
stop in midfield and race to help when he sees first
smoke from a neighbor's place - So God made a Farmer.]
God said I need somebody strong enough to clear trees
and heave bales, yet gentle enough to yean lambs and
wean pigs and tend to pink combed pullets; who will
stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a
meadowlark - So God Made a Farmer.
It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight
and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed,
breed, and rake and disk and plow and plant and tie the
fleece and strain the milk [and replenish the self-feeder
and a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church.]
Somebody who would 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 want to spend his life doing what dad does
– So God made a Farmer.
Ram Trucks is raising $1
million for the National FFA
Organization to support in
local hunger and
educational programs.
Here’s how you can
contribute to the Ram
efforts through YouTube
views.
You can support the FFA
Organization directly, as
well.
million for the National FFA
Organization to support in
local hunger and
educational programs.
Here’s how you can
contribute to the Ram
efforts through YouTube
views.
You can support the FFA
Organization directly, as
well.
MyBestYears.com generally avoids any use of commercials,
advertisements or donation requests on The Country Parson's
eColumns. This marks the first time we have made an exception,
with the Parson's hearty endorsement. We believe our visitors will
understand and hopefully participate.
A Special thanks goes to Ram Trucks and Chrysler Group LLC for
the striking photos and remarkable video.
advertisements or donation requests on The Country Parson's
eColumns. This marks the first time we have made an exception,
with the Parson's hearty endorsement. We believe our visitors will
understand and hopefully participate.
A Special thanks goes to Ram Trucks and Chrysler Group LLC for
the striking photos and remarkable video.
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