Thanks, Mom!
Every day. Rain or shine. In sickness and in health. When there is seed to be delivered, school projects due, rocks to be picked and noses to be wiped, she is there. Sun up to sun down, working alongside her family, living an example of hard work and dedication. She is a farm wife/professional/mom/grandma/role model/short-line cook/skid loader captain/and general of her household.
In honor of this Mother’s Day we talked to Jennifer Nelson of JT Nelson Seed, a Peterson Farms Seed dealer from Murdock, MN, about how she manages it all and why being a “farm mom” is the greatest gig of all.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.
I have been married to my husband, Trent, for 30 years. We have two sons; Josh (wife Heidi and sons Wyatt and Waylon) and Jonah (wife Bethany and children Haley, Elizabeth and James).
Jennifer & Trent Nelson, JT Nelson Seed, Murdock, MN
I work for the Minnesota Department of Health as a Health Program Representative for the Minnesota Cancer Reporting System. We live near the small town of Sunburg, Minnesota, which has a volunteer ambulance service, and I serve as an EMT. I recently was installed as the President for the Minnesota Cancer Registrars Association.
Q: What does being a farm mom mean to you?
When my kids were young it meant they were learning responsibilities at a young age and now that they are grown I have children who know the meaning of hard labor, long hours and have a good work ethic.
Q: What has been your favorite part of raising children in agriculture?
Watching them from little boys taking care of their pigs and cattle, to learning all the electrical, construction and mechanical skills that go along with farming. They learned to operate machinery at a young age and became confident in their skills, so they can fix anything and aren’t afraid to try anything.
Q: What is your role in the farm/seed business and how do you juggle that work with all that being a mom entails?
For the seed business I enter the orders and make the decisions about promotional items to purchase for our customers, as well as keeping track of accounts paid, etc.
My role on the farm has always been more of the chores gal; feeding pigs and cattle and pressure washing barns or cleaning barn with the skid loader, especially more so during field work so Trent wouldn’t have to stop for that.
I’m also the chauffeur when they need rides when moving machinery to different fields and the lunch lady. This might sound strange but I have always enjoyed picking rocks, put me in a tractor with a rock picker or the skid loader and I’d be out there for hours.
Q: What do you do with your family to relax and spend time together?
It’s great having our sons and their family live close, so any chance we have to see the grand-kids and play with them on their swing sets, play “farm” in the basement where we have little barns, machine sheds and tractors set up, or watch them interact with the animals is always fun.
We like to walk down to the lake behind our house and through the trails in the woods and our grand-kids love that “adventure”.
The whole Nelson family looking sharp in their PFS gear!
Q: What would your perfect Mother’s Day look like?
I’m an only child so I try to spend as many Mother’s Days as possible with my mom having a girls get-away day, however, I have been known to spend the entire day picking rocks.
To Jennifer and all of the other moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day. And thank you for all that you do to keep those tractors rolling, bellies full and fields clear of rocks!
