By Julie Vrazel

Things go wrong. Equipment breaks down. It rains when you don’t want it to, and doesn’t rain when you need it to. Cows are calving, and crops need to be harvested.

There is always a task that needs to be completed on the farm, especially when I have somewhere to be. Yet, someone always needs a RSVP for an event.

But RSVP cards don’t come with a section labeled “We’ll be there if Mother Nature cooperates and the farm chores are completed.”

It’s difficult for farming and ranching families to RSVP “yes” during planting, harvesting, breeding or calving seasons—so pretty much all year–because farming and ranching is unpredictable. Even trying to schedule a time for supper can seem next to impossible.

But farmers and ranchers are flexible and can multitask very efficiently. They work diligently to get their work finished so they can attend the neighbor’s wedding, a local kid’s graduation party or a Christmas celebration with family and friends.

But sometimes things happen. Mother Nature is relentless. It may rain for two weeks during planting season, but the ground will be ready for planting on the day you RSVP’d to attend a community fundraiser.

It’s just the way things work, but farming and ranching families know how to roll with the punches.

I’m recently engaged to my farmer fiancé, and we’re trying to plan our wedding. Key word, trying.

Late fall is our best option. Calving season is over, oats are planted and breeding season hasn’t started just yet.

But I didn’t consider every possible conflict. We had to reschedule our wedding date because of an annual cattle sale. Silly me. How could I forget about the sale and expect my fiancé to miss it?

So the next time you invite a farmer or rancher to your wedding, birthday party, banquet or community fundraiser, keep in mind their RSVP may change with the weather.