The most worrisome thing about farming is not raising crops, it’s the economy, said Charles Pearson, whose family raises corn, soybeans and wheat at Webbers Falls and Fort Gibson.

Pearson and his wife Jan have been named the Muskogee County Farm Family of the year by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Muskogee County Women’s Committee.

Farming, like other businesses is driven by oil prices, Charles Pearson said.

“To me, the biggest challenge is the input cost for the next year’s crop,” he said. “Things are going up so fast that I don’t know what we’re going to get into a crop. The last time we bought fertilizer it was $350 per ton for anhydrous ammonia. The price is up to $1,000 per ton today. There is also the rising price of diesel, gasoline, chemicals and seed.

“It’s the same for all businesses,” he said. “I’m not trying to sing a sad song; it’s just really troubling when you don’t know how much you are going to get into a crop.”

Pearson said there are some downward trends for farm families, but at the same time farm life has its rewards.

“Our family is no different from other farm families; all the farm population is getting less and getting older,” he said. “It’s always satisfying to plant a crop and watch it grow and make a success of it. It’s like any other job.

Pearson has been farming since 1965. He and his son-in-law Jon Leeds farm about 1,200 acres in Webbers Falls and 300 acres in Fort Gibson, he said.

Farming means following the unpredictable patterns of nature, and a lot of hard work.

“The busiest times of year are planting, irrigation and harvesting, in that order,” he said. “We irrigate 1,000 acres. We typically work 12 to 14 hours a day.”

Weather plays a big role in farming, he said.

“The remnants of the hurricane caused some wind and rain that did a little damage to the corn, but not too bad. For harvesting, the weather has been perfect the last 10 days. You couldn’t ask for better weather. We will probably get between 100 and 180 bushels per acre.”

Billie Seward, chairwoman of the eight-member committee that selected the Pearsons, said the nominated families had to meet several criteria.

“They had to be voting members who derive their income from agriculture,” she said. “We also looked at their age and how many years they have been in agriculture. We have this honor because we want the whole community to know about agriculture. This is rural America.”