DEAR EDITOR:

The fairs in Columbiana and Mahoning counties are just around the corner. Columbiana County, along with a number of surrounding counties, even encompassing the entirety of the U.S. 6th Congressional District, are dominated by agricultural production.

From dairy, beef, hog, sheep and other livestock as well as grains, vegetables, fruits and more, the farming industry is dynamic in its scope and reaches into our daily lives. There is not a day that goes by that a farmer, as you sit down at your table, has not produced and forwarded to your table the fruits of their labor.

To those who seem to see no further than their grocery store shelves as their provider, obviously there is much of which you are not aware. The farmer does not have the privilege of a 9-to-5 job and simply punching a time clock. Although, over the years I have seen heads of departments who still do not show up until 9:30 or 10 a.m. and still leave early.

The farmer’s day begins before sunup and often ends beyond sundown. Their lives and duties pivot around the weather forecast. There are people who complain about it raining because it ruins their day. During a dry spell such as we have recently had, farmers fervently pray for rain. Farmers do not dress up much, except for Sunday church. Rarely, if ever, do they get to go on that Myrtle Beach vacation, fly off to Florida or have their antique car shipped to the West Coast for a car show. No, you really do not see them much at smoke-filled room meetings and pep rallies, unless it is to celebrate the birth of children and grandchildren, or attending their young one’s pep rally at school for an upcoming game.

A Columbiana County “talking head” calls these same farmers, hillbillies. I long have found that demeaning insult acutely shameful. Yet, today to me, the term now takes a vastly different, profound and honorable meaning. On the first day of the Republican National Convention, former President Donald J. Trump chose as his vice president for the presidential ticket an outstanding self-proclaimed Ohio hillbilly, namely J.D. Vance. The president of the United States, the most powerful position in the world, chose an Ohio hillbilly to hold the second seat in power to himself, given they win the Nov. 5 election. I am proud to be a hillbilly.

MARK E. GUY

East Palestine