The Cost of Being Faithful: What Do Farmers Give Up to Keep the Sabbath?

Abstract

Judeo-Christian beliefs and tradition include observing a Sabbath, or day of rest, by abstaining from work one day each week. In modern times, followers of the Jewish faith mark the Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening and Christians do so on Sunday. For both groups, this practice is firmly entrenched to the point that many would contend that working on Sunday is morally wrong. For many Christian workers in the United States, this practice often fits with their work schedule as Saturday and Sunday are typical days off for many schools, government organizations, and businesses. There are exceptions to this and farmers are one of the most obvious. The demands of managing a farm do not conform to uniform weekly work schedules. To meet labor requirements, many American family farms rely upon unpaid family labor to perform farm tasks such as conducting field operations. Reliance on unpaid labor is becoming more prevalent due to lack of available unskilled laborers in many locations in the United States.