HomeMy Public PortalAboutMaki Family- %YPv s -
Family farm holds out
despite tough times
By Tom Grote
The Star -News
Jake and Earlene Maki are get-
ting accustomed to dealing with
hard times, but their love of the
land and determination not to
quit gives the Maki family farm a
good chance of pulling through.
Each time Jake Maki rides out
to inspect the cattle grazing on his
farm west of Lake Fork, he
repeats a tradition that has been
going on since 1902, when Maki's
father, also named Jacob,
homesteaded the original 160
acres.
The Maki place is now 470
acres, plus 1,500 of additional
leased land and 500 acres of
wheat fields worked by Maki
near Pendleton, Ore.
The Makis must face the usual
worries over weather, pests and
disease, but in recent years, the
very survival of their operations
has become a nagging annual
subject.
"It's pretty depressing at this
time," said Jake, 49. "And I
can't see any light at the end."
The problems facing the Makis
are not unique to them, Idaho or
:the nation. The slumping cattle
;prices that have seemed rooted in
concrete the past five years has
eaten away any gains that family
farmer made during the pro-
sperous 1970s.
"You can't even get back what
you put into the cattle, let alone
make a profit," Earlene said.
Plus there are the national and
international concerns over beef
and grain imports and the strong
dollars over which the Makis
have little control, but which af-
fect their lives directly.
But the couple considers
themselves fortunate in that they
have continued to be prudent,
even when the money was coming
in.
"We've managed to do better
than some of the others because
of two things, hard work and
good management," Jake said.
Hard works means doing the
work himself and with the help of
his son, Will, 20, instead of using
hired labor, he said.
Good management means not
borrowing money to expand
when there is a chance you won't
be able to pay it back. The Makis
resisted the temptation when
others _I_ everaged themselves
heavily, and now they have
escaped the loan payments that
have crushed some of their
neighbors.
But the couple has also resisted
the temptation to get out of the
cattle business and move into
another occupation that allows
for shopping trips and vacations.
"It a good place to raise kids,"
she said. "It's wonderful to see
how they learn to solve a problem
and do things. It's a good
wholesome life to raise a family
in."
Jake said his determination as
a younger man to make the farm
work has held through. "Back
then, we had a strong back, and
lots of ignorance," he said. "We
were too dumb to know it
couldn't be done."
They see part of themselves in
Will, who has decided to stay on
and run the farm despite all he
has seen happen to his parents.
They hope that by hanging on,
economic conditions will turn
around in time for Will to begin
to taste the satisfaction they have
experienced from their lifestyle.
In the end, it is the land and his
independence that keeps Jake
Maki down on the farm.
"It's the outdoors, seeing
things grow," he said. "And if
something goes wrong, it's your
fault, and nobody else's."
Photo by Tom Grote Jake and Earlene Maki are loyal to their way of life on a cattle ranch.
Makis to
celebrate
50th
Ed and Edna Maki,
Horseshoe Bend, will cele-
brate their 50th Wedding
Anniversary with an after-
noon Open House, June 22,
at the HSB Senior Citizen
Center starting at 2 p.m.
They were married Sept.
8, 1946 at the Finnish Lutheran
Church, Lake Fork, Idaho.
Their children who will host
the event are Ilona Maki,
Honolulu, Hawaii and Allan
and Elaine Eberharter Maki,
Boise. They have 2 grand-
daughters. Bring no gifts, just
your presence.