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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] a research project is born

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: "Wiediger, Alison" <alison.wiediger AT hart.kyschools.us>
  • To: 'Market Farming' <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] a research project is born
  • Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 12:38:48 +0000

I'd like to chime in on this as well. We sometimes do farm tours for
university ag classes. One, it is always disturbing how little they know
about really important things - like identifying insect life stages, weeds,
soil improvement, marketing. More disturbing, however, is how few, if any,
intend to farm. From many what we hear is that their parents have funded
their education, and expect them to use it in a better way than farming -
even if farming is what they really want to do.

We look at the cost of farmland, then at the cost of infrastructure, and
wonder how any young people start to farm. It is literally impossible to
cash flow the cost of most farmland in our area (SC Kentucky) and we don't
have costly land compared to many parts of our country.

Finally, we'd like to see a program (and some states have them) for pairing
young aspiring farmers with farmers wanting to retire. Allow those who want
to farm to acquire the farm and the knowledge to farm it while the "old
folks" are still there to help. We know we can't farm forever, and don't
have any children to leave it to. And, even if we did, many children don't
want to "farm" the farm. IT would be nice to know our work and farm would
continue after we are gone, rather than be divided up for yet more urban
sprawl.

Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm



Bottom line, most young people who grow up on farms don't see how they can
survive the risk and farm like their parents. And they may not know how to
farm any other way. Its become a very narrow discipline the way it is
practiced now. The Universities are not training folks to farm new ways,
because no students will register for such classes. And student registration
drives policy at Universities.

Bill







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