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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Profitable enough?

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  • From: no one <xkarmafarmerx AT yahoo.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Profitable enough?
  • Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:54:35 -0700 (PDT)

Suzi:
I am 22 - probably one of the youngest farmers on this list.  I didn't go to college, and instead worked on 2 farms (for 2 years each) with very knowledgeable farmers to learn now to make a living, the ins and outs of soil fertility / crops, and the everyday life of a farmer.  While I have no college debt, I do have 1 child, a partner, and another child on the way who are my responsibility to support.
I am currently managing a farm for some folks whom I have some differences with (mostly socio-economic), and I have yet to find this lifestyle economically lucrative.  I often find myself scratching my head about bills, food costs, etc.  I even find myself wondering if this was a great life path to choose.
I also don't have any problem with academic studies of agriculture - those doing *useful and relevent* research into issues we face are of great value.  Surely many things we do need to be changed, and theres many things we don't do that need to be explored.  But I also wake up every day knowing that I'll be greeted by by thousands of my "other babies" in the greenhouse, the fresh air, the possibility to take the farm to great places this season, or to fail.  There's nothing better to me than getting my hands dirty and going to bed tired, knowing I did my best to care for my plants, soil, and people I feed.  I know every season, even every day, I'll learn something new, and unlike academic work there's no definates, no answers, just things to solve with what you have on hand and imagination.  While there are daily concerns about money or issues in the field or at work, I'm excessively grateful that I'm doing this - and most of all, I love feeding people - it's a basic necessity.  With most of the farmers in this country aging, we need LOTS of young folks like ourselves who want to farm, and who, to be honest, for the time being are willing to put aside economic factors to learn as much as we can, and prepare ourselves and the soil for a whole new generation of farms and farmers.
I encourage you to work on an economically viable farm this summer and see how you feel about it - I know the feeling I got after a season of working on a farm was all I needed to direct my life in this direction.  As a young person, we have our whole lives to figure out what to do, and from what I see around me I'm not sure that economic success truly equals happiness.  If you decide farming is a bum deal, you still have 40+ years to do something else.  Obviously a farm you start on your own needs to pay for itself and support you, but there's a thousand ways to do that, and I hope enough bright young individuals will join me in our lifetime to protect the earth and ourselves with a stable & sustainable food source (I'm sure they'll have answers I don't as well..).
Also, it's important to keep in mind that as fuel prices rise, and awareness about synthetic chemicals increases, the local food movement will continue to grow - and it's not a question of if our job will be lucrative mentally AND economically, but whether or not there will be enough of us to fill the demand.
Good luck and Best of Wishes,
John
Keswick, VA


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