----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 9:54
PM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Profitable
enough?
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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