Market Farming

["Lynn Wigglesworth" <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

From: "Glen Eco Farm" :

>One problem is producing a small >volume and not being very mechanized.
>In larger businesses (including farms) >there are more investment costs
and one >person cannot begin as owner/operator; >unless the owner such as
a parent allows >a son to gradually gain ownership.

I think the start-up cost of farming is the biggest problem. My ex and I
bought a small farm, then we divorced and I re-financed the mortgage and
bought out his half of the farm...my expenses are now sky-high and my
income is low. Some elements of my farm (beef sales, for example) are
working, but not well enough to earn even a meager living. Right now child
support and hand-outs from my mother are keeping the farm (barely)
solvent. I do direct sales through a farmstand; if I have to get an
off-farm job, there won't be the time or energy to farm or sell what I
produce.

I keep thinking it's time to give up, but farming gets in your blood; it's
like an addiction. Like the original poster wrote, I don't understand why
it doesn't work, but the same people who spend lots money on junk food
(this is NOT a health-conscious area) won't pay $1.50/dozen for free range
eggs (I lost a LOT of egg customers last year when I raised my price to
$1.50/dz...at that price I only make pennies/doz).

I'd love to see an example of a profitable small farm that I could
emulate....are there people who can make a living farming/market
gardening? The numbers just don't crunch for me.

Lynn Wigglesworth
Peasant Farmer
Tioga County, PA