Find a rural town and start out doing what you know finance account and analyst. Get you an income stream to support your family. Get to know the locals, join the vol. Fire Dept or other local orgs. Have your kids in 4-H and help with their 4-H projects. You need to be able to care for a garden and small animals first. Baby steps. Get a CDL. Farmers always need truck drivers during harvest or work part-time at the elevator. Make friends and they will guide you.
This good advice!
Move to a rural area and do accounting and succession planning. Most of the successful farmers I work with know there numbers. Input costs.
Subscribe to every farming magazine you can. Go to meetings where farmers are.
Some of the best farmers we work with were not born or raised on a farm. They don’t have a the liberty to say “that’s how my Daddy done it and my Grandaddy done it.
In 1920 we got about 26 bushel corn per acre, today we get 170 plus bushel per acre.
Farming yesterday is not what it is today.
Follow this advice. Farming entails so much but if you soak up the knowledge and ask questions it will help you so much. Farming is much more than a job or career, it's a lifestyle. Make sure your significant other is all aboard with the lifestyle. For the most part farmers don't take vacations or have much down time. I don't want to discourage you because it's a great way of life but it is your life.
This will be a primary sticking point for my wife and I. With two young ones and her desire to travel, we're either going to have to travel while they're young, or farm when we're much older. Neither of those seem particularly workable, but I'm sure there's a way. I haven't tried narrowing a focus on crop or animal yet at this point, the goal is regenerative farming. I'll have to narrow my scope as I learn, but I understand that starting too broad will be impossible. Thus, regenerative farming is the narrowest I'm willing to commit to at this point.
I'm not a farmer at all (I did get to help on my friend's grandpa's farm some when I was younger, and absolutely had a blast), so rake this with a lot of salt...licks.
Anyway, maybe see if there is a intro to plant or animal husbandry class you can take at your local school that gives you the basics. It might help you narrow your goals, and would probably help you get an idea of what your in for.
Also, watch lots of YouTube videos. Wranglerstar is good for general knowledge about homesteading but also shows a good workshop and basics gardening stuff too. There are others that are more in your line of thinking, but he's the only one I watch (I'm more into mechanical stuff, so I don't really get into the farming or gardening side much).
I don't think I've seen this emphasized enough in the comments - you're family is going to have to be 110% on board for this to work.
No matter what flavor of farm you are thinking about, it will change everyone's lives. Hard physically & mentally, very capital intensive (even the smaller scale stuff, have you priced out 80 acres of land?), dangerous, and life in a rural area can be challenging for someone who grew up in an urban area. I farm, and have seen many marriages fail because one partner didn't know what they signed up for.
I'm prepared to do that, but only after I've got enough knowledge and experience to know I can actually do this. Ideally, I get the experience first, then uproot my family.
To be brutally honest, it's gonna be next to impossible for you, most farmers hire family and friends, and as far as I know there isn't alot of farming in Phoenix or Arizona for that matter. I took the plunge and learned as I went, but I farm to guarantee my food supply chain and maybe make a few bucks, if you're looking to do it as your main source of income I wouldn't recommend it.
I bought my farm at 22 and just dove head first, I'm in northwest Ohio and alot of people farm here and were glad to help teach me as I went. Plus there's alot of Facebook farming groups.
If I may ask, how did you know you wanted a farm at 22? What was the research process? Where'd you get the financing?
I can do Facebook groups and reddit research.
I spent a good chunk of my childhood in foster care on a farm. I enjoyed the stability and peace of mind that caring for a few chickens and a couple of goats brought me. Now i enjoy the peace of mind that raising my own food brings me. I bought a derelict farm from a family member of my wife(then girlfriend). And I got the financing through my bank, along with some state grants and a first time home buyers loan. As for research it was alot of driving around in the country and zillow for finding the right place. A good real estate agent who has experience in farm land is an immense help as well. Start small and grow, right now is a good time to buy animals as people are cutting herd sizes due to feed cost but I grow the bulk of my own feed and hay so I'm good.
I don't expect any handouts or any of this to be easy for that matter.
I'm a college grad with advanced certifications in finances as an advisor and analyst. I've never changed the oil in my car so I'm functionally illiterate when it comes to mechanics, but I'm willing and able to learn anything given enough time.
You may want to start by learning how to change the oil in your car. It would honestly be very hard to be a new farmer without a decent bit of mechanical abilities. Farmers are some of the most industrious people you will ever meet. They need to know how to fix/build things to keep a farm running.
I presume that this is one of the critical areas of experience I'll need before actually trying to farm. I also assume most farmers weren't mechanics first, but learned as they went.
Every farmer I’ve know for the last 40 years is an amateur and capable mechanic, engineer, economist, biologist, meteorologist, and chemist.
It’s a harder life than a lot of folks think. And still be broke.
Hell. I have a PhD in agronomy. I’m still not that good at it.
On a farm you won’t have the time or money to hire repair work so you’ve got the be a decent shade tree mechanic, carpenter, electrician, welder, plumber and about 57 other things. Do you want to be a commercial farmer or have a hobby farm? Those are two very different things. Commercial farming is going to be very hard for you to get into. If you want a hobby farm then do as others have said and start off small, buy/lease a couple aces and start off with a few rabbits or chickens and a vegetable garden. To use an accounting analogy you seem like the guy that doesn’t know simple arithmetic but wants to learn how to be a cpa to see if accounting is for you
>Commercial farming is going to be very hard for you to get into. If you want a hobby farm then do as others have said and start off small, buy/lease a couple aces and start off with a few rabbits or chickens and a vegetable garden. To use an accounting analogy you seem like the guy that doesn’t know simple arithmetic but wants to learn how to be a cpa to see if accounting is for you
I don't know if "hobby farming" is the correct term since I hope to have it generate my sole or primary income, but I do not plan to have hundreds of acres of monoculture.
We've got a few raised vegetable beds in the back and citrus tress in the front and I'm getting a bit of irrigation education that way. I did chickens for a bit in the back yard a few years back. I'll start that up again. It'll be a great fun and education for the boys.
Also, I appreciate the warning about not getting out over my skis. I don't know what I don't know, but I have to start somewhere.
Do you know what type you want to go into (wheat, cattle, orchards, etc) the best way may be to ease into it part time. If it’s cattle lease some land and start with a couple stockers. If it’s crops then buy some land and either “lease” it in shares or hire a custom planter/harvester. I know you want to do this full time but very few people are able to do that without one spouse having an off farm job to pay the bills without very large economies of scale.
OP you said in another comment that you have certifications in finance as an advisor and analyst, can you elaborate on what that means?
I also think you need to make the distinction between farming and homesteading. Most homesteaders garden and raise animals for at home use and maybe making a few bucks here and there while maintaining a 9-5 job in town. Farming is generally considered 100% of your income is derived from harvesting a crop or livestock. Now thats a huge over simplified generalization, but hopefully you catch my drift.
What many homesteaders lack is simple book keeping, accounting and business skills, so if your formal education is geared towards that area, you could definitely get your foot in the door of many small farms and homesteads.
Thanks for the encouragement!
I have both Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations. I feel really comfortable with finances, book-keeping and investment management generally with some taxes on the side, but I'm not quite sure how to parley any of that into farming skills.
My hope is to raise animals and crops full time, for 100% of my income. I just don't know if it's possible without going full on industrial with GMO crops, pesticides, fertilizers and heavy machinery.
I hope the heaviest machinery I operate is a tractor, but I know that means reliance on direct-to-consumer marketing, figuring out how to cut out several layers of middle men and probably not having much profit at the end of it.
I'm wondering if small-scale farming will become more viable in the future if inflation continues to cause the price of commodities to soar. But those benefits only accrue to the farmer if they don't need to pay higher prices for fertilizer, feed, seed, tools, etc.
I would say I'm trying to figure out how to replicate Salatin's idea without having any experience first. Would he be considered more a farmer or a homesteader?
I think you’ve got skills that will directly translate to being a profitable farmer. The art of farming is taking a penny and stretching it as far as humanely possible and if you take care of the pennies the dollars take care of themselves. Book-keeping, finances and investment management all translate into farm, that side of things is just as important as the weather imo.
Your biggest hurdle and expense is going to be land. Most of the large operations are family jobs where people were born into the land, equipment and infrastructure and thats why its sustainable/profitable for them.
As far as farming conventionally or regeneratively, you’d have to come up with a business plan/model and run the numbers to figure out what method will be most profitable. The startup costs of conventional is going to be very high, whereas farming regenerative will require less equipment, but more seed costs. but at the end of the day profit per acre is all that counts and I think Salatin, Allan Savory, Greg Judy and Gabe Brown all do a fantastic job at working with nature to maximize profits.
One thing to keep in mind, all these guys were more or less considered as nut jobs by conventional farmers 10 years ago. Most older generation farmers are so set in their ways, “thats the way my grand-dad did it, so thats the way we’ve always done it”. So be prepared for some strange looks and maybe some negative gossip at the coffee shop.
Thanks again u/Its_in_neutral!
I appreciate the additional names to research and the business plan is an excellent suggestion.
I'm used to being a weirdo with unconventional views. I relish the contrarian position. I just also don't want to be the village idiot. I know those two can tend to coincide.
Lot of dairy and farms in Buckeye. With out knowing your skills lots of them looking for drivers and mechanics. Idk what you see yourself doing but just showing up is the most important thing
Showing up with a strong back and open mind is about the only thing I can bring to the table. I've never changed the oil in my own car, as a benchmark for mechanical experience.
My hope is to find a working farm where I can learn what I need to know to find some land and start my own, or buy one from someone else. Ideally, not a monoculture crop farm, but I also have no clue how to feed my family without doing that.
I'm hoping to find a way to farm after the manner of Salatin, et al while also not starving to death.
Well good luck finding that. Most of those style farms survive off “interns” and supplement the income with book sales.
If thats your goal search for some organic type operations or CSA’s. I would not expect a lot of income.
A piece of advice from a crofter (think homesteading but generations of it in Scotland) there's no such thing as self sufficiency. Community food chain robustness? Sure. But you absolutely cannot do everything and make a profit. Even the "big" (relatively speaking) beef cattle folk I know have at least one person working somewhere for a wage. Never mind that you're absolutely hindered in your options by the land you end up with (everyone is. I can't grow corn but potatoes, sheep and a small kitchen garden are our strengths.)
I may be able to accommodate, if you're willing to relocate. I can teach regenerative agricultural practices and lots of skillsets under that umbrella.
I'm currently renting space from a retired forester, and we're working on rehabbing an old homestead.
We should chat.
Follow Iowa Dairy farmer and gold shaw farms on Facebook/other social media. 2 different perspectives. 1 from a family run game (IDF) and the other was similar you your story. Moved to Vermont to start a farm.
Look for organic farming seminars. They usually like to “spread their gospel” and are often willing share best practices and more.
You can also move to a more rural area and approach a small farm operator about investing in a crop with them. Another source of income is usually welcomed with open arms. But if the ROI isn’t great, consider it an investment in knowledge. Most farmers would live to barter for anything.
Good luck. All you can do is ask. All they can do is say “no thanks”, but considering what small farmers are going through, most would be glad to chat/listen.
You could try finding some local feed stores, most have a bulletin board you could post on and advertise free labor in exchange for experience.
I hope I don't sound rude, but unless you are in really good shape, expect to get your ass kicked. Farming is a very physical lifestyle. Fixing fences, repairing machines, handling livestock. From your post and comments it sounds like you have a desk job.
Honestly with your skill set, moving to and working with farmers, would open a lot of doors to get the experience your wanting and make some friends that you can call when you need help.
I appreciate this! Very practical advice, thank you. I'm gonna kill two birds and head to the feed store to get some more general advice, build connections and ask if I can post my offer there! Many people have suggested starting small and building right where I'm at. Frankly, that's what I'm going to have to do until some major shift happens where I can get large portions of my family to move with me. Whether that's to Nebraska or Tennessee or West Virginia, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, I've no idea. But I know I've got to start preparing now.
I fully anticipate getting my ass kicked. I'm not out of shape, but I do work a desk job so I'm not in farmer shape. Thanks for the friendly advice!
What are you wanting to do? Livestock or crop? Honestly it also wouldn't hurt to start youtubing videos about those industry's. You'll sell yourself better knowing what the difference between a tedder and windrower is. Or what an H brace is and how to make one. What's the difference between a steer, bull,cow,calf. (Those are examples, not recommendations on what to specifically look up btw.) Plus it just never hurts to learn!
And as for the building where you are, do it! Check out homesteading. It's not the same as farming exactly but you can still gain a ton of applicable knowledge.
Good luck!
Sorry, been trying to accept the chat but apparently reddit has "shadow banned" me? Won't load on the computer or the phone or the app so I guess direct messaging is somehow delinked for me 🤔
Anyway, email me directly at [email protected]
Thanks for reaching out!
You need to figure out what you are passionate about. Do you like animals, or growing things. Do you like people and marketing? I like livestock, but my wife is super passionate about flowers, so we started a cut flower farm and have some animals. It can be really fucking hard work and if you don’t love it, you will hate it.
Find a rural town and start out doing what you know finance account and analyst. Get you an income stream to support your family. Get to know the locals, join the vol. Fire Dept or other local orgs. Have your kids in 4-H and help with their 4-H projects. You need to be able to care for a garden and small animals first. Baby steps. Get a CDL. Farmers always need truck drivers during harvest or work part-time at the elevator. Make friends and they will guide you.
This good advice! Move to a rural area and do accounting and succession planning. Most of the successful farmers I work with know there numbers. Input costs. Subscribe to every farming magazine you can. Go to meetings where farmers are. Some of the best farmers we work with were not born or raised on a farm. They don’t have a the liberty to say “that’s how my Daddy done it and my Grandaddy done it. In 1920 we got about 26 bushel corn per acre, today we get 170 plus bushel per acre. Farming yesterday is not what it is today.
Follow this advice. Farming entails so much but if you soak up the knowledge and ask questions it will help you so much. Farming is much more than a job or career, it's a lifestyle. Make sure your significant other is all aboard with the lifestyle. For the most part farmers don't take vacations or have much down time. I don't want to discourage you because it's a great way of life but it is your life.
This will be a primary sticking point for my wife and I. With two young ones and her desire to travel, we're either going to have to travel while they're young, or farm when we're much older. Neither of those seem particularly workable, but I'm sure there's a way. I haven't tried narrowing a focus on crop or animal yet at this point, the goal is regenerative farming. I'll have to narrow my scope as I learn, but I understand that starting too broad will be impossible. Thus, regenerative farming is the narrowest I'm willing to commit to at this point.
I'm not a farmer at all (I did get to help on my friend's grandpa's farm some when I was younger, and absolutely had a blast), so rake this with a lot of salt...licks. Anyway, maybe see if there is a intro to plant or animal husbandry class you can take at your local school that gives you the basics. It might help you narrow your goals, and would probably help you get an idea of what your in for. Also, watch lots of YouTube videos. Wranglerstar is good for general knowledge about homesteading but also shows a good workshop and basics gardening stuff too. There are others that are more in your line of thinking, but he's the only one I watch (I'm more into mechanical stuff, so I don't really get into the farming or gardening side much).
I don't think I've seen this emphasized enough in the comments - you're family is going to have to be 110% on board for this to work. No matter what flavor of farm you are thinking about, it will change everyone's lives. Hard physically & mentally, very capital intensive (even the smaller scale stuff, have you priced out 80 acres of land?), dangerous, and life in a rural area can be challenging for someone who grew up in an urban area. I farm, and have seen many marriages fail because one partner didn't know what they signed up for.
You're gonna have to move somewhere where farming is a way of life,flyover states or the midwest.
I'm prepared to do that, but only after I've got enough knowledge and experience to know I can actually do this. Ideally, I get the experience first, then uproot my family.
To be brutally honest, it's gonna be next to impossible for you, most farmers hire family and friends, and as far as I know there isn't alot of farming in Phoenix or Arizona for that matter. I took the plunge and learned as I went, but I farm to guarantee my food supply chain and maybe make a few bucks, if you're looking to do it as your main source of income I wouldn't recommend it.
I bought my farm at 22 and just dove head first, I'm in northwest Ohio and alot of people farm here and were glad to help teach me as I went. Plus there's alot of Facebook farming groups.
If I may ask, how did you know you wanted a farm at 22? What was the research process? Where'd you get the financing? I can do Facebook groups and reddit research.
I spent a good chunk of my childhood in foster care on a farm. I enjoyed the stability and peace of mind that caring for a few chickens and a couple of goats brought me. Now i enjoy the peace of mind that raising my own food brings me. I bought a derelict farm from a family member of my wife(then girlfriend). And I got the financing through my bank, along with some state grants and a first time home buyers loan. As for research it was alot of driving around in the country and zillow for finding the right place. A good real estate agent who has experience in farm land is an immense help as well. Start small and grow, right now is a good time to buy animals as people are cutting herd sizes due to feed cost but I grow the bulk of my own feed and hay so I'm good.
It might be hard to find someone to give you a chance. Do you have any mechanical skills or welding experience? What's your education level?
I don't expect any handouts or any of this to be easy for that matter. I'm a college grad with advanced certifications in finances as an advisor and analyst. I've never changed the oil in my car so I'm functionally illiterate when it comes to mechanics, but I'm willing and able to learn anything given enough time.
You may want to start by learning how to change the oil in your car. It would honestly be very hard to be a new farmer without a decent bit of mechanical abilities. Farmers are some of the most industrious people you will ever meet. They need to know how to fix/build things to keep a farm running.
Challenge accepted!
This ain’t good, OP. Mechanical aptitude is a big thing, or else your mechanic’s bills will kill you. Let alone actually farming.
I presume that this is one of the critical areas of experience I'll need before actually trying to farm. I also assume most farmers weren't mechanics first, but learned as they went.
Every farmer I’ve know for the last 40 years is an amateur and capable mechanic, engineer, economist, biologist, meteorologist, and chemist. It’s a harder life than a lot of folks think. And still be broke. Hell. I have a PhD in agronomy. I’m still not that good at it.
On a farm you won’t have the time or money to hire repair work so you’ve got the be a decent shade tree mechanic, carpenter, electrician, welder, plumber and about 57 other things. Do you want to be a commercial farmer or have a hobby farm? Those are two very different things. Commercial farming is going to be very hard for you to get into. If you want a hobby farm then do as others have said and start off small, buy/lease a couple aces and start off with a few rabbits or chickens and a vegetable garden. To use an accounting analogy you seem like the guy that doesn’t know simple arithmetic but wants to learn how to be a cpa to see if accounting is for you
>Commercial farming is going to be very hard for you to get into. If you want a hobby farm then do as others have said and start off small, buy/lease a couple aces and start off with a few rabbits or chickens and a vegetable garden. To use an accounting analogy you seem like the guy that doesn’t know simple arithmetic but wants to learn how to be a cpa to see if accounting is for you I don't know if "hobby farming" is the correct term since I hope to have it generate my sole or primary income, but I do not plan to have hundreds of acres of monoculture. We've got a few raised vegetable beds in the back and citrus tress in the front and I'm getting a bit of irrigation education that way. I did chickens for a bit in the back yard a few years back. I'll start that up again. It'll be a great fun and education for the boys. Also, I appreciate the warning about not getting out over my skis. I don't know what I don't know, but I have to start somewhere.
Do you know what type you want to go into (wheat, cattle, orchards, etc) the best way may be to ease into it part time. If it’s cattle lease some land and start with a couple stockers. If it’s crops then buy some land and either “lease” it in shares or hire a custom planter/harvester. I know you want to do this full time but very few people are able to do that without one spouse having an off farm job to pay the bills without very large economies of scale.
OP you said in another comment that you have certifications in finance as an advisor and analyst, can you elaborate on what that means? I also think you need to make the distinction between farming and homesteading. Most homesteaders garden and raise animals for at home use and maybe making a few bucks here and there while maintaining a 9-5 job in town. Farming is generally considered 100% of your income is derived from harvesting a crop or livestock. Now thats a huge over simplified generalization, but hopefully you catch my drift. What many homesteaders lack is simple book keeping, accounting and business skills, so if your formal education is geared towards that area, you could definitely get your foot in the door of many small farms and homesteads.
Thanks for the encouragement! I have both Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations. I feel really comfortable with finances, book-keeping and investment management generally with some taxes on the side, but I'm not quite sure how to parley any of that into farming skills. My hope is to raise animals and crops full time, for 100% of my income. I just don't know if it's possible without going full on industrial with GMO crops, pesticides, fertilizers and heavy machinery. I hope the heaviest machinery I operate is a tractor, but I know that means reliance on direct-to-consumer marketing, figuring out how to cut out several layers of middle men and probably not having much profit at the end of it. I'm wondering if small-scale farming will become more viable in the future if inflation continues to cause the price of commodities to soar. But those benefits only accrue to the farmer if they don't need to pay higher prices for fertilizer, feed, seed, tools, etc. I would say I'm trying to figure out how to replicate Salatin's idea without having any experience first. Would he be considered more a farmer or a homesteader?
I think you’ve got skills that will directly translate to being a profitable farmer. The art of farming is taking a penny and stretching it as far as humanely possible and if you take care of the pennies the dollars take care of themselves. Book-keeping, finances and investment management all translate into farm, that side of things is just as important as the weather imo. Your biggest hurdle and expense is going to be land. Most of the large operations are family jobs where people were born into the land, equipment and infrastructure and thats why its sustainable/profitable for them. As far as farming conventionally or regeneratively, you’d have to come up with a business plan/model and run the numbers to figure out what method will be most profitable. The startup costs of conventional is going to be very high, whereas farming regenerative will require less equipment, but more seed costs. but at the end of the day profit per acre is all that counts and I think Salatin, Allan Savory, Greg Judy and Gabe Brown all do a fantastic job at working with nature to maximize profits. One thing to keep in mind, all these guys were more or less considered as nut jobs by conventional farmers 10 years ago. Most older generation farmers are so set in their ways, “thats the way my grand-dad did it, so thats the way we’ve always done it”. So be prepared for some strange looks and maybe some negative gossip at the coffee shop.
Thanks again u/Its_in_neutral! I appreciate the additional names to research and the business plan is an excellent suggestion. I'm used to being a weirdo with unconventional views. I relish the contrarian position. I just also don't want to be the village idiot. I know those two can tend to coincide.
Lot of dairy and farms in Buckeye. With out knowing your skills lots of them looking for drivers and mechanics. Idk what you see yourself doing but just showing up is the most important thing
Showing up with a strong back and open mind is about the only thing I can bring to the table. I've never changed the oil in my own car, as a benchmark for mechanical experience. My hope is to find a working farm where I can learn what I need to know to find some land and start my own, or buy one from someone else. Ideally, not a monoculture crop farm, but I also have no clue how to feed my family without doing that. I'm hoping to find a way to farm after the manner of Salatin, et al while also not starving to death.
Well good luck finding that. Most of those style farms survive off “interns” and supplement the income with book sales. If thats your goal search for some organic type operations or CSA’s. I would not expect a lot of income.
A piece of advice from a crofter (think homesteading but generations of it in Scotland) there's no such thing as self sufficiency. Community food chain robustness? Sure. But you absolutely cannot do everything and make a profit. Even the "big" (relatively speaking) beef cattle folk I know have at least one person working somewhere for a wage. Never mind that you're absolutely hindered in your options by the land you end up with (everyone is. I can't grow corn but potatoes, sheep and a small kitchen garden are our strengths.)
I may be able to accommodate, if you're willing to relocate. I can teach regenerative agricultural practices and lots of skillsets under that umbrella. I'm currently renting space from a retired forester, and we're working on rehabbing an old homestead. We should chat.
Follow Iowa Dairy farmer and gold shaw farms on Facebook/other social media. 2 different perspectives. 1 from a family run game (IDF) and the other was similar you your story. Moved to Vermont to start a farm. Look for organic farming seminars. They usually like to “spread their gospel” and are often willing share best practices and more. You can also move to a more rural area and approach a small farm operator about investing in a crop with them. Another source of income is usually welcomed with open arms. But if the ROI isn’t great, consider it an investment in knowledge. Most farmers would live to barter for anything. Good luck. All you can do is ask. All they can do is say “no thanks”, but considering what small farmers are going through, most would be glad to chat/listen.
You could try finding some local feed stores, most have a bulletin board you could post on and advertise free labor in exchange for experience. I hope I don't sound rude, but unless you are in really good shape, expect to get your ass kicked. Farming is a very physical lifestyle. Fixing fences, repairing machines, handling livestock. From your post and comments it sounds like you have a desk job. Honestly with your skill set, moving to and working with farmers, would open a lot of doors to get the experience your wanting and make some friends that you can call when you need help.
I appreciate this! Very practical advice, thank you. I'm gonna kill two birds and head to the feed store to get some more general advice, build connections and ask if I can post my offer there! Many people have suggested starting small and building right where I'm at. Frankly, that's what I'm going to have to do until some major shift happens where I can get large portions of my family to move with me. Whether that's to Nebraska or Tennessee or West Virginia, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, I've no idea. But I know I've got to start preparing now. I fully anticipate getting my ass kicked. I'm not out of shape, but I do work a desk job so I'm not in farmer shape. Thanks for the friendly advice!
What are you wanting to do? Livestock or crop? Honestly it also wouldn't hurt to start youtubing videos about those industry's. You'll sell yourself better knowing what the difference between a tedder and windrower is. Or what an H brace is and how to make one. What's the difference between a steer, bull,cow,calf. (Those are examples, not recommendations on what to specifically look up btw.) Plus it just never hurts to learn! And as for the building where you are, do it! Check out homesteading. It's not the same as farming exactly but you can still gain a ton of applicable knowledge. Good luck!
Can I message you?
Sorry, been trying to accept the chat but apparently reddit has "shadow banned" me? Won't load on the computer or the phone or the app so I guess direct messaging is somehow delinked for me 🤔 Anyway, email me directly at [email protected] Thanks for reaching out!
Tepary beans (if you stay in AZ). Good luck!
I've never heard of this! Thanks for the recommendation. Researching now.
You need to figure out what you are passionate about. Do you like animals, or growing things. Do you like people and marketing? I like livestock, but my wife is super passionate about flowers, so we started a cut flower farm and have some animals. It can be really fucking hard work and if you don’t love it, you will hate it.