For the Love of Farming | love it or leave it

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For the love of farming | love it or leave it

This is a post I’ve put off writing for a very long time in fear of sounding well, rude or blunt. But, now I’m sitting here listening to friends who’ve hit complete burn-out - who I could have helped if I had been honest and had myself not glamorized it too much. So, I feel it is necessary to finally bring some truth, even if it seems a bit harsh, to the over-glamorized life on a farm that shows up in the little squares on Instagram.

OK, hear me out on this - farming isn’t for everyone and it is time to be honest about it. The USDA says this, “Direct on-farm employment accounted for about 2.6 million of these jobs, or 1.4 percent of U.S. employment”. So here is my two cents, farming is incredible - but it comes with a plethora of challenges that only those who truly love it will end up sitting on the side of continued fascination rather than resentment.

I’ve heard from many incredible people that they are searching for a farm, that they dream of direct-marketing their products and living simply. Perhaps a few of them only wish to raise livestock to feed their families. Either way, if you look around at what is currently trending - it is a dream of a simple life on a farm raising livestock and vegetables or what some call homesteading. While that is 100% valid because in many ways returning to this old way of life is beautiful, I guess I just want to bring some truth into the dreams of owning livestock. Not in an effort to rain on anyone’s parade, but instead to be truthful on what it takes.

365 Days - Livestock operations, unless you’re buying a couple of hogs, sheep or broilers to finish out in a few months operate 365 days a year. Livestock need care on the 4th of July, Christmas, Easter, and every other holiday whereas others in the USA are focused on family and relaxing.

Farms also come with a lot of financial investment. Putting aside the sheer cost of farmland, starting a livestock operation even in its most basic form you’ll need fencing, shelter, and feed. If you’re direct marketing you’ll also need freezers, licensing, insurance and a website at the very least. When I was raising a couple of steers a year I had to buy in all my feed. It didn’t make sense to put land into hay production at that size, and it certainly didn’t justify buying hay equipment. So, I had a yearly cost of purchasing hay to feed to my livestock. Then there is shelter from the sun and weather and a fence around the land to keep your livestock where they belong. Even at a small scale, this was thousands of dollars just in start-up costs. Sure, if you’re doing chickens costs are a little less, but I am no expert in the poultry department. I guess what I am getting at with the financial component, is to make sure you’re willing to invest thousands just to get off the ground and don’t forget about hidden costs like land taxes that sneak around every year.

Beyond the financial investment be sure you’re considering your time investment. Again, I think it is easier to write this off when you’re raising a few animals a year just for yourself, but remember those 365 days a year? That is time that could be spent elsewhere - so make sure running a farm really matters to you. I think I’ve seen most of my friends struggle with this aspect the most, to be honest finding good help that you trust to take care of your livestock is hard to find these days. Sure, someone might collect some eggs from your chickens, but will they notice a health crisis? Probably not. Take it larger than poultry like a steer and you could have a big and financially burdensome problem on your hands. Let’s be honest, your friends probably don’t actually want to take care of your farm while you’re away, so does that mean you’ll never getaway? Perhaps. Will this breed resentment towards the farm? You’ll have to decide that.

So, I guess what I encourage you to do is think about the life you want to live, do livestock really align with it? If you want to travel and get off the farm do you have real people in your life that are capable of taking care of things for you while you’re away? Do you want to work 365 days a year if you don’t have those people? How might you overcome that? Do you have the financial resources to live beyond the farm, or are you OK with the farm being what you have to live?

Again, not to be harsh, but when it’s -45 with a wind-chill and you wish you could jump on a plane to Florida… those are the things to think about before you decide a farm is for you. And if it isn’t perhaps there is a way to get that simple life in a little simpler way, I mean a nice country home sounds nice too.