A Thought About Farming
[Note: The following is the first in series of posts about our likely transition from Wacky Expat Family to Wacky Former-Expat Farming Family.]
Farming Is for Fools
Hick. Uneducated. Subsistent.
There are a lot of stereotypes about farmers. When I was growing up, someone once old me told me that the reason the bills on farmers' seed caps are curved is so they can see inside their mailboxes to get their government checks. That's pretty harsh.
I've also been told numerous times that you "can't make any money farming." And this sentiment is echoed by actual small farmers (a perfect example: What nobody told me about small farming: I can’t make a living).
So why on earth do I want to give up my high paying office job to become a farmer? Logically, it simply makes no sense.
Or does it? [insert mischievous hand wringing and diabolical laughter here]
What Do I Really Want to Do (When I Grow Up)?
In my current company, I'm asked several times a year "what do you want to work on next?" I typically say "I want to work with great people, on really hard problems that make a difference". The specifics of the job are much less important. And it turns out that fulfilling those requirements with a single job is difficult.
Farming Fulfills My Criteria
- It's freakishly hard:
I can think of no more difficult enterprise to undertake than becoming a farmer.
You have to be proficient in so many different disciplines to be a successful farmer (see list below).
Most occupations are typically one-dimensional. Yes, I understand that most white collar jobs are far from routine and normally require people to perform different tasks and routines, but those tasks are still within the same discipline. If you work as a banker, you don't generally also work as a doctor at the same time.
Successful farmers need to be:
- business strategists
- customer focused sales people
- ecologists
- meterologists
- biologists
- engineers
- doctors
- mechanics
- metal and wood fabricators
- animal breeders
- logisticians
- people managers
- commodities market speculators
- advertisers and marketers
As author Robert Heinlein once said "Specialization is for insects." :)
Do you want to know something that is extremely personally motivating? Having someone say that something can't be done. Especially experts. When someone tells me that you can't make any money farming, it's less of a discouragement and more of a challenge. Of course it's possible, it's just very difficult.
According to the 2009 USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey, the annual farm income from the average beginning farm in the United States is -$8,283 (the USDA considers a beginning farmer to be one that has less than 10 years of farm experience. That is how difficult farming is.) Yes, you read that right, it's negative.
And according to the USDA Economic Research Service 2006 report Understanding U.S. Farm Exits, approximately 10% of farms exit each year, but the probability is inversely proportional to the age of the enterprise. In other words, the percentage of new farms that exit/fail is much higher than 10%.
But, as Epicurus famously said "The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it."
Or, for those not so fond of ancient Greek philosophers (although seriously, you really should check them out because they are great. The Roman stoics as well.), you can find no better inspiration than Bruce Lee who said "Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."
Uplifting, isn't it? :)
- Farming allows me to work with great people:
The aim is to have a family farm. Is that antiquated and naïve? Probably. But I can think of no better people to work with than my family.
Is it possible that there are non-family members working in the farm enterprise? Sure, it's possible. But to start with, it will just be our family working in a variety of different roles.
- Farming can make a difference:
I've been thinking a lot about my role in the world and if what I'm doing is genuinely making the world a better place. And, as difficult as it is to admit, I feel like the answer is no. I don't feel like I'm making the world worse but that is not good enough, not by a long shot.
Feeding people is a good cause. Feeding people that cannot feed themselves is a noble cause. I have not yet figured out the economics of how to feed hungry people and still have a profitable farming enterprise but I'm sure it can be done.
Being a steward of the land and creating a self-sustainable environment is also something that farming can give, and something I find immensely rewarding.
Having a farm can provide a great, natural environment for our children to grow up in. They would have access to nature in all of its dirty glory, nourishing food to help them grow and keep them healthy, and enough meaningful work so they learn real responsibility.
Don't Be Naïve
Recently, I've been researching a lot of farming "disaster" stories: storms, crop failures, endless chores, financial insolvency, and mass livestock deaths in an effort to look at all sides of farming.
In other words, if I shake off the idyllic and romantic view of small time farming and look harshly at the cold, muddy, manure-covered truth of it, would I change my mind?
And I've realized the answer is "no".