Oh, and in addition to those jobs listed, there are TONS of research going on in the health and diseases on farm animals. If you really are interested, look into a land grant school or one with a strong agricultural base.
What does it take to be a succesful farmer?
- Thread starter NJfarmer
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I graduate 2009 casue I somehow didnt do good in kindergarten so they sent me to pre-first then to first grade (the school I used to go to was a bad school district) it happened to a lot of kids
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gardner: nope, haven't read it but I'll give it a glance if it's in out library. We have acres and acres (of which one zillion of one percent is sown) so I'm trying' to shoot for Kingsolver's gig (it'll never happen!
) But we can shoot for it, eh? One that note, DH went out mushrooming and came back w/ about 35 lbs of prorcinis, matzutakes, canterelles. YUM.
NJfarmer: GO FOR IT! Sounds like you've got some time to explore. What about trying a summer internship on a working farm? See what it's really like to earn a living from the land. Could be a blast!
NJfarmer: GO FOR IT! Sounds like you've got some time to explore. What about trying a summer internship on a working farm? See what it's really like to earn a living from the land. Could be a blast!
I'm only a year younger than you, and in the future, I plan to get a well-paying job, and buy a field of a few acres. Then I will have my dream goats, sheep, and chickens, including the cockerel that I can't have atm as I live in an urban area.
Farming can be hit by more than a few pitfalls each year. This year, in this relatively small country, we have had Foot & Mouth, Bluetongue and Avian Flu - all of which lead to compulsory culling with sod all compensation (according to them, my purebred, pampered pet hens are worth 40c each - enough to buy half a small chocolate bar) by DEFRA, our dep. of agriculture. That's not to mention that there were countrywide movement bans to try and prevent the disease spreading, which prevented animals from being sold at market. This cost farmers millions and there was no compensation. Add to the fact that DEFRA wants to start charging farmers for things that farmers couldn't do anything about and DEFRA made worse.
There was also the wettest summer for 100 years, with mass flooding and entire crops being lost & livestock drowned.
All in all, an annus horribilis.
To gain experience, I work on a city farm. If you live in an urban area then there is more than likely at least one in your city - my city (with a pop of 500,000) has 4. I get to work with pigs, sheep, goats and poultry (which I really enjoy), and I don't have to pay for the feed costs or anything. In fact, there is a vague possibility that I could start getting paid soon. If there isn't one near you then you might be able to get a part time job on a "real" farm.
Another thing you could do is WWOOFing - working weekends on organic farms - you work in exchange for board and lodging on a farm. http://www.wwoof.org/
Farming can be hit by more than a few pitfalls each year. This year, in this relatively small country, we have had Foot & Mouth, Bluetongue and Avian Flu - all of which lead to compulsory culling with sod all compensation (according to them, my purebred, pampered pet hens are worth 40c each - enough to buy half a small chocolate bar) by DEFRA, our dep. of agriculture. That's not to mention that there were countrywide movement bans to try and prevent the disease spreading, which prevented animals from being sold at market. This cost farmers millions and there was no compensation. Add to the fact that DEFRA wants to start charging farmers for things that farmers couldn't do anything about and DEFRA made worse.
There was also the wettest summer for 100 years, with mass flooding and entire crops being lost & livestock drowned.
All in all, an annus horribilis.
To gain experience, I work on a city farm. If you live in an urban area then there is more than likely at least one in your city - my city (with a pop of 500,000) has 4. I get to work with pigs, sheep, goats and poultry (which I really enjoy), and I don't have to pay for the feed costs or anything. In fact, there is a vague possibility that I could start getting paid soon. If there isn't one near you then you might be able to get a part time job on a "real" farm.
Another thing you could do is WWOOFing - working weekends on organic farms - you work in exchange for board and lodging on a farm. http://www.wwoof.org/
I've never been a farmer although I wanted to be my whole life. As a kid I spent weeks at a time on my grandfathers farm, helping with everything from milking cows to helping birth a calf to killing hogs and cutting tobacco..........I loved it all but, like someone else already said, you can hardly make ends meet. My grandfather worked daylight to after dark and never went on a vacation. Like the ALAN JACKSON song "The Little Man"......big farming outfits are putting the little guys out of business. Think about this.......If I am big and can raise 1000 head of cattle and you are small and can only raise 100 head of cattle, which one of us do you think can afford to sell ours cheaper? I still dream about farming somedays but, I know the odds would be against me from day one!
I am not looking forward to the day all the small farms are gone.....we will be paying whatever the "BIG OUTFITS" say for the food we eat!
p.s..........NAIS is only a means to put the little people out and allow the big outfits to control the market
I am not looking forward to the day all the small farms are gone.....we will be paying whatever the "BIG OUTFITS" say for the food we eat!
p.s..........NAIS is only a means to put the little people out and allow the big outfits to control the market
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While I agree that the Big conglomerates will put the small farmer out of business, there is a simple way to solve it. Pay the small farmer MORE for his product. The government has been supporting farms for 24 years now so that the general public has cheap food. The taxpayers are tired of it, so the government is reducing their payments to the farmers so prices will go up or else the farmers will go out of business and NO ONE eats.
While I agree that the Big conglomerates will put the small farmer out of business, there is a simple way to solve it. Pay the small farmer MORE for his product. The government has been supporting farms for 24 years now so that the general public has cheap food. The taxpayers are tired of it, so the government is reducing their payments to the farmers so prices will go up or else the farmers will go out of business and NO ONE eats.
As I said in my previous post my husband and I have been farming for well over 30 years. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that the farm bills contain way more than payments to farmers. Following is an average breakdown of where the money goes:
Farm & Commodity (payments to farmers) 19%
Rural Development....................................... 3%
International................................................ 2%
Conservation & Forestry.............................. 11%
Research, Inspection & Administration........ 6%
Food Assistance (food stamps, school lunches, etc)...59%
This was a graph printed in our local paper not too long ago. As you can see the majority of the money isn't money to farmers. It always irritates me that they don't really ever say where the money is going when they talk about the "farm" bill, so consequently most think that we farmers get all that money. Maybe they should cut down on the food stamp portion of it!!...which by the way we could qualify for most years, because of income level.... but have never applied for or gotten. I've always thought it was pretty sad that a lot of the people producing the food could qualify for food stamps....doesn't quite make sense to me!!!!
Farm & Commodity (payments to farmers) 19%
Rural Development....................................... 3%
International................................................ 2%
Conservation & Forestry.............................. 11%
Research, Inspection & Administration........ 6%
Food Assistance (food stamps, school lunches, etc)...59%
This was a graph printed in our local paper not too long ago. As you can see the majority of the money isn't money to farmers. It always irritates me that they don't really ever say where the money is going when they talk about the "farm" bill, so consequently most think that we farmers get all that money. Maybe they should cut down on the food stamp portion of it!!...which by the way we could qualify for most years, because of income level.... but have never applied for or gotten. I've always thought it was pretty sad that a lot of the people producing the food could qualify for food stamps....doesn't quite make sense to me!!!!
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Good research on the numbers. Trouble is that there are websites that show how much $$ the government gives back to individual farmers through different subsidies. The general public is now too far removed from agriculture. They don't understand the issues or costs.
Most of the farmers I know are having a hard time with this new economy. Fertilizer is 2X what it was last year, Seed is 25% more, cash rent is 30-60% higher, and everyone knows how energy is higher. Equipment is beyond belief, what use to be a $100,000 combine is now $400,000 and you can't get it till next fall at the earliest. They handle more $$ but have no more in the end.
Most of the farmers I know are having a hard time with this new economy. Fertilizer is 2X what it was last year, Seed is 25% more, cash rent is 30-60% higher, and everyone knows how energy is higher. Equipment is beyond belief, what use to be a $100,000 combine is now $400,000 and you can't get it till next fall at the earliest. They handle more $$ but have no more in the end.
- Jan 11, 2007
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...and a sense of humor
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