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More Young People Are Becoming Farmers (axios.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: "For only the second time in the last century, the number of farmers under 35 years old is increasing, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest Census of Agriculture," the WashPost's Caitlin Downey reports in a front-pager with the lovely headline, "A growing movement." 69% of the surveyed young farmers had college degrees -- significantly higher than the general population.
Well, you look at open space offices, the daily grind, lack of job security, the housing market and voilÃ, farming keeps looking better and better. With the whole bio/organic trend, you don't even need to treat animals like crap and all the newfangled technology makes the hard labor much more bearable than a few decades ago.
It ain't for me but I do get it.
Maybe some are realizing there are other paths to life than spending a majority of it sitting in traffic and in a cubicle. Good for them. Farming is no picnic of its own, of course, but definitely a different road.
Facing Rising Unemployment, Young People Return to Subsistence Living
Modern Farming is often more Technically advanced then many of these so called Tech jobs. Automated Robotic Systems, Big data collections, Bio and Chemical Engineering... Farmer Brown needs to be just as Apt in front of a computer as he does with a pitchfork.
Farming may be tough work, but it is challenging hands on career that for some people is very reward. Me growing up on a Farm, it is the furthest thing I would like to do, but for others it is a good rewarding job.
With the rise in interest of more natural farming, and locally sourced food etc... It would make sense that a renewed interest in farming is becoming more popular. Besides a lot of people think we are going to hit some big disaster that will knock us to the dark ages, so being a farmer is a good place to be.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I credit farmersonly.com
Nullius in verba
I work in the tech industry. I live on a farm.
...Also, running a small farm, our only "equipment" is a pickup, a four horse stock trailer, and a bobcat loader with two attachments. The cost of entry is not too bad.
We do not have a sprawling farms with hundreds of acres. Our farm is less than five acres. We have two homes, a barn, a shop and cross pastured land. We use the land to raise our own meat. We raise dairy and meat goats and cows, chickens, turkeys, hogs, sheep and lamb. We like to say that our animals were conceived here, born here, raised here, died here, and were processed here.
We know exactly what is in our meat. Mothers milk, hay, grass, alfalfa, corn, oats, peas, wheat, rye, barley and a few treats like salted peanuts and apples. They also get, do to the naturally low levels in our soil, a magnesium supplement. That is it.
We have friends who grow the hay and grains we get, some who raise veggies (we only raise a few items). The barter system goes a long way.
Why do we do it? I find myself looking at the paragraph above, "We know exactly what is in our meat." Do you? After we process an animal, they are kept in one of our six freezers. Have some for us and some we barter/sell from. When they are not used, they are unplugged.
Try it, you may like it.
Procrastination; I'll think of a sig tomorrow.