How to “Get Into Farming”
Today, to most people, "getting into farming" means taking out a $10 million loan and farming corn and beans. That’s a hurdle very few people can get over. I personally, know only a handful of people that could afford to do that… and none of them live in the Midwest.
This hurdle hasn’t stopped thousands, if not millions of Americans wanting to take a stab at the world’s first profession. But how? Now that is the question.
Assuming you don’t have millions of dollars in your bank account, there are still ways to start farming. We had one example of these people on our podcast (The Prairie Farm Podcast) recently. Riley Rozendaal, founder of Iowa Prairie Bison, made it work. With just a little land his dad had been pasturing he was able to start his own herd of bison. For the full story, check out the podcast episode here.
Granted, his father already had some land, equipment, and some farming knowledge, which helped Riley immensely. What if you don’t have any of that? You can still start. The main way we recommend is food gardening. You hardly even need a yard. I’ve seen people grow food in their spare bedrooms with grow lights or raised beds on their patio.
If you’re thinking, that’s not real farming, then you would be greatly mistaken. Farming started thousands of years ago when humans discovered how to grow food. That’s what it was used for. Today, the corn and soybean production that has consumed much of the Midwest is used for less food than you would think. 57% of Iowa corn is used for ethonal. Another huge portion is used for to feed cattle. In other words, it’s not farmer-to-consumer food.
Worried about being able to sell your garden veggies? We recommend starting small. Your first year just grow what you want to eat and give away what you cannot consume. This will help you dip your toe in the water. The next year, now that you have some experience under your belt, you can grow a bit more. Find your local Saturday morning farmers market and start selling. The money put into gardening is very small, so you don’t have to worry about huge overhead. $1000 would give you seed water and fertilizer for a lot of plants. You could do a lot with just $100.
The beauty of this strategy is you can do it on the side. If you love it, then you don’t have to worry about making tons of money. You’ll find way more fulfillment in the experience than any money you could get for it. However, most people I talk to are trying to create a farming business. I get that. We at Hoksey Native Seeds are no different. Here’s our personal recommendation:
The first step is to start. That may sound trivial, but the difference between people who do things and people who don’t do is the people who do things do things. Basically, if you never get up and do it, then it will never happen. It’s okay to be bad at it. It’s okay to make every single mistake. But it’s not okay to never try. That’s my personal definition of failure.
Second step is making connections and find regular customers. Perhaps a school nearby will buy some of their produce from you every year. (Psst, there are government grants for them to buy local produce. We talk about it on this podcast episode.) This will give you certain income.
The next step is to SAVE MONEY!! Don’t spend the money on wants. This money can be used to make your operation bigger. If you do chickens for eggs, you can buy more chickens. Or perhaps you would add some pollinator to attract insects for your chickens. If you are gardening, you could buy a bigger plot of land. This will give you more produce to sell. And if you save enough money, you might even get to that $10,000,000 needed to farm corn and beans. (not that we think that’s the goal)
The last step is to make it enjoyable. If you can’t figure out how to make it enjoyable, I promise you the money won’t be worth the work. If all you want is money, then you should get a finance degree and become a banker. But if you’re looking for more fulfilling success in life, a little dirt under your fingers might be what you’re looking for.
Another important thing to remember is to never be ashamed or embarrassed about the stage you’re in. As Riley told us on our podcast, there’s nothing wrong with being the farmer with the small tractor on the block.
Best of luck in your future farming. If anyone can do it, you can.
