An optimistic mindset is the core element of my farming model
We hear all the time about the average age of farmers and about how difficult it is for young people to get into agriculture these days. I often hear people say that land is too expensive, equipment is too expensive, and interest rates have never been higher.
Some of this has truth to it, but I think these disadvantages are just challenges we can solve. I actually think we have some advantages that the generations before us could only have dreamed of. The beauty of Acres U.S.A. magazine is that we have 50 years of information about folks just like you and me solving problems and figuring out ways to make a living off of the land.
Here are the elements of a farming model that has worked for me. It’s a model that I believe many young people today could replicate in some form.
- Multiple income streams, each operating with flexibility. The second book I ever read about agriculture was Mark Shepard’s Restoration Agriculture. I was super excited about farming, and when I realized Mark was only 25 minutes away, I went and stalked him. I showed up at his door [Editor’s note: don’t follow Taylor’s model in this instance!] and said, “I’m quitting all my jobs and businesses and I’m gonna farm.” He said, “Well, buddy, don’t quit your day job quite yet.” This was very important advice for me. Keep your full-time job or business — you don’t need to sell everything and dive in head-first. I understand the urge — I lived it — but it makes a lot more sense to ease your way into it until you feel comfortable. It was important to stay focused on my business off the farm while building my systems on the farm. But each business needs to be flexible enough to allow you to focus on the others at certain times. I made a commitment to make a living working with the land, and I have found a model through the combination of an off-farm job (in my case, running Acres U.S.A.), real estate and farming. Each is an income stream that works together and compliments each other. For me, each revolves around the land; for others, at least two of the three do.
- Be a real estate investor, or, as Charles Walters would say, “a farmer entrepreneur.” Part of making a living from the land can be revenue that’s not based on growing and selling food. One of the ways I was able to fund the startup costs for my farm has been by monetizing the buildings on the land that I own. This takes some of the pressure off of having to make money purely from growing and selling food. It has also taken pressure off my practices on the land. In my case, this has taken the form of renovating buildings and renting them via AirBNB and other long-term rentals. No ancestor of mine ever had the opportunity to remodel a 150-year-old farmhouse and then for someone to pay them $150 a night to stay in it. All of these old farmhouses and old infrastructure are just waiting for you to come in and remodel them, and, oddly enough, you can rent them to people from the city who want to pay you a bunch of money just to experience our rural lifestyle and to witness a working farm (especially one that practices ecological principles). It’s a great opportunity. Those same folks are more than happy to spend your asking price on the food you raise. Renting out barns or other facilities for long-term storage is a good option too. You don’t have to think about this in terms of “agritourism” — the key is to imagine all the different ways to create revenue from your assets. We are all real estate investors.
- Start simple and scale up. I started small and have been scaling up as I’ve made profit, while paying for the land. My goal was to make the farm cash flow positive by itself in five years, and we were able to accomplish this in just two. Land prices have tripled since I started, and this model is constantly evolving to meet the requirement of being cash flow positive at the acquisition price point of what new land costs today. I decided on cattle, hogs and chickens, selling meat direct to consumer. I am responsible for raising it, and I am responsible for selling it. Both things take equal thought and effort. Cattle in particular are the enterprise that I feel can best support new farmers. Although they are more expensive in terms of startup costs (especially this spring), once established, they are far easier to manage and don’t require as much reliance on off-farm inputs (i.e., feed, other than hay). Direct marketing wholes and halves has been a successful model for us. Folks who buy beef seem to want pork, and also seem to want chicken. Seeing the success of companies like Butcher Box, White Oak Pastures and others shows that we don’t even have to sell local anymore. As Charles Walters says in his address to the Acres crowd at the 2005 Eco-Ag conference “you can even sell your product on the internet.” He was right — we can, and thousands of farmers do. Technology isn’t always bad. The most important tool I have on my farm is my fencing and GPS mapping tool. Electric fencing, which didn’t even exist 75 years ago, gives us the ability to move animals across the landscape with a single polywire. Headway is being made with GPS collars and other high-tech tools.
- To be economical … I made up my mind early on to farm ecologically. Any practice has to fit into the soil health principles. The main living organism that we manage is our soil, and everything on top of it is just a consequence. Allow animals and plants to express their natural instincts, and mimic the natural ecosystem.
I think right now is the best time to farm. At least that is going to be my attitude! I want my children to feel like they can stay on the farm. I want them to know that you can farm successfully and that there’s an actual model that they can have success with, if that’s what they want.
Many successful models exist, but this one has worked for us. I will keep looking for better ways and will continue to share them with you here.
Taylor Henry raises cattle in Wisconsin and is the owner and CEO of Acres U.S.A.
