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A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

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Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#301

Post by driverdan »

godzillabrennus wrote: post #246
ruc0la wrote: post #18

I am doing pretty much the same. I am currently an engineering student, working part-time as a programmer. Although the job market for programmers is excellent in Europe, I bought an apple orchard (via loan) pretty close to the capital of the country where I live. Due to the proximity of the capital city, I can sell my product at a decent price and earn more than an average senior dev here. I also enjoy being outside…

160 hours a month? I remember having a part time job. All kidding aside, I can tell you aren’t American based on that statement alone.

Unless you're a founder you shouldn't be working more than your employer pays you for, eg 40 hours.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#302

Post by jsemrau »

ratacat wrote: post #50
nabla9 wrote: post #39

Some commentators here have difficulty of understanding how small farming can be profitable. It's relatively easy to explain. They are not selling just the product. Just like microbreweries, small farms sell for people who want more than just a beer or lettuce. They want to distinguish themselves and buy the feeling of authentic life and values. Consumer pays more for "small farm" even if the product is not any diffe…

I pay ten dollars a gallon for fresh non pasteurized milk from a local family that has seven cows. I don't buy a lifestyle from them, I buy fucking good milk from animals that are loved like family, and I'm proud to be helping them make a living doing something that is good for everyone(including the cows). It's not a lifestyle, it's just supporting people who aren't shitting on everyone's future.

I'm with you. My family in Japan is living extremely countryside. Most of the immediate friends are farmers for generations. So we get access to fresh eggs, strawberries, blueberries, onions, and milk on a quality level that is off the charts. Their products never end up in supermarkets. Still they exist. Is it a lifestyle choice? It yes, it is not an active one.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#303

Post by sumedh »

free_everybody wrote: post #287
sumedh wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you done a blind test, if not whatever you are saying is meaningless

Why are you calling a random person's milk preferences meaningless? They just like raw milk. It's not a big deal. I like pink lady apples. Do I need to do a blind test to confirm that? No, I don't.

I gave you the reason why I am calling it meaningless. What part did you not understand.

> Do I need to do a blind test to confirm that?

Why not, go ahead, you might be surprised with the result.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#304

Post by why15characters »

goialoq wrote: post #124
ratacat wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pay ten dollars a gallon for fresh non pasteurized milk from a local family that has seven cows. I don't buy a lifestyle from them, I buy fucking good milk from animals that are loved like family, and I'm proud to be helping them make a living doing something that is good for everyone(including the cows). It's not a lifestyle, it's just supporting people who aren't shitting on everyone's future.

How is it good for the cows? If you want cows that are "loved like family", then please explain how milking a cow is worse than a human woman getting (well, being forced into) a job as a milk producer? (Which goes far beyond "wet nursing" in terms of milk production) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_nurse#/media/File:Wet_Nurs...

> then please explain how milking a cow is worse than a human woman getting (well, being forced into) a job as a milk producer?

It isn't about the cow, it is about the babies those cows must have to be able to lactate. They are chained up or crated and then killed.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#305

Post by pajaroide »

JPKab wrote: post #243
clord wrote: post #112

We did this. My wife has a masters in microbio, and I worked at IBM on their C++ and for Fortran compilers for about 8 years (yay std::atomics). I still do remote contract work to help pay for upgrades to the farm. Would be nice to get one of my side-projects finished and start pumping out some income streams, but it's not a big rush anymore. I have a point of sale system built with React and Haskell that integrates…

I grew up in a rural community where farming was basically the only industry. It's easy to talk about how awesome it is when you basically are selling insanely overpriced boutique goods (organic, free-range, etc) to yuppies who are willing to pay triple for their calories. Once enough people do this, the prices fall and you're just another farmer, scraping by. I grew up working on farms. It's not romantic to me in an…

If I did it someday I wouldn't be thinking about making money, just being self-sufficient and growing enough food for me and my family. If I could sell some that's great but that's not the objective.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#306

Post by roadnottaken »

kimburgess wrote: post #260
andyisageek wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also grew up on a farm... in Maine. It did instill a work ethic that I find it difficult to teach to my own children. But I always joke with people and say it is a great place to visit and a great place to be from. Not so much a great place to actually be.

> It is a great place to visit and a great place to be from. Not so much a great place to actually be. I'll definitely echo this. I grew up on a farm / nature refuge in Australia. It's beautiful to go back to, but I could not live there again. My family hovers around the poverty line, work long, hard hours, and are completely at the mercy of the climate and other difficult to control external factors for their lively…

Good points, but I totally disagree about the suburbs. We live on a quiet cul de sac in a very suburban neighborhood. We’re 20 minutes from mountains, trails, beach, schools, stores, and work. It’s safe and friendly and our kids play with other kids in the street every day. Seems like a pretty sweet compromise to me, but YMMV.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#307

Post by userbinator »

JPKab wrote: post #243
clord wrote: post #112

We did this. My wife has a masters in microbio, and I worked at IBM on their C++ and for Fortran compilers for about 8 years (yay std::atomics). I still do remote contract work to help pay for upgrades to the farm. Would be nice to get one of my side-projects finished and start pumping out some income streams, but it's not a big rush anymore. I have a point of sale system built with React and Haskell that integrates…

I grew up in a rural community where farming was basically the only industry. It's easy to talk about how awesome it is when you basically are selling insanely overpriced boutique goods (organic, free-range, etc) to yuppies who are willing to pay triple for their calories. Once enough people do this, the prices fall and you're just another farmer, scraping by. I grew up working on farms. It's not romantic to me in an…

I grew up working on farms. It's not romantic to me in any way. Being outside is nice, but there's a reason the kids doing this grew up in suburbs and cities: they have no idea what agriculture really involves when you have to achieve economies of scale to make it remotely profitable.

I suspect it's a "the grass is always greener in the neighbour's lawn... or in this case pasture" effect.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#308

Post by PoachedSausage »

ehnto wrote: post #288
unabridged wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would imagine rural high school would be a hellscape of a different sort.

I look back at it pretty fondly. School in the country was basically all of the people from the town meeting up every day to joke around and learn stuff. We had excellent facilities, it always felt safe, and after school we roamed the town and bits of nature on our bicycles. I had like 6 tree houses I could visit, jump around tall hay bail forts, we even once dug a bunker on someones paddock next to the cemetery. The…

I live in the city but grew up in the country too (minus the beach, although I have lived near once), I would definitely want that for my kids, the city isn't kid friendly.

The problem is, as an adult, you don't want to leave the city with all it's cultural charms.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#309

Post by CydeWeys »

driverdan wrote: post #300
JPKab wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in a rural community where farming was basically the only industry. It's easy to talk about how awesome it is when you basically are selling insanely overpriced boutique goods (organic, free-range, etc) to yuppies who are willing to pay triple for their calories. Once enough people do this, the prices fall and you're just another farmer, scraping by. I grew up working on farms. It's not romantic to me in an…

I wish I could upvote you twice. For some reason many people who have never farmed have this romantic vision of it. In reality farming is extremely hard work and requires a wide range of skills and knowledge to be successful. If you're good at it you can make decent money but someone who's only worked desk jobs is not going to be good, at least not for a while.

Not only is it extremely hard work, but you can't ever get a break from it. There's a bunch of work that needs to be done every single day (things like milking the cows). If you're someone who likes taking vacations, just know that it becomes a lot harder when you've got a farm. Forget about travel entirely during the growing season.

Hell, I don't even have any pets because I travel frequently enough that they'd be a hassle. I can't imagine how I'd deal with an entire farm in these circumstances. I barely keep one houseplant alive as it is, not from lack of care when I'm home, but from lack of care when I'm gone.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#310

Post by JumpCrisscross »

JPKab wrote: post #243
clord wrote: post #112

We did this. My wife has a masters in microbio, and I worked at IBM on their C++ and for Fortran compilers for about 8 years (yay std::atomics). I still do remote contract work to help pay for upgrades to the farm. Would be nice to get one of my side-projects finished and start pumping out some income streams, but it's not a big rush anymore. I have a point of sale system built with React and Haskell that integrates…

I grew up in a rural community where farming was basically the only industry. It's easy to talk about how awesome it is when you basically are selling insanely overpriced boutique goods (organic, free-range, etc) to yuppies who are willing to pay triple for their calories. Once enough people do this, the prices fall and you're just another farmer, scraping by. I grew up working on farms. It's not romantic to me in an…

> Once enough people do this, the prices fall and you're just another farmer, scraping by

I suspect these individuals will find something new to popularise and produce at high margin.

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