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Farming is no way to make a living. I'm glad that these people are finding success, but I come from a farming community and family and for decades farming has only been affordable if you also had another full-time job. Although microfarms for trendy produce might not be so bad.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Their are no "three-acre farms," at best it's a garden. It's not easy to make a decent living of a tiny farm, but some people have done it. Most of them target higher-end products and direct-to-customer sales. For example, Eliot Coleman had a 5-acre farm on the coast of Maine that apparently did fairly well selling fresh local vegetables during the fall and spring for many years. His book is excellent and fascinati…
I added a PS, but these value adds stop being a farm. If you operate a cheese factory that can create a lot of value from a small area, but it generates value even if you use milk from a different farm. Operating a stall is again a way to generate revenue, but that's completely independent from actually growing food.
Farming is no way to make a living. I'm glad that these people are finding success, but I come from a farming community and family and for decades farming has only been affordable if you also had another full-time job. Although microfarms for trendy produce might not be so bad.
> Farming is no way to make a living.... Although microfarms for trendy produce might not be so bad. You contradict yourself here. If they manage to find a niche in which they make a living, then they're doing fine. It doesn't make sense to grow corn when that portion of the market is already saturated.
Their are no "three-acre farms," at best it's a garden. My old boss operated a 80 acre micro farm while holding down a full time job. It was a hobby that at best broke even, but he had fun. PS: They might say be operating a stall at a locally grown market, but it's the stall not the farm that's generating income.
"PS: They might say be operating a stall at a locally grown market, but it's the stall not the farm that's generating income." If the stall sells products coming from the farm, the difference is lost on me. It's like saying "it's the Sales department that generate income, while Engineering is just a cost".
Their are no "three-acre farms," at best it's a garden. My old boss operated a 80 acre micro farm while holding down a full time job. It was a hobby that at best broke even, but he had fun. PS: They might say be operating a stall at a locally grown market, but it's the stall not the farm that's generating income.
"PS: They might say be operating a stall at a locally grown market, but it's the stall not the farm that's generating income." If the stall sells products coming from the farm, the difference is lost on me. It's like saying "it's the Sales department that generate income, while Engineering is just a cost".
Stardew Valley?
Their are no "three-acre farms," at best it's a garden. My old boss operated a 80 acre micro farm while holding down a full time job. It was a hobby that at best broke even, but he had fun. PS: They might say be operating a stall at a locally grown market, but it's the stall not the farm that's generating income.
"PS: They might say be operating a stall at a locally grown market, but it's the stall not the farm that's generating income." If the stall sells products coming from the farm, the difference is lost on me. It's like saying "it's the Sales department that generate income, while Engineering is just a cost".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I added a PS, but these value adds stop being a farm. If you operate a cheese factory that can create a lot of value from a small area, but it generates value even if you use milk from a different farm. Operating a stall is again a way to generate revenue, but that's completely independent from actually growing food.
I think that's a universal argument for making all farms worthless, outside their subsistence value. All the produce must be sold; your argument means you can always argue that the value comes from the selling, not the farm.
If you buy from 1 farmer and then sell wholesale to 1 customer your not going to make significant money. If you buy from 1 farmer and then sell at a stall to 1,000 people you can make meaningful profit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Farming is no way to make a living.... Although microfarms for trendy produce might not be so bad. You contradict yourself here. If they manage to find a niche in which they make a living, then they're doing fine. It doesn't make sense to grow corn when that portion of the market is already saturated.
I read it as "Farming is generally a tough racket, though microfarms might be an exception." Not necessarily contradictory.
"Farming is no way to make a living... I come from a farming community and family and for decades farming has only been affordable if you also had another full-time job."
Here's another way of thinking of it.
"Tech is no way to make a living. I'm glad that these people are finding success, but I come from a sysadmin community and family and for decades tech has only been affordable if you also had another full-time job. Although software dev for trendy websites might not be so bad."
Tech is broad. Even though tech support and sysadmins are doing poorly, other facets of tech are doing fine, making the phrase "Tech is no way to make a living" inaccurate. Just like saying "Farming is no way to make a living" can be inaccurate if there are still parts of the market largely profitable.