Download or read book Big Ideas Small Farm written by Jason McClure and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-08 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Farm business literature is full of memoirs offering entertaining stories with some basic cattle or produce advice but no real substance for the reader. Big Ideas, Small Farm is not another feel good farm memoir devoid of authentic advice, hope, or insights. This book is different; it is about results. Big Ideas, Small Farm is about growing small farm profitability. This book is part self-help and part marketing strategies because marketing tips and theories are effective when the people implementing them believe in them. Small farm marketing is a mindset as much as it is a practice. This mindset requires believing big ideas create big results. Effective marketing turns small farms into sustainable businesses. Small farms are declining. This is not new; there are several reasons for this decline with plenty of blame to go around. Reciting those reasons will not reverse the trend; placing blame on other people, groups, or organizations is not going to grow your farm. The good news is there are successful small farms, and your farm can one, too. The key is developing an effective marketing strategy that builds on quality products that enhance the customer's experience while creating value. Big Ideas, Small Farm is for the people who want to grow small farms into highly profitable businesses. This book includes 39 broad strategies broken down into 376 best practices that will turn any farm dream into a business reality. Too many farm business books are written by farming aristocrats who inherited their success and whose greatest claim is to be a fourth or fifth generation farmer. While there is nothing wrong with inheriting a farm, building a farm business requires different skills, expertise, and ways of thinking. The author, Jason McClure, was forced off the family farm due to economic, social, and family pressures. He spent 20 years trying to get back to rural America. He knows firsthand the pain of loss, being disconnected from the land, and what it takes to build a successful business. To get back to rural America Jason earned a business degree, Masters in Communication, MBA, and a graduate certificate in Applied Statistics. He has broad interests and has earned certificates in various fields such as culinary arts, real estate, and HVAC. He has had successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurial adventures and worked in leadership positions in corporate America. Jason believes in the economic power of rural America, homesteads, and urban gardens. He left the corporate world to build a legacy in the Ozarks. He and his wife and children are doing their part to make rural America more economically viable by owning, operating, and building Ozark Family Farm. The ideas, techniques, and strategies included in this book are the foundation of his farm business.
Download or read book Making Your Small Farm Profitable written by Ron Macher and published by Storey Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2010-11-18 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Turn your farm into a cash cow! Ron Macher offers a host of simple strategies for increasing your farm earnings, from purchasing durable equipment to growing economically viable crops. A seasoned expert in farm efficiency, Macher shows you how to locate a lucrative niche market for your products, optimize sales, and minimize costs. Whether you’re buying a new farm or jump-starting an old one, Macher’s savvy tips will help you turn your enterprise into a profitable business.
Download or read book Starting Running Your Own Small Farm Business written by Sarah Beth Aubrey and published by Storey Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2008-01-16 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Running your own small farm is demanding enough, but making it profitable presents a host of further challenges. In this business-savvy guide to farming on a small scale, Sarah Aubrey covers everything from financial plans and advertising budgets to web design and food service wholesalers. Learn how to isolate your target audience and craft artisanal products that will delight and amaze customers. With a solid business strategy in place, you can confidently turn your passion into a productive and profitable venture.
Download or read book A Small Farm Future written by Chris Smaje and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A modern classic of the new agrarianism "Chris Smaje...shows that the choice is clear. Either we have a small farm future, or we face collapse and extinction."—Vandana Shiva "Every young person should read this book."—Richard Heinberg In a groundbreaking debut, farmer and social scientist Chris Smaje argues that organizing society around small-scale farming offers the soundest, sanest and most reasonable response to climate change and other crises of civilisation—and will yield humanity’s best chance at survival. Drawing on a vast range of sources from across a multitude of disciplines, A Small Farm Future analyses the complex forces that make societal change inevitable; explains how low-carbon, locally self-reliant agrarian communities can empower us to successfully confront these changes head on; and explores the pathways for delivering this vision politically. Challenging both conventional wisdom and utopian blueprints, A Small Farm Future offers rigorous original analysis of wicked problems and hidden opportunities in a way that illuminates the path toward functional local economies, effective self-provisioning, agricultural diversity and a shared earth. Perfect for readers of both Wendell Berry and Thomas Piketty, A Small Farm Future is a refreshing, new outlook on a way forward for society—and a vital resource for activists, students, policy makers, and anyone looking to enact change.
Download or read book Compact Farms written by Josh Volk and published by Storey Publishing. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small is beautiful, and these 15 real farm plans show that small-scale farmers can have big-time success. Compact Farms is an illustrated guide for anyone dreaming of starting, expanding, or perfecting a profitable farming enterprise on five acres or less. The farm plans explain how to harness an area’s water supply, orientation, and geography in order to maximize efficiency and productivity while minimizing effort. Profiles of well-known farmers such as Eliot Coleman and Jean-Martin Fortier show that farming on a small scale in any region, in both urban and rural settings, can provide enough income to turn the endeavor from hobby to career. These real-life plans and down-and-dirty advice will equip you with everything you need to actually realize your farm dreams.
Download or read book The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables written by Ben Hartman and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2017 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At Clay Bottom Farm, author Ben Hartman and staff practice kaizen, or continuous improvement, cutting out more waste--of time, labor, space, money, and more--every year and aligning their organic production more tightly with customer demand. Applied alongside other lean principles originally developed by the Japanese auto industry, the end result has been increased profits and less work. In this field-guide companion to his award-winning first book, The Lean Farm, Hartman shows market vegetable growers in even more detail how Clay Bottom Farm implements lean thinking in every area of their work, including using kanbans, or replacement signals, to maximize land use; germination chambers to reduce defect waste; and right-sized machinery to save money and labor and increase efficiency. From finding land and assessing infrastructure needs to selling perfect produce at the farmers market, The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables digs deeper into specific, tested methods for waste-free farming that not only help farmers become more successful but make the work more enjoyable. These methods include: Using Japanese paper pot transplanters Building your own germinating chambers Leaning up your greenhouse Making and applying simple composts Using lean techniques for pest and weed control Creating Heijunka, or load-leveling calendars for efficient planning Farming is not static, and improvement requires constant change. The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables offers strategies for farmers to stay flexible and profitable even in the face of changing weather and markets. Much more than a simple exercise in cost-cutting, lean farming is about growing better, not cheaper, food--the food your customers want.
Download or read book The Lean Farm written by Ben Hartman and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2015 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical, systems-based approach for a more sustainable farming operation To many people today, using the words "factory" and "farm" in the same sentence is nothing short of sacrilege. In many cases, though, the same sound business practices apply whether you are producing cars or carrots. Author Ben Hartman and other young farmers are increasingly finding that incorporating the best new ideas from business into their farming can drastically cut their wastes and increase their profits, making their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable. By explaining the lean system for identifying and eliminating waste and introducing efficiency in every aspect of the farm operation, The Lean Farm makes the case that small-scale farming can be an attractive career option for young people who are interested in growing food for their community. Working smarter, not harder, also prevents the kind of burnout that start-up farmers often encounter in the face of long, hard, backbreaking labor. Lean principles grew out of the Japanese automotive industry, but they are now being followed on progressive farms around the world. Using examples from his own family's one-acre community-supported farm in Indiana, Hartman clearly instructs other small farmers in how to incorporate lean practices in each step of their production chain, from starting a farm and harvesting crops to training employees and selling goods. While the intended audience for this book is small-scale farmers who are part of the growing local food movement, Hartman's prescriptions for high-value, low-cost production apply to farms and businesses of almost any size or scale that hope to harness the power of lean in their production processes.
Download or read book The New Farm written by Brent Preston and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “must-read” memoir of human-scale agriculture offers an insider’s view of today’s food system by a leading voice in sustainable farming (Daniel Boulud). After years of working at the ends of the earth in human rights and development, Brent Preston and his wife were die-hard city dwellers. But when their second child arrived, the shine came off urban living. In 2003 they bought a hundred acres and a rundown farmhouse, determined to build a farm that would sustain their family, nourish their community, heal their environment—and turn a profit. The New Farm is Preston’s memoir of a decade of toil and perseverance. Farming is a complex and precarious business, and they made plenty of mistakes along the way. But as they learned how to grow food, and to succeed at the business of farming, they also found that a small, sustainable, organic farm could be an engine for change, a path to a more just and sustainable food system. Today, The New Farm supplies top restaurants, supports community food banks, hosts events with leading chefs, and grows extraordinary produce. Told with humor and heart, The New Farm is a joy, a passionate book by an important new voice.
Download or read book Start Your Farm written by Forrest Pritchard and published by The Experiment. This book was released on 2018-09-10 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A totally modern, all-purpose handbook for today’s agricultural dreamers—covering the challenges and triumphs of launching any successful farm—from two leading lights in sustainable farming Do you dream of starting your own farm but wonder where to begin? Or do you already have a farm but wish to become more sustainable to compete in today's market? Start Your Farm, the first comprehensive business guide of its kind, covers these essential questions and more: Why be a farmer in the 21st century? Do you have what it takes? What does sustainable really mean, and how can a small (as little as one acre) to midsize farm survive alongside commodity-scale agriculture? How do you access education, land, and other needs with limited capital? How can you reap an actual profit, including a return on land investment? How do you build connections with employees, colleagues, and customers? At the end of the day, how do you measure success? (Hint: Cash your lifestyle paycheck.) More than a practical guide, Start Your Farm is a hopeful call to action for anyone who aspires to grow wholesome, environmentally sustainable food for a living. Take it from Forrest Pritchard and Ellen Polishuk: Making this dream a reality is not for the faint of heart, but it's well within reach—and there's no greater satisfaction under the sun!
Download or read book The Resilient Farm and Homestead written by Ben Falk and published by Chelsea Green Publishing Company. This book was released on 2013 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a manual for developing durable, beautiful, and highly functional human habitat systems fit to handle an age of rapid transition. Ben Falk is a land designer and site developer whose permaculture-research farm has drawn national attention. The site is a terraced paradise on a hillside in Vermont that would otherwise be overlooked by conventional farmers as unworthy farmland. Falk's wide array of fruit trees, rice paddies (relatively unheard of in the Northeast), ducks, nuts, and earth-inspired buildings is a hopeful image for the future of regenerative agriculture and modern homesteading. The book covers nearly every strategy Falk and his team have been testing at the Whole Systems Research Farm over the past decade, as well as experiments from other sites Falk has designed through his off-farm consulting business. The book includes detailed information on earthworks; gravity-fed water systems; species composition; the site-design process; site management; fuelwood hedge production and processing; human health and nutrient-dense production strategies; rapid topsoil formation and remineralization; agroforestry/silvopasture/grazing; ecosystem services, especially regarding flood mitigation; fertility management; human labor and social-systems aspects; tools/equipment/appropriate technology; and much more, complete with gorgeous photography and detailed design drawings. The Resilient Farm and Homestead is more than just a book of tricks and techniques for regenerative site development, but offers actual working results in living within complex farm-ecosystems based on research from the "great thinkers" in permaculture, and presents a viable home-scale model for an intentional food-producing ecosystem in cold climates, and beyond. Inspiring to would-be homesteaders everywhere, but especially for those who find themselves with "unlikely" farming land, Falk is an inspiration in what can be done by imitating natural systems, and making the most of what we have by re-imagining what's possible. A gorgeous case study for the homestead of the future.
Download or read book A Year at Otter Farm written by Mark Diacono and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-10-28 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The owner of a small farm in the British countryside, where the author focuses on extraordinary produce, shares recipes that emphasize flavor and fresh ingredients, describing the seasonal challenges and rewards of rural living while offering such options as Warm Padron Pepper Salad and Cucumber Ice Cream.
Download or read book Farm and Other F Words written by Sarah K Mock and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-26 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We love The American Farmer. We trust them to grow our food, to be part of children's nursery rhymes, to provide the economic backbone of rural communities, and to embody a version of the American dream. At the same time, we know that "corporate farms" are disrupting the agrarian way of life that we so admire, and that we've got to do something to stop it. So what's our plan for saving the farms we love? In Farm (and Other F Words), Sarah K Mock dismantles misconceptions about American farms and discovers what makes small family farms work, or why they don't. While exploring the intersection of farming and wealth, Mock offers an alternative perspective on American agricultural history, and outlines a path to a more equitable food system moving forward. Calling for change, Farm (and Other F Words) tackles questions like: Do farmers really get paid not to farm? Are "big corporate farms" the future? How much good has the food movement done for small family farmers? Ultimately, Mock suggests a solution without putting the onus for change on struggling consumers and reminds us that, "the future of American agriculture is not yet decided."
Download or read book The Lean Micro Farm written by Ben Hartman and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2023-11-30 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Ben Hartman is a true innovator for the small farm.”—Curtis Stone, author of The Urban Farmer It’s time to think big about small farms. Award-winning author and “green leader” (Grist) Ben Hartman shares practical how-to tips, personal stories, and surprising examples of cutting-edge farmers and innovators around the world to show us how. In the early 1970s, US Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz infamously commanded farmers to “get big or get out.” In The Lean Micro Farm, author Ben Hartman rejects that disastrous suggestion and instead takes up the charge of the late agrarian thinker Gene Logsdon: “Get small and stay in.” Taking inspiration from the groundbreaking ideas of E. F. Schumacher and Mahatma Gandhi, The Lean Micro Farm shows how small, hyperlocal farms can be both ecologically and economically superior to industrial-scale operations geared toward export and commodity markets. The Lean Micro Farm details the author’s remarkable journey to downsize his farm from one acre to a third of an acre in an effort to prioritize family and community over work, all without taking a pay cut. In addition, Hartman profiles six innovative farmers from across the globe who embody this “get small” mindset. These pioneering farmers show all of us a path toward resilience in the face of supply chain disruption, globalization, and climate change. They model a gentler, more ecological approach to farming that produces less waste and uses less plastic, petroleum, and fertilizer. Like his previous two books, The Lean Farm and The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables, Hartman’s The Lean Micro Farm doesn’t just explain why smaller is better, it shows readers exactly how it can be done with step-by-step guides on how to turn a profit from a tiny, but productive, parcel of farmland. Readers will find not just philosophical justifications for a minimalist approach to agriculture but also actionable information for starting your own profitable micro farm, including: • A description of the “deep mulch” method for building fertility • Instructions on two-step bed flipping to increase production on a small footprint • A guide for choosing essential tools and technologies “with a human face” • An easy-to-follow process for making your micro farm lean and efficient • A detailed plan for selling $20,000 worth of produce from your backyard It’s time, Hartman makes clear, to pivot to a new kind of farming—one that builds upon ancestral knowledge, nourishes communities, and puts human joy, not technology, at its center. “Hartman has revolutionized his methods, cut down his work hours dramatically, and shrunk the size of his farm, all while making a better income.”—Civil Eats
Download or read book Mini Farming written by Aaron Turner and published by . This book was released on 2017-07-15 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most people have never even heard of mini farming. The reason? It's really just not that popular as of yet. But just like a lot of other things (bell-bottom jeans, Mohawks and rap music) it's coming into its own. The reason is that regular farming is starting to become a problem for a lot of people. It's just so difficult to make a living as a full-fledged farmer because there's so much work involved and not enough demand for it. The big time farmers, the ones that once were able to sustain large farms and take care of their entire family are having trouble making ends meet. Part of the reason for that is mini farming but most of it is the lack of business available in larger markets. Major farmers are trying to compete with other major farmers for markets like grocery stores and that's a really difficult market to break into. If you start mini farming however, the only people you're going to be competing against are the other local farmers in your area. What you'll usually find is that there's plenty of people looking for locally grown products and not quite enough people who are selling them. So this can actually be a pretty profitable niche for you.
Download or read book Five Acres and Independence written by Maurice G. Kains and published by Dover Publications. This book was released on 1973-06-01 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyone who has ever dreamed of getting back to the soil will derive from Maurice Grenville Kains' practical and easy-to-understand discussions a more complete view of what small-scale farming means. Countless readers of Five Acres and Independence have come away with specific projects to begin and moved closer to the fulfillment of their dreams of independence on a small farm. Whether you already own a suitable place or are still looking, Five Acres and Independence will help you learn to evaluate land for both its total economic and its specific agricultural possibilities. There are methods of calculating costs of permanent improvements — draining the land, improving soil, planting wind breaks, putting in septic tanks, cellars, irrigation systems, greenhouses, etc. — and methods of carrying out those improvements. There are suggestions for specific crops — strawberries, grapes, vegetables, orchards, spring, summer, and fall crops, transplanting, timing, repairing what already exists — with methods of deciding what is best for your land and purposes and techniques for making each of them pay. There are suggestions for animals for the small-scale farmer — goats, chickens, bees — and means of working them into your overall farm design. And there are suggestions for keeping your small farm in top production condition, methods of continually increasing the value of your farm, methods of marketing your produce and of accurately investing in improvements — virtually everything a small-scale farmer needs to know to make his venture economically sound. Some things, of course, have changed since 1940 when M. G. Kains revised Five Acres and Independence. But the basic down-to-earth advice of one of the most prominent men in American agriculture and the methods of farming the small-scale, pre-DDT farm are still essentially the same. Much of the information in this book was built on USDA and state farm bureau reports; almost all of it was personally tested by M. G. Kains, either on his own farms or on farms of the people who trusted him as an experienced consultant. His book went through more than 30 editions in the first 10 years after its original publication. It has helped countless small farmers attain their dreams, and it continues today as an exceptional resource for those who want to make their first farming attempt.
Download or read book Small Farm Today written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 1288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Farm the City written by Michael Ableman and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A useful manual for anyone interested in turning the concrete jungle green . . . a must-have for any urban dweller serious about farming.” —Publishers Weekly In Farm the City, Michael Ableman, the “Spartacus of Sustainable Food Activism,” offers a guide to setting up and running a successful urban farm, derived from the success of Sole Food Street Farms, one of the largest urban agriculture enterprises in North America. Sole Food Street Farms spans four acres of land in Vancouver, produces twenty-five tons of food annually, provides meaningful work for dozens of disadvantaged people, and has improved the surrounding community in countless ways. Coverage includes: Selecting land and choosing the right crops Growing food in city farms, including plans for planting and harvesting Fundraising and marketing strategies, philosophies, and vital information for selling fresh products Navigating local government and regulations Engaging the community and building meaningful livelihoods Farm the City is an invaluable tool kit for entrepreneurs and activists looking to create economic and social value through urban agriculture. Urban farming has the power to change diets, economies, and lives. Yet starting an urban farm can seem daunting with skills and knowledge that extend beyond growing to include marketing, sales, employees, community relations, and navigating local regulations. With this comprehensive guide, you’ll be running a successful urban farm in no time. “A story of how to bring cities back to life, literally and emotionally . . . Local food not only addresses quality of life, economy, and food security, it changes our hearts . . . [a] wonderfully written testament to life.” —Paul Hawken, New York Times bestselling author of Drawdown
