How would I go about starting an organic farm?
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Ryan, who taught the Organic Gardening/Farming class at Zenger, inspects corn tassles that are covered in aphids and ants (and some lady bugs for good measure).
Question by anonymous: How would I go about starting an organic farm?
I am a teenager now, but I am really serious about this. My grandpa was a traditional crop farmer and I come from a farming community, but I have hardly any experience, other than I realize exactly how much money is made and how hard the work is and how expensive things are and how they can go wrong. I want to go to a college for agriculture and I would like to start my own organic farm… sometime…
I know getting a job on an organic farm would be good for gaining experience and some funds. So how would one go about doing this? And what sort of job would this be, or should I try to get? About how much does starting a sort of small, independent organic crop farm (some grains, vegetables, general things like that) cost initially, just a very general estimate for wherever you know about? I know how to keep doing it once it’s started, but the start is what I know nothing about. So any information anyone could give me leading up to starting an organic farm after college, I would greatly appreciate.
I definitely want to do organic. I know that.
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5 Responses to How would I go about starting an organic farm?
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well, im a teenager too wanting to be a farmer too. Im actually lucky enough to know a bit about farming cause i grew up on one and my dad has been teaching me allot. I wouldnt reccomend going on an organic farm because its not run like normal farms. If u want to learn how to be a farmer. Go work on a normal farm. See, in organic farms u dont use most chemicals, dont use many fertilizers, its a different way of farming. If u want to know how to be a normal farmer, work on a big farm that runs like many other farms. But if u think there is a future in organic do it! But personally, i dont, after looking at the benifits and costs, normal conventional farming is the way to go. I think u should get a bit more experience in farming to realise what type of farmer u want to be. My dad worked on the farm with my grandfather when he first was 15 then he got the farm when he was 24. so u need lots of experience to be a farmer, especially an organic farmer. Hope this helps mate. I know where ur coming from
Brugsta
February 5, 2012 at 10:52 am
I am a produce broker in South Jersey . Money land and most
important , tractors fert. containers and knowledge of your target
market. 300,000 to 500,000 thousand I will guess….
richard g
February 5, 2012 at 11:03 am
for experience take internships and jobs throughout college. And make sure you go to a good Agricultural university where you can network and find the best opportunities. You may want to start off working on a conventional farm because to be honest organic farms usually do not make a lot of money and therefore do not pay their college age help. Saying that is a learning experience and you do not need wages.
vancamny411
February 5, 2012 at 11:56 am
the best thing to do is get a job on a farm this summer. the easiest way to do this is to find the farmers markets in your area and go to the markets in May (or earlier if you happen to have some that either do winter markets or open up before May) http://www.localharvest.org is the best website to find such information. this site also have a great forum and you could post there asking for work. I have noticed that farms are eager to get workers right now.
You should find some organic/sustainable agriculture conferences and go to at least one this winter. You will meet a lot of like minded people, can go to some workshops to learn a bit more and likely be able to find a summer job on a farm.
I don’t know if getting a degree in sustainable ag would be as helpful as getting a liberal arts degree and getting a lot of hands on experience working on farms.
I say that because I came into organic farming almost by accident but found my anthropology degree to be quite helpful. I have been farming organically for the past 15 years but did not come from a farming background (my grandfather was an alfalfa rancher from the 1920’s until the 1960’s). But circumstances allowed my husband and i to start farming produce and poultry on a small level and for the past 10 years we have been able to make our living solely from farming.
When we started we rented and during that time we learned how to farm organically, got the farm certified organic, dropped all certification when the USDA took over, built up a large customer base, started 2 farmers markets, started, folded and started again a CSA and bought a farm of our own 3 years ago. the learning curve is steep though now we have many excellent websites, email lists, regional and state organizations (in Ohio we have OEFFA, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association http://www.oeffa.org). there are also a lot of blogs out there with great information you can find many of them via http://boulderbelt.blogspot.com
Good Luck
ohiorganic
February 5, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Please please dont listen to Brugsta. He doesnt have clue. Stick to clean livin and follow your heart.
Mike
February 8, 2012 at 10:06 pm