[PDF]Guide for Beginning Farmers

BEGINNING
FARMERS



* A note on the Second Edition:



This guidebook is now in its Second Edition. We have submitted a book
proposal to four publishing houses that would allow us to expand this
guidebook into a full-length, hard-bound book with illustrations by
Brooke Budner. It is part pep-talk, part institutional index, part career-
planning guide. The Greenhorns Guidebook will be co-authored by
Zoe Bradbury, Severine von Tscharner Fleming and Paula Manalo, all in
their first years as'independant-operators'of their own farms. It is a very
exciting project to be embarking upon in the winter season and we do
hope that you'll send in some snippets of your own experience, favorite
institutional resources and inspiring stories that we can include. To do
that please log on to the foryoungfarmers.wikispace.com and post a
message with your comments, favorite quotations and contributions.
We promise to credit all entries, so include your farm's website!



TABLE OF CONTENTS:

I. Start Now!

II. Apprenticeships/Mentorships/Farmer Ed

III. Access to Land

IV. Capitalizations of Small Diversified Operations:

business planning + accounting, loans, grants

V. Getting started:

what to grow, seeds, pest management, soil fertility,
irrigation, livestock, equipment, staying current

VI. Marketing the Food: certi cations, pricing, CSA's

VII. Community

VIII. Urban Agriculture

IX. Bio-bling: DIY projects, yurts, and permaculture

X. Annotated list of Major Farming Info: clearinghouse sites,

hotlines, short case studies

XI. Big Picture: research watchdogs, activism




"There seem to be but three ways for a nation to acquire wealth. The first
is by war, as the Romans did, in plundering their conquered neighbors. This
is robbery. The second by commerce, which is generally cheating. The third
by agriculture, the only honest way, wherein man receives a real increase
of the seed thrown into the ground, in a kind of continual miracle. . .as a
reward for his innocent life and his virtuous industry."



-Benjamin Franklin



support \

Revival. V




greenhorn:

a novice, or new entrant into agriculture.



"The Greenhorns"- a small grass-roots non-profit and documentary film project based in the
Hudson Valley, NY, working to promote, recruit and support young farmers in America.



This is a guidebook for beginning farmers.



It is written to help you plan your professional trajectory into the field of sustainable agri-
culture. In this 30-page guide we cover some of the major areas of institutional support for
young farmers, some likely venues of learning and useful references. You should come away
with a sense of how to approach the many hurdles with style, persistance, and improvisational
zip.

The guidebook is written by young farmers, for young farmers.

Its a collaboration of Greenhorns- affiliated greenhorns, and those who have contributed
online to :

foryoungfarmer.wikispace.com



particular thanks go to:
Talia Khan-Kravis
Paula Manalo

Severine von Tscharner Fleming
May Nguyen-design+layout

If you discover any errors or omissions, please do contact us about that. Remember, this is the
Second Edition of a long term project-your voice matters more now than ever.



thegreenhorns@gmail.com



Beginner's Mind.
Are you addicted to sunshine?
Start now.

A few things you can do now:
run up the stairs...bike to worL.establish good posture
...begin a stretching routine/practice....start a savings account...
pay off all debt... learn to can / jam / preserve food. ..practice thrift...
scavenge and cache useful implements and well-built kitchen wares...
repair any strained relations with land-owning relatives
...start composting NOWL.save glass jars and lids in an organized way
...observe land... read natural history, human history...
study nature...help out on a farm near where you live...
be a friendly neighbor and helper in your community

For many, the family farmer represents all that is good about America. The farmer is self
sufficient, productive, independent, hard-working, community spirited and account-
able. Most of our founding fathers were farmers- along with their wives, children, slaves
and servants.

Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner and avid horticulturalist said:

"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most
independant, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it's liberty
and interests by the most lasting bands."

We may admire the American farmer, culturally, but the economic, social and trade
frameworks are deeply inhospitable to small and medium-scale farmers in America.
Since the Farm Crisis of the 1 980's we've suffered enormous losses in farmers, farmland,
and rural economies.As late as 1950 over 15% of Americans were farming. Today it is a
mere 1.6%. Of those farmers, less than 3% are under 35 years of age.

Time to change those numbers!

Michael Pollan says 20 million new farmers.
Paul Willis says 30 million.
Richard Heinberg says 50 million.




Regardless of the number, we'd better begin!



II. APPRENTICESHIPS, MENTORSHIPS
AND FARMER/AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION:



Apprenticeships are a social covenant, an inter-generational intimacy of learning and
exchange. In almost every culture around the world, agriculture is passed between
generations through the "apprenticeship method." An apprenticeship is usually at least
6-months or a year, it is an intensive residential and occupational educational opportuni-
ty. In many cases it can include a small stipend or pocket money. That income can help
with living expenses, chocolate and pocket knives. That income is not enough to start
one's own farm. This is a core dillemna of the contemporary devaluation of agricultural
work, the social status of workers, and the framework of power within American capital-
ism. But we'll get to that later. Apprenticeships are the foundation of a successful agri-
cultural career-there are many things you cannot learn any other way that to observe
the muscle movements, gestures of observation, and ritual behaviors of an experienced
and careful farmer. Do not skip this step.

A typical professional arc in agriculture starts with informal farmwork, moves to formal
apprenticeship and academic study, can then include accredidation or additional cours-
es in land/business management, from there to farm staff and management, eventually
it might lead to farm-ownership, or small business ownership. Developing the skill-set
and experience in farming does not always precede the business-skillset or marketing
work, some people come from a business background into farming. But the problem
with letting business lead, is that you might come to expect yields and returns from the
enterprise that are not agronomically sustainable. This is what Wendell Berry calls the
'grating' of economics and ecologies.

An important thing to remember about farming in America is that we don't have thou-
sands of years of prosperous farming behind us, and neither do we have solidly built,
agronomically sound infrastructure to step into. In many cases American agricultural
infrastructure was set out by pioneers from Europe whose practices were imported and
inappropriate to the land here. Farms set up in the age of modern agronomy may also
be based on the assumption of cheap fuel, specialization, mechanization or plantation-
style production methods. Obviously, it is a huge help if there is even a barn standing
on the land that you want to farm, and if that barn used to be an intensive poultry
production, it might be wise to test for DDT residue before you sign up 1 00 families for
an organic CSA.

I don't say these things to dissuade you from your brave decision to enter agriculture. I
say this because it is important to realize the historical context of farming in this coun-
try, and the social implications of that history for our future progress towards a sustain-
able relationship with the land, and the stewards of that land as a society. Farmers need
dignity, joyous reception, and a kind welcome-- not just a marketplace and training
facilities.



A short introduction some relevant language/ terms:

farmworker - non-tenured agricultural worker. Cesar Chavez fought for
farmworkers' right to organize, for protection for dangerous chemicals and for
decent treatment. The legacy of the'bracero program'- a guest worker/bus-
sing program with Mexican workers in California fields has left terrible scars,
and many of the patterns of farmworker abuse continue today.

farm owner- the person who owns the farm business and land.

farm operator - the person who runs the farm, usually doing at least some of
the physical work him or herself.

share-cropper - a farmer who pays a share of the harvest to the landowner.
Traditionally this was a crippling share, and mandated to be in cash crops
such as tobacco or cotton. During the reconstruction period after the Civil
war, that share was usually 50%.

apprentice - unpaid agricultural student. A dicey term for the department of
labor, investigate this before you advertise your apprenticeship.

yeo-man - a small, prosperous farmer. (English term) A socially prominent
agriculturalist.

peasant - subsistence farmer.

beginning farmer - a USDA term that means a farmer in the first 1 years of
their agricultural profession

young farmer - arbitrary term used by The Greenhorns and other groups,
usually means farmers under forty. We take it to mean 'first career'farmers
who worked their way up.



Planning your apprenticeship

The first trick is to figure out exactly what you want to learn to do.
What exactly do you want to farm? The next trick is to configure your sequence of
apprenticeships accordingly.ln many cases your first farming experience will answer
many of these questions:

Are you an animal person, a vegetable person, a cut flower person?

Do you like interacting with the eaters?

Is your focus inner-city nutrition or high cuisine?

Do you like food-processing/ value-added products?

Do you have the discipline for dairy?

The eye for floristry?



What does it take?

What does it take to make it as a farm apprentice, and eventually as a farmer? You
must also be willing to work hard, be self-motivated, attentive and disciplined. You
must be able to derive satisfaction from work that is not always adequately valued
by the market economy. Just because your effort yields delicious food, doesn't
mean that it will yield a retail price commensurat with that effort. It is important to
be prepared for that reality, and not take it personally. Your work is valuable, but
farming will likely require you to sacrifice some of the creature comforts of a "swivel
chair life."

Often those coming from a non-agricultural background are not quite prepared for
the discipline of farming-- of the careful handling of equipment, the extra precau-
tions

with animals, or the need for constant observation. These things are quickly learned
on a farm, almost through osmosis-but expect to work hard, and outside of the
physical labor, take notice to the goings on of the farm's business, management,
maintenance, planting schedules etc. There will be weeding and somewhat
monotonous work-but it will be purposeful, and will likely give you a chance to do
some deep thinking, planning, and digesting.

Education is neverending. If you have already gone through the apprenticeship
process, there are still many options for continuing learning in a structured and
planned manner. Farming courses are often helpful not just for their content but
provide and forum for information exchange between participants. Extension ser-
vices

often produce materials useful for setting up the processing/cooperative marketing/
disease management aspects of farming.

At the same time we can focus on advocacy efforts both locally and internationally to
change this equation that has haunted farming for the past century.



Dream Farm:

Think ahead! As you move through your apprenticeship, keep your 'dream farm plan'
in mind, and keep modifying that plan to reflect what you learn about your own pref-
erences, market conditions, climate constraints in your prefered region, and the unoc-
cupied niches in that foodshed. Because we live in a market-economy it is almost
inevitable that your farm At the end of the day at least some of your farm-design will
reflect what you can best "sell" to make the finances work in your area. So, for ex-
ample, if you farm in or near the suburbs, you might want to consider fresh vegetable
shares in a CSA. That is a high-value direct market opportunity that can cash in on the
'yoginis and healthy moms' in your area. You can start up a small vegetable CSA with
relatively little infrastructure costs on a small piece of land. If you have children at that
point, you can enroll them in a suburban school with a good tax base supporting it.
You will likely have highter property taxes, and higher rents-but there is a chance that
the town and its citizens might be willing to let you use community owned land, or to
help with easements to protect your agricultural activity from devepment pressure. If
you are distant from a metropolitan area it might instead be livestock, potatoes, jam
or other less perishable wares. It is also wise to consider what you most enjoy doing.
Don't just raise meat-birds because you read too much Joel Salatin, otherwise you
might have an existential melt-down in the middle of slaughtering 200 featherless
beasties. Its pretty obvious, do what makes sense to you financially, but try to balance
that with doing what you LOVE to do. That is one of the priviledges of the produc-
ing class-we can decide what we want to produce, we can define our own terms
of production ( to a certain extent) and we can produce stylishly, sustainably, and
underneath flowering bowers of our own design.



Apprenticeship/Internship Network Sites

ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service

http://attrainternships.ncat.org

Organic Volunteers- find on-the-job learning opportunities in sustainable and
organic agriculture by place through clicking on a map of US and Canada

http://www.growfood.org

Sustainable Living and Farm Jobs- an international directory of jobs in "sustainable



Stewards of Irreplaceable Land- links Canadian farmers willing to take on and
train apprentices with folks wanting to work and learn on an organic farm using
sustainable practices.



World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF)- become a member and
access an extensive international list of organic farms that welcome volunteer help
(any where from a couple days to years) in exchange for room and board. This is a
wonderful way to cheaply travel around in rural areas abroad, there is a limit to how
much you can learn on a farm over the course of two weeks, and from a farmer with
such a brief working relationship—but its a grreat "first step"in agriculture, and may
very well provide clues about which aspects and type of farming is most appealing
to you. Its also a great way to explore crops that don't grow near you. However be
prepared if things with your host do not work out: Get the train schedule in case you
have to make a quick departure! *



living"



http://www.backdoorjobs.com/farming.html



http://www.soilapprenticeships.org




,UIPMENT CHECKLIST:



thra work pants
tent



http://www.wwoof.org



dop/medical kit



flashlight
pruning shears
sleeping bag



rain gear
wool sweater



PPRENTICE'S



sunhat
sunglasses
work gloves
water vessel



work boots



chocolate



"The class principally defective is that of agriculture.
It is the first in utility, and ought to be the first in respect. The same arti-
ficial means which have been used to produce a competition in learning,
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