For those who are farmers or interested in farming. For those with an interest in homesteading, see this thread.
Farming Thread
- Thread starter Cynllo
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I heard some guys on a plane one time just mystified by the round green areas you could see on the ground below. Of course they are produced by pivot irrigation systems. I was amazed that anyone could not know that. They were only about 20 years old though. It is even stranger that someone would not know what rectangular divisions in the land are for.
Aliens. Flying saucers landing pads, that's why they are round.
InspCallahan
Catholic
For their Daddies to build subdivisions on?It is even stranger that someone would not know what rectangular divisions in the land are for.
No joke, I had trouble buying raw goat milk even in rural Tennessee, everyone was afraid to sell, I had to declare it was not for food consumption.
In the Land of the Fee, Alaska is probably the last place to get away from the watchful eye
North Dakota has been improving in this area. We have the cottage act and won the raw milk bill last year. I can sell most things besides meat and there's a work around for that. Poultry is up to a thousand birds or so before it's regulated. Theres a growing market for pasture raised products but it's slow since it's largely ag here that grew up on poisoning the land with chemicals. The soil is getting almost too terrible to grow anything outside of the red river valley. Early adopters of regenerative farming I think will be key once nothing grows anymore from chemicals.
Amos Miller who had been raided in PA is Amish farmer. Amish have old school natural way of living and their guts would have healthy diverse microbiome providing for normal immune system. On the other hand, most in America are fed chemicals from birth and might have no resistance to normal bacteria present in milk products made traditional way. They said a couple of teens got sick after eating products from his farm, fom E. Coli. It's like people with no immune system masking and forcing everyone else to mask.
Having said that, I grew up where all milk was raw and most always boiled their milk, because there some serious pathogens sometimes (rarely) in it. It should be individual choice whether to drink raw milk or not. Since most are uninformed I understand slapping a warning on products but that's about it.
Honestly I would boil raw milk bought from someone else, no way to know how clean their process, hands and animals are and if they are all healthy.
Having said that, I grew up where all milk was raw and most always boiled their milk, because there some serious pathogens sometimes (rarely) in it. It should be individual choice whether to drink raw milk or not. Since most are uninformed I understand slapping a warning on products but that's about it.
Honestly I would boil raw milk bought from someone else, no way to know how clean their process, hands and animals are and if they are all healthy.
I wouldn't view this as a good thing. Those are almost guaranteed to be strong smelling fertilizer chemicals that you'd smell inside your car 100's of meters away & those fields are mostly lit up at night & it's a lot of light pollution. Most farmers in the world who operate on this scale are also burning during much of the year, making air for hundreds of miles around unbreathable & have lots of pollution from deforesting fields. I'd say if you see this to go the other way - you definately don't want to live around it.
I don't do any serious farming but I source food, even high quality beef locally & IMHO you need to be in areas with naturally fertile soil where local farmers exchange seeds amungst themselves & not buy from GMO type companies.
In some places in Texas there are seed swaps you can get from public libraries I am pretty sure.
My wife goes regularly and comes back with seeds....
How is the milk industry in the US set up, is there usually only one pasteurization facility that dairy farms have the option of selling to or is there competition for the milk? And can the farmers produce as much as they want or is there a quota like in some European countries?
I like the idea presented by Joel Salatin that consumers could sign a waiver to buy raw milk and meat from farms, but I don't see how the food needs of a country could be met without slaughterhouses and dairy processing facilities at scale. It does created the unfortunate circumstances that there is this centralized system that can be weaponized against the farmers, be it to monopolize or starve out the farmers in the shift away from meat and dairy to soy and bugs. But urban areas won't ever be fed without these middle men.
It would be interesting to learn how the food production system in Russia compares with the US seeing how they are both net exporters of food.
I like the idea presented by Joel Salatin that consumers could sign a waiver to buy raw milk and meat from farms, but I don't see how the food needs of a country could be met without slaughterhouses and dairy processing facilities at scale. It does created the unfortunate circumstances that there is this centralized system that can be weaponized against the farmers, be it to monopolize or starve out the farmers in the shift away from meat and dairy to soy and bugs. But urban areas won't ever be fed without these middle men.
It would be interesting to learn how the food production system in Russia compares with the US seeing how they are both net exporters of food.
Slightly related to your question about milk and large production facilities.
A new beef processing plant is being built in North Platte, NE. It is called Sustainable Beef, and is being funded by local ranchers. It will be locally owned and will work on a co-op basis. When it reaches full production it will process about 1500 cattle a day.
The thing that amazes me about this is that 1500 cattle a day will actually represent about 1.5% of US production, all from one plant! I am amazed that one plant in a small town in a cattle raising area could open and produce such a large percentage of the national total! I would expect there to be 1000 beef slaughter houses at least, or a least 100s, but if every plant were this size, there would only be 65. That makes it sound like many beef ranchers are a long way from the nearest facility.
A new beef processing plant is being built in North Platte, NE. It is called Sustainable Beef, and is being funded by local ranchers. It will be locally owned and will work on a co-op basis. When it reaches full production it will process about 1500 cattle a day.
The thing that amazes me about this is that 1500 cattle a day will actually represent about 1.5% of US production, all from one plant! I am amazed that one plant in a small town in a cattle raising area could open and produce such a large percentage of the national total! I would expect there to be 1000 beef slaughter houses at least, or a least 100s, but if every plant were this size, there would only be 65. That makes it sound like many beef ranchers are a long way from the nearest facility.
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That guy provides very interesting info on small/family farming. For men considering a small farm, it seems like he's cracked the code for maximizing land use, rotating various herds across the same piece of land. It is labor intensive, compared to modern industrial farming, but if you have decent land and sufficient water, a relatively small farm could feed a family and make some income. Someone will still need a "town job" for insurance and some pay stability, though.
I have a distant relative that puts cows on winter wheat (I think) on cotton farms. He's done well, basically profit sharing with the farmer.
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If it's like here (Australia), many ranchers might be a long way from the nearest processing facility, but there would be a saleyard nearby.
Once the farmer has delivered the stock to the saleyard and they are sold, the processor handles transport from there.
In my case both the saleyard and processing facility are in the same industrial estate about 45 minutes drive from here, and only a short distance apart, maybe a 5-10 minute walk, but that plant will also be buying weekly from other saleyards that are hours away.
I agree. When I look for land I always use center pivot areas as areas to avoid. It's the sign of big, multinational agriculture corps. And if you share an aquifer, then it's only a matter of time before they suck it - and all the life - out of the area.
Avoid at all costs.
I know all the reasons, why I should start farming, but I don't know how to force myself to do it.
I like to travel sometimes, ride a motorcycle, fight in the gym, explore things, and just the image of being from some point stuck around the farm only is hard for me. Farmers I know, have definitely a better life than city dwellers chasing rat race but nobody has been anywhere for years, because you can't leave livestock...
Are people born as farmers?
I like to travel sometimes, ride a motorcycle, fight in the gym, explore things, and just the image of being from some point stuck around the farm only is hard for me. Farmers I know, have definitely a better life than city dwellers chasing rat race but nobody has been anywhere for years, because you can't leave livestock...
Are people born as farmers?
No. Farmers are made not born. But you don't need to be a "farmer," just a person who grows 50% of his own vegetables, herbs, meat, and fruit (which could sustain you 100% of the time if push came to shove).
It takes about 3 years/seasons to turn a brown thumb into a green thumb. Anyone with a decent IQ can learn to grow plants and animals and cook great food in a short amount of time... (if you can read you can learn animal husbandry, horticulture, and culinary arts).
The good news too is that, once you learn the yearly growth cycles, you can have 2 or 3 non-consecutive months "off" a year to pursue the other interests you mentioned (but you'll need to hire a part-time property caretaker to maintain basic pre-growth/harvest functions of your "system" during dormant weeks/months when you are traveling).
You are right. It's just a mental thing on my part. Maybe I should start seeing movies about farmers, but even in the classic Westerns, the farmers and cowboys usually ride and shoot rather than
grow potatoes
