Joel Salatin on How to Swap a Depressing Job for a Rewarding Farm

smallfarmnation.com

This week Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms and I have a provocative discussion about how to quit an unfulfilling job and start a farm business. Joel offers some real gems in this episode, as he outlines his seven rules for starting a profitable farm. We talk at length about his latest book, Your Successful Farm Business, which can be thought of as a graduate course to the book that got so many people started in farming, You Can Farm!

You’ve heard Joel and you’ve seen him in movies discuss the importance of regenerative agriculture. Now listen as he outlines step-by-step how to quit your job and start your own profitable farm. We discuss grassfed beef, pastured poultry and:

-Joel Salatin’s seven rules for starting a successful farm business.

- What type of farm enterprise Joel would choose to start today if starting over, and why.

- Why someone should want to trade jobs and start a farm.

- Ways for new farmers to get experience and get up to speed.

- The critical importance of building a team, and why most farmers don’t do it.

- How Polyface uses standard operating procedures and sets performance expectations for apprentices.

- The risk-free tactic Polyface used to grow their Metropolitan Buying Club from only 30 families to over 1,000!