Fields of Farmers: Interning, Mentoring, Partnering, Germinating

by Joel Salatin

Overview

America’s average farmer is sixty years old. When young people can’t get in, old people can’t get out. Approaching a watershed moment, our culture desperately needs a generational transfer of millions of farm acres facing abandonment, development, or amalgamation into ever-larger holdings. Based on his decades of experience with interns and multigenerational partnerships at Polyface Farm, farmer and author Joel Salatin digs deep into the problems and solutions surrounding this land- and knowledge-transfer crisis. This book empowers aspiring young farmers, midlife farmers, and nonfarming landlords to build regenerative, profitable agricultural enterprises.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780963810977
Publisher:	Rizzoli
Publication date:	09/17/2013
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Joel Salatin and his family own Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. The farm grows pastured livestock and forestry products, marketing directly to thousands of families. Featured in countless print media, documentaries, and YouTube videos, the farm represents the best in commercial-scale environmental agriculture.
He speaks internationally to food and farming conferences, has authored 16 books, and is editor of The Stockman Grass Farmer, the world’s premier trade publication for pasture-based livestock farming. Some 15,000 visitors a year come to the farm for tours, food, education, and entertainment. He writes columns for Plain Values magazine, homestead journals, and Manward, an e-magazine.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements viii

Foreword x

Introduction xvi

What's the Big Deal?

Chapter 1 The Need 2

Chapter 2 The Field Classroom 14

Especially for Mentors

Chapter 3 Wages 36

Chapter 4 Mindset 52

Chapter 5 Skills 68

Chapter 6 Investing in People 80

Especially for Interns

Chapter 7 Cost 94

Chapter 8 Spirit 114

How it Works

Chapter 9 Vetting and Selecting 130

Chapter 10 Nuts and Bolts 152

Chapter 11 Housing 170

Chapter 12 Leveraging the Labor 186

Chapter 13 This Isn't Working 200

Future Farming Success

Chapter 14 Accessing Land 214

Chapter 15 Germinating New Farmers 234

Chapter 16 Food Clusters 268

Chapter 17 Stacking 286

Summary 302

Appendix: Historical Context 310

Index 324