The Hip Young Farmer Boom

"Why doesn't my hair ever look that good when I am out in the field? Or anytime really."

(The anonymity of the source is retained to protect the innocently jealous.)

That's probably my favorite of my friends' comments on the New York Times article In New Food Culture, a Young Generation of Farmers Emerges. The article, beyond the semi-flashy lead photo, paints a semi-realistic demographic of the younger crowd returning to the land and addresses some of the most important issues and barriers facing new farmers today. But, with just one glance at the cover photo, you realize exactly what the above comment is referring to (no really, go look at it): a young couple, with slightly pointed stares, each holding a chicken and standing next to a beautifully dilapidated barn on a classic Oregon winter day. The canopy of the tree above them is bare, the scarves a must to ward off a damp chill and the fly trap above the chicken coop door a necessity. The striking aspect of the image? The well coiffed -literally- duo, sporting leather jackets, a ruched skirt (her) and smart pageboy hat (him), look better suited to attend a show at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland than spend a long day on the farm in Corvallis.When did farming turn into a hip fashion statement?

A snarky response? Absolutely! And I can give you all the reasons why...

1. I am jealous
2. Reality.
3. Am I jealous?
4. More jealousy.

1. It is true, I am jealous. Not of their totally rad style, or even the fact that they have a spread in the Times (ok, maybe a little). I am jealous they get to wake up each morning (style their hair) and start the day off with a never ending list of farm chores: animals to feed, fields to cultivate, pasture to monitor, crops to plan.  They have the one thing I don't: a farm. And as an aspiring farmer, I am envious of their land, barn, infrastructure, market for their goods and the sweet aesthetic of their Afton Field Farm sign. What this article doesn't share with us, however, is the background, training, education and farming skills this young couple brought to the bank when they signed their mortgage (or lease) for the farm.

In the case of Tyler Jones of Afton Field Farms, he grew up with vegetables, chickens and an family-instilled appreciation for agriculture, followed by an intensive apprenticeship with Joel Salatin at Polyface Farms in Virginia. If you haven't heard of Joel Salatin yet, he's sort of the public face for pasture-based farming in the United States with accessible books like Salad Bar Farming and Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front and cameos in documentaries like Food, Inc. But I digress...The basic point is Tyler was prepared. He had ample training, education and real experience. He knew what he was getting into and had the taken the time to acquire the skills to make it work. Further, he had the wholehearted support of his family...and eventually his future wife Alicia. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.

2. Over the past two, three years, five years there has been an unquestionable growth in farming. Seems like everyone wants to be a farmer these days, and many are young, idealistic people. Not people like Tyler Jones who were raised on the land. Not sons and daughters of farmers. Not people who grew up in a town with a 4-H club. Not even college-age hippies who like to walk around barefoot. People more like Jenni and Scott Timms, both 28, who left their engineering jobs in Texas to start farming.

I don't know anything about Jenni and Scott other than their brief mention in the NY Times article...but I can tell you this: you can't engineer a farm. You can throw a lot of your hard-earned savings into buying land, a tractor or a herd...but that is very different from being a successful farmer, or even a barely successful farmer. Almost all farmers narrate the horror stories of their beginning years in operation. Most farms have horror stories for the middle years too. But the best prevention is a solid plan, as much experience as possible and some source of continued off farm income. I have heard too many firsthand accounts of people quitting jobs, selling homes, buying farmland and heading off into the country to live that dreamy, idealized agrarian lifestyle of the past. Yea, that one. The one that never really existed. Often, these new farmers find that farming is challenging, exhausting and poverty-inducing.

Much of the press about young people flocking to farms outlines the challenges, but never quite puts them into true perspective. This article mentions "the lack of health insurance, inability to repay student loans and a failed garlic crop." Our generation is conditioned to accept some of these failures, so these barriers don't easily deter. The media rarely gives these challenges the level of coverage they deserve. There is debt. There are also skills needed for farming: obviously agricultural knowledge...but also all the business savvy of a small business woman and the motivation of the successfully self-employed. The problem is, many new farmers have trouble tackling even the first item on this list: successfully raising enough high quality food to sell.

Don't get me wrong. I wish all new farmers good luck, because sometimes that seems to be the necessary special ingredient. And I want all that same luck for myself! What an adventure, what a challenge, what a risk. We must all be crazy to even consider it!

3. Fortunately/Unfortunately, farming has become the cause celeb, the new dream job of the vegan-tattooed-fixie riding hipster, the Subaru-driving educated liberal back-to-the-lander and the spirited venture capitalist looking for a second career. One of my dearest young-farmer friends puts it well in her response to this article, "I ask myself, am I happy that young farmers are gaining recognition and the challenged they face are acknowledged...or am I totally annoyed by foodie hipsters and their "cool" farmer aesthetic...Struggle is NOT a fashion statement." This comes from a woman who has spent years learning, working, managing small farms, her very own farm the last two years. She's the real thing, down to the permanently sore muscle, dirty fingernails and seasonal bank account. It's great that so many people are eager to raise food, but are we idealizing the process and what it means? I can admit I am jealous on two fronts. The first, I fear I have missed the farming boat and that the ship of small-farmer popularity has sailed and is being carried on a brief wave of revival popularity. Have I been left in the dust? By the time we plant seeds, harvest first eggs and slaughter pigs will small-scale farming be passe? Markets swelled to capacity? No more room for our delicious mold-ripened goat milk cheese with the think layer of ash in the middle? It's hard to sit by patiently, computer and concrete bound in Boston, watching everyone else live the dream!

4. And beyond that, not only does everyone want to be a farmer these days, everyone seems to want to write about being a farmer. Juicy, farming reads used to be limited to the likes of Michael Ableman, books with simple images weaving the story of a farm with yarns of personal narrative. The landscape, foggy mornings, beautiful descriptions of food in the field and long wooden tables in the farmhouse kitchen. Then there was a little Barbara Kingsolver with Animal, Vegetable, Mineral and the likes. Now the hottest reads are the likes of Growing a Farmer and The Dirty Life. Even Roseanne Barr is getting in on the action...

In the big picture, it's great that the good word is getting out there about the need for farmers, the hard life of growing food and the beautiful and bountiful rewards too. I'm just a little sour grapes that the time for the soft-voiced farm narrative, brimming with stories of brilliant failure, full-tilt exhaustion, love, equipment mishaps, unruly animals and financial demise is now, not (say) six years from now.

...

But really, it all boils down to the fact that I am jealous of all these good people and their incredible adventures. I want all their ups and downs RIGHT NOW! In the mean time, I'll sit back, breathe a bit and enjoy the slightly longer road to the farm I am traveling on. I'll be sure to take a look out the window and enjoy the view, gather my resources and skills for the on and off-farm jobs often required to make a living in agriculture. And it's not all bad, the time spent in grad school has helped me hone my skills, pinpoint the enterprises I want to undertake (broilers, hogs, goat & milk cheese and a winter CSA), take advantage of the abundance of new farmer training programs and meet a special someone who is just as crazy as me and wants to do this farming together. The hard thing is the patience, the knowing there is a reason to wait for that barn door to open with just the right opportunity on the other side.