If you are seeking an agricultural/farming lifestyle, and you know it from a young age what is the best way to go about achieving it? One school of thought would suggest that you take a job, save your money and buy your farm when it is economically feasible for you to do so. This is what I did. I knew that I wanted to have my own farm when I was about 18 years old, and twenty years later my wife and I finally bought one. There is the other school of thought however, and that way of thinking about it says to get started right now and build slowly over time. My guest today, Mara Fielder, and her husband Brandon are subscribing to that school of thought, and they are thinking outside of the box to get this done. Mara and Brandon are currently leasing sixteen acres from Mara’s grandparents where they had been raising bees, boarding horses and providing riding lessons. However, a series of unexpected events derailed that process. Mara’s step-father is allergic to bees, and this led to some conflict in the family and the loss of the bee hives. Then Covid struck, and Mara lost her clients who were concerned about their horses being infected because she was still working in the community as a teacher. This kind of left Mara and Brandon back at square one, wondering how they would move to the next step. They didn’t allow this to get them down however. They are young, have energy and ideas and they are pushing forward. Currently they are living in town, looking for land that they can buy. In the meantime they have come up with an idea of a series of books for children that highlights the careers that a traditionally dominated by men but that women have found success in. The series is called “Girls Can Too” and they are in the process of being published right now. This original idea inspired a follow up idea of a book series profiling career choices normally dominated by women that men can succeed in. In this interview Mara and I speak about their goals, the setbacks they have already encountered and she and Brandon’s vision for the future. It is great to see the journey from this perspective and understand how they are planning to make this come true!
I am a big fan of the Off Farm Income podcast. I think he has a lot of insight on the rural and farming lifestyle and how to get there.
It's not like you've never seen this before. Probably by the time you see this picture, it's all chopped up and sitting in a silo somewhere, ready to feed the cows this winter.
During this week’s podcast, Kyle and Matt discuss how to be the most prepared land manager possible. We all know the struggles and difficulties that all landowners face. Some of these struggles are expected while others are totally unexpected. However, with proper planning and we can turn struggles into successes. Download to learn how to be the best landowner in your neighborhood. Do you feel like you run around your farm on the weekends chasing projects and never getting anywhere? There are several ways to stay prepared and ready to tackle the unexpected. Things such as flooding, downed trees, invasive species, road closures, etc all can throw wrenches into the plans. Here are the best ways to keep on task and schedule so that the progress keeps moving forward on habitat management projects. We hope you learn and enjoy the ways we develop contingency plans for farm managers! Land & Legacy is Powered by Simplecast
From here on out, I’m calling my face mask my muzzle. 😷
I mean that’s what one of my idols, the North Idaho off-grid III% hog farmer who burns their own trash calls them. I kind of like the term and I hate wearing my muzzle so I’m anti-social and spend my time in the woods where I’m not around others. If you’re not afraid of fermented grain or pig shit, you are after all my hero.
