“My husband had been fascinated by Scottish Highlanders. We would drive by this place and you'd have to stop, get out of the car and like look through the woods to see them. And I was like, they're just big, shaggy horned beasts. I don't know about horns, you know, and it was like, oh my gosh. They wanted to sell the herd. They were getting older, had health problems. They wanted it to go somewhere local. A young family. I'm like, well, we're young, we're a family, maybe we could buy some calves...

“I did not grow up in a farming family. I grew up in a small town in the Midwest…there's no one in my family that has ever farmed. I'm pretty sure most of my siblings think I'm crazy.” Erin and Charles Meding purchased their 27 acre slice of heaven in 2008 and raised their now grown children in the Sunapee Region of NH. They transformed a run down little ranch (900 square feet) into their current farmhouse, built a 3 story barn and established too many gardens to count. They currently have ho...

“I'd watch the deer, how they would interact with the cows and turkeys and, you know, other animals. I've always been a keen observer of nature. That started young. That's kind of like the foundation. I didn't realize that's what laid the foundation, except for like, 20 years later.” Currently Cameron is the farm manager of Anchorage Farm - Registered Romneys. For the past 6 years, he’s been farming the Hudson Valley, NY, following 4 years of service in the Navy and then pursuing his bachelor...

“Neither one of us came from a farm family or any kind of money in our background. We've just kind of done it on our good credit. We've leased the farms that we've been on. We are hoping to be able to buy the farm we're on now.”—Samantha Kemnah “The seasonal intensity of growing vegetables got old. My seventh year, I was like, I should quit last year. Because it was just, between the weather--the hot weather--I run hot as it is just temperature wise.--and my attitude is hot. I'm short temp...

“We did have the sense to look and say, you know, God created ruminant animals to take advantage of grass and low input. You know, if we've got a grass base, and we take care of that, that's as low input as you're gonna get versus hauling in feed.”—Emalee Buttrey “There's a lot of challenges that you just don't come across in the classroom or the textbook.” –Brad Buttrey Raised in McEwen, TN on a small cattle operation, Brad developed a keen interest in reproduction, learning to AI w...

“I have a specific memory of the first time we ever did sheep, I was so mad at my parents, we were going to kill the sheep. And then fast forward like an hour into it. And I came running into the house holding a sheep tongue and being like, Mom, check this sheep tongue out.”—Jeremiah Vernon Vernon Family Farm (VFF) is a 1st generation, pastured livestock farm on the Seacoast of New Hampshire. Established in 2014, VFF works hard to provide wholesome, delicious food to their community throug...

Troy Bishopp web site TroyBishopp Instagram #lingergrazing On Pasture Grazing Chart link Grasstravanganza info: https://grasstravaganza.morrisville.edu/ Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com Join our Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/choosingtofarm/message

"My buddy Rock Langone, he runs my ice cream store up the road here. Him and I were the young farmers of the county, we were the chosen ones. We had high herd averages, you know, just got out of college. We were making milk, we were doing what we're taught, you know. I went to college, I made a lot of milk. I had good cows. I had good husbandry skills, but it wasn't enough, because the price…the price wasn't enough. So then you start saying, “Well, how am I going to survive as a dairy farmer?” S...

"There was a guy in my office for years, who used to refer to people like me as hobby farmers. And it drove me crazy. One day I finally said, “You know what? These hobby farmers, if they are getting up every day, and taking care of animals, it's not a hobby. A hobby is something you do when you feel like doing it.” Karen Hoffman started working for Cornell Cooperative Extension for a few years after grad school, and then began working for USDA-NRCS as an Animal Scientist to help dairy farm...

“I got involved with sheep and farming purely by accident. Aside from a semester Work Study program at UVM dairy, I had no background in farming and no interest in sheep. Then, one cold February while I was farmsitting, 6 out of 8 of the ewes on the farm decided to give birth. I knew nothing about shepherding except for the basics of care while the farmer was gone, and had to dive right into a lambing season completely green. All sorts of lambing issues and farming challenges came up and I had t...

Kate Osgood of Birch Rise Farm in Sanburton, NH, along with her husband Ken and sons Hunter and Henry, loves to go all in on whatever they do. When they decided to move back to the east to raise their family, they didn’t know they’d be starting a farm, renovating a house, and adding a second child all within a few months. From pigs to meat birds to sheep to farmstays, Kate at Birch Rise Farm has plenty to share. Birch Rise Farm website Birch Rise Farm Facebook Birch RiseFarm Instagra...

Nick and his family have a productive history as small business owners, investors, and planners. After getting his construction management degree from Michigan State University in 2009, Nick returned to join the family construction company fulltime as a general contractor and supervisor. Starting in 2013 Nick interned on a sustainable livestock farm in New Jersey gaining invaluable knowledge. Nick is not only handy in the sense of being able to fix things, but in being young-ish while already ha...

From Becky: My husband and I moved our kids to a farm in rural southern Minnesota in 2016 to grow better food. We were already purchasing most of our meat from local farmers, but wanted to do it ourselves while giving our kids a better life. I was working fulltime as a hairstylist and teaching at a cosmetology school in the Twin Cities while my husband was working at his own company doing engineering services. We knew we wanted to get away from the chaos of city life, but we had no farm experien...

“We cleared eight acres and piled the trees by hand. Not the trees but the brush. We had 96 brush piles in one field. And we had no friends left, because we would say to them, ‘Come on over for the weekend. And we'll give you beer and pizza and you can help us pile the brush.’ Nobody would even answer the phone.” Hank and Heather LeTarte of White Gates Farm in New Hampshire started clearining their land in 1982 out of largely pine woods and a prospective view. They built a home, a family, and...

“I can't express enough how just beautiful it is to watch the growth. The growth of a farm year after year where you're putting your inputs in, which may just mean your animals, they’re just fertilizing and grazing for you. I say ‘just’ lightly because that's huge for the field. Those are inputs, and then the next year to see that come back bigger and better--it's just so cool.” Carly grew up in the suburbs of Massachusetts with a passion for animals. She received a degree in animal science and ...

“I think that you have to listen to what everybody has to say, and then just pick and choose different parts of their advice. That's complicated for some people; they just want a How-To Guide for starting their farm. It’s not that simple--at least it hasn't been for us.” Shannon and Matt raise waterfowl and grassfed sheep on leased land in Maine. After working on farms for other people in North Carolina after college, they gained experience before heading to Maine to start their own venture. Wha...

"I get a lot of people saying, you're living my dream life. I'm so jealous. I know it's a compliment. But I'm not living your dream life. I'm living my dream life. And I know what it comes with. I know all the s-h-i-t it comes with. And it's still my dream. But for most people it's not. It's not their dream." Former vegan and marketing communications professional Katie Steere was 2,000 miles and ten years away from her family's longtime-shuttered farm in Rhode Island. A TED talk convinced her to...

“I am very delightfully holding on to the things that I hold dear about myself that are a part of my life as a farmer, and not integrating that into my life going forward, where I'm not commercially farming. I really appreciate being remembered, and that people still value the thoughts that I've had over these years.” After falling in love with farming as a young boy on his grandparents farm in Pennsylvania, Brent Beidler dreamed of starting his own dairy farm in Vermont. He worked on many fa...

Here’s a quick mini-episode I wanted to share about agritourism. I recorded it while driving home from the International Workshop on Agritourism last fall. Fair warning that it’s only lightly edited. I just came across this recording and thought it might be a useful thing to provide some background about what’s happening. I talk about agritourism and farmstays a bit in various places especially my social media, and this debrief kind of gets at why I think it’s a big deal. I’m so excited about it...

“From what I’ve learned, it's always best to learn from other people. Learn from people who have been doing this before. If you can find a mentor in the field that you are interested in, I think that's the best thing you can do for yourself. I think it's super important for folks who have the knowledge, to share that knowledge." Katelyn Duban was born and raised in Southern Alberta, Canada and married into agriculture in 2016. At the time, it was not her intention to be an active member of th...

“I really love the sheep. They're not stupid. Nor do I think they desire to die, as I've heard on more than one occasion. I do think they require awareness. They also are so instinct driven--which makes sense, based on what they are--being totally prey-driven. They will do things entirely based on that instinct. If it's fight or flight, I'm flighting first and fighting never.” Jessica Newman of Southview Station moved back to Pennsylvania to combine her nursing career and love of genetics with a...

Coming soon! The second season of Choosing to Farm is bringing you even more great stories of the journey into--and sometimes out of--farming. We'll talk about new models, new ways of being successful, and where new farmers are coming from. I might even ask about a few of their Worst Days. ;-P So excited to get talking--see you soon, friends! Listen to back episodes through Anchor, Spotify, Apple podcasts, or right at www.choosingtofarm.com.