Great advice! We are in our second year on our own land. First year was tree planting, chickens, bees and soil building. I suggest how important relationships with local farmers has been. Know your neighbors (ranchers and farmers), the farm store staff, 4H, etc. We bought our land from mid-80 year olds. They have lovingly answered our questions and cheer our efforts. We planted flowers along the road, its both beautiful and welcoming. I have never been so tired or as happy as we are now.

Your vids are among the best! We've been gardening for 35 years, and couldn't imagine trying to do it professionally but want to be able to ramp up production in SHTF scenario. Somewhat offtopic, but growing up I knew an older couple that never had kids but took in a local kid that had a terrible home situation to help out on their dairy farm and live in their barn. Many years later he was able to buy his own farm and when the husband had passed away he took in the wife and cared for her until the end. Farms produce a lot more than vegetables.

Regarding #1, I'm helping out a first time farmer and what she did was really smart... she bought 20 acres and leased out 19 to other farmers. So she literally has nothing planted yet and is already making a return on her investment. Now she can focus on seeing what's possible with 1 acre, and expand as she feels comfortable.

I’m a stay at home mom with two toddlers, we’re building our farm business with the hopes of my husband leaving his off farm job in the next couple of years! It definitely takes the pressure off and has allowed us to build tons of infrastructure and build a market base

two years ago bought 62 acres. last two years have spent building the structure for a organic farm. The farm is very remote and water collection was key along with shelter. My first crops get planted in the spring .. which is exciting. I say all of this because it takes a boat load of work and money just to get to the point of planting crops. I could have done it faster but wanted to avoid large debt. I have learned a lot about the land, weather, soil and the Dept of Ag to name a few things. Thanks to your channel and many others for your sharing knowledge.

"On average, off-farm income contributed 82 percent of total income, or $101,638, for all family farms in 2019" - USDA ERS. Off farm income is 100% normal and im glad you point this out!

That was like, a whole college course in less than 18 minutes! I saved this because I need a notepad and pencil and I'm taking notes when I watch it again, and yet again. Other vids don't come near what you covered in this. THANK YOU!

Your videos are always helpful, even to a small home gardener. Thanks for the help and encouragement.

Thanks for the inside Jessie , and appreciate the experience and effort you put into these videos. Thanks mate

I'm never going to farm, but I love the glimpse into market farming your videos give, not to mention all of the tips and tricks that work just as well for my little 50'x100' garden. Can't wait for my library to get your book in (they said they're buying it after my request, but it hasn't shown up in the catalog yet).

Thank you so much for this video! I’m practicing starting a farm on my grandparents’ acre and it is very challenging for me with a non-related fulltime job. But it is so enjoyable for me whenever I can work on it. I know I definitely need actual experience before starting seriously. Thank you for the reminder, ego-check, and amazing info! 💗🙏🏽

Great advice. Thank you so much! God bless you!

I haven't started watching this video and two ads pop up already,..am happy they did and am not going to skip them.. because now I feel like am paying a bit of school fees for the knowledge am going to learn through this video. 🙏🏽

Thank you Jess for sharing your knowledge.

We have an extra acre of land we've been casually gardening on here in NKY that I keep thinking about turning into more intensive farming. This video was great to watch and as a new subscriber, I'm loving your content!

This video is a game-changer! I've never seen anything like it before, and I'm blown away by the host's creativity and expertise.

This is good advice. I started a home garden two years ago and there is so much to learn. Thanks to utube how to videos it’s coming along nicely but it would take a few more years of study and hard work to be prepared to start even a small market farm.

Love that you spoke about off farm income. We had no choice but to seek a full time to job to pay for the family expenses. The farm income goes right back to the farm investing in its growth and tools needed to make the job a little easier. One thing I would say though is working a full time job now gets me behind on the farm. It’s a tough battle some days are better then others mentally, but we love our new farm journey and hope one day it pays for everything

I always wanted to start a farm but didn't got much guts to start, After going through your videos I found it's more simpler than I think. Happy Farming 😊

Hello, I am 1 self homesteader trying to survive in the woods of Ontario Canada ..well trying to be :) Your videos are very helpful and appreciated. thank you!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and keep up the fantastic work, and let's all work together to protect our planet! 👏

Liked, and subscribed! Love the straight forward, no BS content!

You are amazing! Love all the insights, this is so precious! Please geek out more on relationships, partnerships, farming with a team, and bringing a community aspect into farming, that would be so amazing as farming, as you say can be boring and lonely, and who does not want amazing people to spend their days with?

i wanted to thank you for your wonderful, informative videos. I live in louisville and have dreams of having a proper garden in the country (I have a garden but only a quarter of an acre of land). I always loved watching your videos and kept thinking, that is the most beautiful farm I've ever seen. When I found out you were so close to home it made me love your channel even more, dad jokes and all. Thanks for all you do!!!

the collaboration thing is an eye-opener for me...blessings

I always love how you videos are fairly dry and informatively serious, but then you inject these random jokes, or you change your whole mood and camera persona when the cat visits. Anyways! love your videos! been informative AF in coming up with Ideas for my future inner city food garden!

Finally ordered your book & some stickers. Thank you for so much information on your channel. You've been a blessing for my homestead!!😊

Best channel for gardening lovers ! 💪👍👍👍

i really deeply appreciate the thoughtful approach that you take in making these videos and the amount of care and experience that goes into the advice that you give. it's really helpful, especially the advice about going and working (or volunteering if you have to) on some other farms for a substantial period of time before trying to start your own farm business i am currently working towards the dream of making most of my living growing food. ive bought some land (a very long way from kentucky in the central tablelands of NSW, australia!) with some help from my parents and am slowly saving up for infrastructure and equipment, doing research into the local farmers markets and food scene, meeting neighoburs and other local farmers etc. i have been struggling for nearly 3 years with my enthusiasm for setting up the farm on the one hand, but the need to work off-farm to be able to service the mortgage, eat, and save up for tools etc. your advice about not being ashamed of relying on other income has just flipped a switch in my brain, i have realised that it doesn't need to be an all or nothing thing and i can continue to work part time at my landscaping job while the market garden gets up and running. this seems really obvious now but it was not obvious to me ten minutes ago. thankyou jesse! ive also bought a couple of hats and the book to say thank you, these videos almost never fail to give me something really excellent to think about. cheers mate

I always wanted to start a farm but didn't got much guts to start, After going through your videos I found it's more simpler than I think. Happy Farming

this is one the best videos i've seen on this topic. Thank you.

I'm actually in the process of starting up a flower farm for farmers markets it will be a no till no dig organic farm thanks to your videos and knowledge. I did something a little unorthodox lol :)... Like selling my condo in the city and looking to buy land but the only thing is my condo sold alot faster then expected and land with a tiny home is going 🆙 in price and selling fast because its so popular now "homestead life," lol but seeing this video helped especially when you don't have to buy land first I can start small and work my way up thank you for the tips❤:)

Very thoughtful feedback. Thanks for nerding out with us.

This was a great video! I never thought about renting or leasing land to farm. Always thought you had to out right own the land. Thanks for sharing 🙏🏾

Love your vidieos. Informative and silliy at times. Think this one is a keeper for the family farm library.

Thanks for the intro, good points!

Great advice, especially encouraging people to learn to budget and have a business plan. And good catch budgeting for the sweat jar. 😆

I'm 23 atm in Ireland been wrecked with thinking how I'll make the next steps into owning a home oneday in our crazy market atm. But i have to say this video helped ground me. Most or all of these steps can be translated into the home buying process and how to supplement it, or at least i was able to make useful comparisons.

Loans can be scary for new farmers but it can be a great way to start a farm way quicker. It’s certainly a calculated risk not everyone is ready for, but there are small regional Farm Credit unions that are willing to work with farmers who have 2 years or less experience with very flexible loan opportunities. They also can have good free resources for bookkeeping, financial planning, crop planning etc. For us we started buying the tools we knew we would need while also starting the loan process and funded our farm both ways… it certainly can be stressful in your first years when you are barely making enough to cover interest payments so tread wisely!

You just gained a subscriber. Great video man. About to start a farm myself.

Wow, that was very informative! Thank you

I grew up on a 150 acre working farm.....15 years of experience, and that was not enough. My family now lives on 1/4 acre and we're successfully raising fruit, veggies and herbs....but we are still learning.

First step must be identifying Sales. What is the local market interested in buying at the retail level and can you fill that niche successfully? Do you enjoy selling? Can you work at a farmer's market part-time for someone else (not one who will be a competitor)? Can you buy wholesale (say u-pick tomatoes or strawberries) and sell retail to test the market (and you)? Can you beat the national corporate grocery store at their retail business? That is who you are ultimately up against. Nothing else works if you cannot sell whatever it is you want to farm. ... Practice commercial-level farming before you get a place; saving cardboard boxes and buying bags of compost work (if not contaminated with produce-destroying chemicals) for a small home gardener but what are you going to do with five or ten acres? Practice in that backyard garden growing cover crops to have compost-in-place. ... Raise your own plant starts and not buy packs from the nursery (conserve cash). .... Get garage sale garden tools not new-off-the-rack, same with machinery. Don't buy/lease a tractor but rescue a fence-row abandoned tractor (or locate a running refurbished tractor). You can buy an old tractor off Craigslist outright for that same cash that would just be a down-payment on a new tractor (that still breaks down!) and avoid years of monthly loan payments you may or may not really have cash flow some months. Upgrade features on the tractor every season (like all new wiring, newer tires, etc) to make it more reliable. Sometimes it's better to have two antique tractors to save time dedicating each to a certain job but keep them similar to each other as backups in case one is down for repairs (which is not an option with a single new but broken tractor). ... And if you are married, make sure your spouse either understands you are out there all the time working on the farming startup or they are out there with you too and that is what they want, including a lack of cash in that conversation -- no money, no time, loan payments, and tired can make for huge family friction. ... people don't understand that farming is brutally hard both physically and mentally. Be realistic about the fantasy.

Great video. Thank you for the info!

You make great videos full great advice. Thank you. I'd like to see a video on your strategies for each crop you grow and sell from harvest to market. Growing produce is one thing, but how do you store it so that it looks as fresh as possible for market? Thanks for what you do.

Thanks! Excellent, easy to understand, down to earth advice and links to plenty of help.

The most amazing farm start up advice video in the world thank you!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

yinz are such a great resource. thanks for doing all this. unrelated to the video, but i just read your patreon link as not-ill growers and chuckled

As expected another rather concise video that was also put into great perspective. Our garden area is only about 7,000 square feet. It is our hobby and we produce enough for ourselves and to share as well. We plan on doing some slight expanding via companion planting. Getting more serious about no till farming and other things. We have no desire and ever operating a REAL farm. However we do have a great stress reliever that gives us produce and peace of mind!

Great video, very helpful. Perhaps the best tip of this video is the Swear Jar. That cash really adds up. A tidy nest egg in just a year.

Crazy helpful video, thanks for all these spot on tips!

My wife and I are starting a farm-to-plate catering business (events). She's Mexican and the chef, I'm Belgian and do the production. In february this year we moved on to rented land. We plan on growing both veg (mainly peppers, tomatoes, herbs) and broiler chickens. My wife and I both have off farm income. I've been trying to switch my office job for a farm job to gain more experience, but it has been challenging to find the right farm where I can learn the necessary skills... We are starting small (75 broilers, 10 x 10m² garden beds and 1 polytunnel) to see how we can manage production and catering in a harmonious way. Your channel has been a great inspiration, thank you!

Thank you for the great video. Very informative as we build our farm up in northern Idaho. Taking a lot away from this one!

Great information. Some day when we retire i hope to farm for fun. Again thank for your insights.

I am currently fortunate to have a yearly 4 month contract that sends me away from home to earn enough to support ourselves for about 8 months of the year. What I produce in those 4 months I can buy and resell after exporting giving us another few months living expenses covered. That been said my wife and I are embarking on an adventure of starting a small 10000sq foot “farm” in South Africa on land we own that is paid for. We begin in December and I am soaking up all the info these videos provide. Thank you for the great content.

I’ve been gardening for about 5 years and always used pots. This year I decided to build my mother in law our dream garden. It came out absolutely beautiful and it makes me so happy knowing the hard work I put in paid off. We now have 2 in ground vegetable/fruit gardens now and a nice flower garden for companion planting. It opened my eyes to how much I truly enjoy gardening and there’s not much I don’t know or haven’t grown already. We had an insane harvest and it’s still going strong for things like peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, squash, etc…. It’s really making me question buying land and turning the whole thing into a farm. That would truly be a dream come true to start with my family. If anyone has any tips on starting it would be greatly appreciate.

This video is a terrific dose of common sense to those that want to start a farm business (different from a personal homestead) - emphasis on the word business. Hence, I would add one thing: know for what your farm is being started. If your guiding thoughts are "to heal the earth" then your business outlook will be different than "I want healthy fruits and vegs while having a $ surplus". I graduated from a #1 rated business school back in the late 80's. Throughout my working life, I have - literally - had only 1 chance to apply anything I learned there. Much of business is truly "common sense" which comes easily by not doing rash decisions and just thinking things through. Also, you got to know how to read, write, and do basic math (solving for X is useful). Perhaps the only "college" level useful learning is basic accounting (yes, that dang math part) and some basic marketing.

Thanks for all the great advice. I really must buy your book ..

Great advice, thank you very much for your sharing..wish you success and be healthy always

Best video and advice i've seen on youtube 🙂thank you

Thank you farmer Jesse. I love your videos are very inspirational. I'm not a market Gardener but I grow medicinal herbs in NZ. I'm slowly getting my farmlet up and running on a zero budget (lol). This next season, I'm getting more serious woth it. I'm leasing land but would love to own at somepoint. The travel to and from home is what is frustrating especially juggling kids. I wouldn't swap what I do though. Thank you again for your videos.... woth herbal blessings. Pxxx

Thank you for such great advice, I can put some of this into practice, and try some of these tips.

Great video! I would love to start a small market garden famr business but currently working on our garden for ourselves. Once our food forest and veggie beds are up and running we may revisit the idea of going commercial.

Love the Swear Jar line item in the farm budget

Tons of free budgeting software out there too for those who don't want to use or setup a spreadsheet. I pretty much dug a hole, pulled rocks and fertilized the dirt. Getting my hours into the whole gardening thing. I pretty much ignored all of the rules. Especially with compost. I planted beans in a seed tray once like 20 years ago.. xD I spent most on a fork and shovel. Going well all things considered. I quite enjoy the business side of things like this. I may never do it, but I'm just a sponge like that.

Thanks for the video!

I'm a starter gardener.... This video is the most information. Thanks You

These are the notes I need right now. It’s like you know exactly what I’m into, weird. ❤😅

Thank you for sharing your nice and creative ideas in farming more power sir.

Your farm is so beautiful. All the plants are very green. Where I live, the land is very poor, causing my plants to grow very slowly. Congratulations on owning a very lush farm.

This information is so helpful. Thank you!

Great video Farmer J!

Insightful. Thanks.

This is very helpful. My goal is to grow for ourselves and if there is more than we need, donate and sell the excess. Watching this video is giving me some possable options down the road.

Listen to the growers, utube, podcasts, and library. Mimic what they do, plant the varieties that they like, and go from there. For instance, I need to go harvest my lettuce right now before 8 am. I'll let you guess where and who I learned that tip from.

Great advice! Salute to all farmers..

Thanks for such informative videos.

I know the comment is not on the best video for it but i write it during i listen to this one . I wanted to say thx for the cover crops principle that i learned from you. I did it with mustard in my greenhouse during early spring and it worked great. Before i planted my main crop on top of it, i harvest mustard leaf for salade every 2 days. When it's -30C outside, I guess it's not that bad. If you ever go by Québec, Canada, try to stop by my farm. I hope I could give you a couple of idea back.

Your videos are so good and really inspirational.

Love the last line item on your budget and that it is the second largest budgeted expense ;). Helpful info, I’d say for anyone starting any time of business really. Enjoying your channel. Subscribing now.

Than the other you tube videos your is perfect and clear instructions with guide.Thank you..Im new for your channel..🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰

very nice and amazing facts on starting a small farm, thank you for sharing.

I LOVE the swear jar line on the farm budget lol

While I wont be starting a farm, I just grow fresh vegetables year round for friends and family I did find this video interesting. I work in the wine industry and have planted many vineyards as well as worked at many wineries before going into business this year with a friend starting a new winery.

Your farm is just so beautiful ❤️

This is great advice for any business start... there's one thing that goes up at the top of the list somewhere between DON'T BUY LAND and FAMILY BUDGET FIRST... and as someone who has recently shut down business attempt #3... it's this: KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN LIFE. My family is always going to be my #1 priority and so I find myself obligated in areas that many others don't. My first attempt at a business got sidelined when my father passed away and I found myself as executor of an unfamiliar estate in another state... it took over a year of learning something totally different than I was used to and hit me particularly hard. The business never launched.. I simply didn't have the time or head space. My second attempt was derailed when Pop had a heart attack following Nana's ambulance to the hospital...unforeseen strangeness? Not really when I look back. Be real with yourself and who you are: if you're the one who's going to be taking care of the daily needs of elderly parents, if you're the one who is the caretaker for the disable family member, if you know you're the one on point if home dialysis needs to happen or physical therapy needs a transporter 40 miles 3 days a week, if you're the one that takes over house cleaning and lawn mowing when someone in your circle needs you... have a reliable back up or reconsider all together. Just be honest with yourself about who you are, what others expect from you and your willingness to say "sorry, you're going to have to find someone else to help...I have a business to run." There's a big difference between starting a business in you 50's with kid's in college and parent's in kidney failure... then starting a business in your 20's or 30's with a few rug rats under foot. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. I'm glad you guys didn't wait to do a few more internships... because you might not have launched your business. You can always learn on the job. Attempt number 3 we were a little "smarter" about. We waited until we could focus on the family without predictable interruptions in our caregiver rolls, including our son's scheduled heart surgery. And then made the biggest mistake right out of the gate... we assumed the local market hadn't changed since our first attempt. It had... tremendously. We knew how to get up and running, we knew how to get the permits and licensing... saved up the capital... then did market testing and sold a whopping $26 worth of product in our first year. It was a waste of nearly $1500... that we could have saved had we did a little market test data research first. It was fairly obvious on our first trip out that there were 9 other well established competitors thinning themselves out while we were opening our doors. 3 of them were trying to sell us their equipment because they were looking for a way out while retaining a slim margin of solvency. We were fortunate that we had not transferred our equipment from our personal asset to a business asset and instead were relying on excess inventory from previous business failures for our market test (clearly not a food based business). Now we wait...for grandchildren.

Really good video! Great advice on the business side!!! Like and share. 🌻

Nice video. you touched on steps that arent talked about enough.!

Now that i subscribed, am i awesome? Lol love your videos! Im starting a farm while working as a pastry chef. Hopefully i can marry the two and make it a truly farm to table job! Thanks for the knowledge and such helpful videos!!

I'm not one for Fanboi-ism (is that a word?) nor brown nosing, but i've got your book, i'm watching your vids, have liked and subscribed and am thoroughly enjoying learning from them. I like: The sprinkling of humour, the way you are flexible and note there are no rigid rules, (every situation is different), the way you cram all the relevant info into a vid and not pad it out with nonsense (thus boring the audience). All the best for the future from someone just starting to try and farm on slopes in a fairly inhospitable part of the UK 🙂

Great video and advice! A great looking farm.

such a peaceful life with wonderful arable gardens

A lot of good advice here and I like your straightforwardness. Farming is always been a tough endeavor and if you're not economically sustainable then you not sustainable. A lot of farmers found that out in the early 80s, I will also say that the one of the biggest thorns in the side of farming is government and regulations. Even if you're a small organic farmer don't think that government is not going to throw a wrench in your works they are more of a pain in the ass.

Great content, thank you!!

Love your content. I am learning a lot

Thanks for this candid and focused advice!

thank you it amazing devise so farming i can practice!!!

lol Super video! Love the budget and the soccer karaoke and the farm budget for the swear jar! lolol We love you and look forward to your videos, I always get a laugh! Tatoos and legal mushrooms bwahaha..

Good stuff thank you for the advice

I save more videos from this channel to my playlist than any other.