7 hours agoMember-onlyFarm-to-Community: Critical Elements of a Successful Farm Mutual-Aid ProgramAccessibility continues to be the Achilles’ heel of regenerative agriculture, the farm-to-table movement, sustainable agriculture, and whatever other labels we want to wrap around doing food and farming the “right” way. Our products are inordinately expensive and our industry has largely responded to this with silence and resignation to segregating…Mutual Aid8 min read
4 days agoMember-onlyMarket-First Farming, Part II: Setting Your PricesIn part 1 of this series, I introduced the market-first concept of farming: getting into farming by first starting on the marketing end, then working your way back to the farm. In part 2, we’re going to talk about the most important thing you’re going to do as an agribusiness…Farming7 min read
6 days agoMember-onlyCaught in 4K: Jerome Powell Admits We’re All NPCs in Capitalism’s GameYou know what would make a really good South Park episode? After the worst of a global pandemic, people head out into the world and start trying to spend the huge amounts of money they’d been saving (and getting from the government to afford basic necessities) while the economy was…Monetary Policy6 min read
Sep 24Member-onlyPlant-Based Meat is In TroubleThe pandemic created a bubble that fake meat may not be able to survive Here’s a piece of news that’s curiously absent from the news cycle: one of the two darlings of the plant-based meat world, Beyond Meat, is streaking toward bankruptcy. It’s hard to believe. Beyond Meat went public…Plant Based7 min read
Sep 22Member-onlyThe Reckoning: Democracy vs. Climate ChangeWe can’t address climate change as individuals. Effective solutions will go nowhere without broad public support. For the most part, we’re really good at understanding how dangerous the threat from climate change is. We understand that it’s making weather more extreme; the colds more cold, the hots more hot, the…Climate Change6 min read
Sep 21Member-onlyReview: VacMaster VP330 Chamber Vacuum SealerNone of the following is a paid endorsement. Hot tip — Upgrading from heat shrink sealing to vacuum sealing changed the entire trajectory of my business. The Business/Quality Case for Vacuum Sealing When I started raising broiler poultry almost a decade ago, we used heat shrink bags to package our birds. After slaughter the birds were…Vacuum Sealer3 min read
Sep 20Member-onlyHow Yvon Chouinard Bought Goodwill for Billionaires for Next to Nothing.I was surprised by a couple of things in a recent essay I wrote: First, I was surprised by how well it was received. …Climate Change6 min read
Sep 18Member-onlyThe Best Way to Start FarmingRead this before you do it backwards — I run a small-ish ranch in Virginia with one full-time employee (me) and a half-dozen people working a day or two a week, and doing about $300K/year in sales. The farm is profitable, pays a minimum wage of $20/hour, and provides me with nearly a full-time living. It was a…Farming8 min read
Sep 17Member-onlyPatagonia is Accelerating the End of DemocracyNote: a followup to this story has been published here. You’ve all heard it. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard is “giving away” his company to a pair of trusts that will direct all the company’s future profits to climate change. Chouinard is characterizing himself as the “reluctant billionaire” supposedly turning capitalism…Patagonia5 min read
Jul 17Member-onlyLetters on Agrarian BurnoutYou’re working ten to twelve hours a day. Five to six days a week, but sometimes seven, meaning that from time to time you’re working 12 or 13 days straight. And it’s been going on since the planting season. …7 min read
