Thread by @herdyshepherd1

A thread on being a farmer

I grew up thinking that doing farm work made you a farmer

If you filled your time with farm work you were a serious farmer

…

It’s bullshit

I now think you become a farmer when it’s your money on the line and when you make it work financially

The most irritating and stupid people in farming are those that have never actually made a farm profitable

Sure they’ve done plenty of work, but they’ve never actually had to work out what works and what doesn’t

I don’t listen to them anymore

Our farm made a loss when we inherited it (don’t mean that disrespectfully, but it did) and it needed changing to make it survive

It has to be profitable on its own and is

And for one or more of my children to keep it going it will have to change even more in the next few years

And yet a lot of farming people hate change… and anyone that does it

But that’s their problem, my job isn’t to make others feel comfortable or to fit in… it’s to give our farm a future

If you are young or starting out with your farm business almost the worst thing you can do is what everyone else does

Be brave
Try new things
Learn new stuff
Ignore old codgers - especially the ones who haven’t got a viable business, they don’t know shit

Yes, find mentors who are excellent at what they do

But that isn’t the old grumblers on the road side

Have a nice day x

Also someone should invent hats for people at farming conferences and events

You have to wear the hat when saying ‘that will never work’ - but it has a screen on it that shows your profit and loss stats and your soil organic matter

I’m not listening if it’s in the red

Also, 95% of times when people say ‘that won’t work on my farm’ the person is wrong

They just mean ‘there is no goddamn way I’m doing that because it makes me uncomfortable’

A lot of people would rather fail in ways that make them fit in than win in ways that make them not

Farming often isn’t rational or a business

It’s a culture or way of life - so much of what is nice about it comes from that

But it’s also a mess and a problem when farms fail, because rational thinking and bravery about change is missing

I see it with youngsters

The blood drains from their faces when you tell them that maybe the things they like doing aren’t profitable

They want to do the same stuff they’ve grown up with regardless of whether it works anymore in terms of £