Podcast appearances and mentions of brent preston

This week, This Matters is publishing episodes of the Toronto Star's new podcast Small Things Big Climate. Sometimes it feels like you need a PhD to figure out how to shop for lower carbon groceries. Why isn't there a simple rule of thumb to follow? Host Marco Chown Oved starts this episode with a simple question: What's more important for the climate, what you eat or where it comes from? And the answer is: It isn't even close. Guests: Jonathan Foley, Executive Director of Project Drawdown, Cory Van Groningen, beef farmer at Hillview Farm, partnered with VG Meats and Rowe Farms, Brent Preston, farmer at The New Farm, President of Farmers for Climate Solutions.

The work you do farming, or bringing small farmers and shoppers together, is vitally important. Brent Preston spoke at InTents: The Farmers Market Conference 2019 about his time as an organic farmer, the effects of farming on the environment and how farmers and consumers can change those. His book The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution, shined a light on the complexity of our food systems. Brent continues to do the good work, on his farm in Southern Ontario, Canada, and as current president of Farmers for Climate Solutions.     This episode was recorded and originally broadcast in March 2019 and we think it's still relevant and important, for long time listeners to review and newer followers to discover. It's a pleasure to share it with you again now.     Today's episode of Tent Talk, the Farmers Market Podcast, is supported by the national Farmers Market Coalition.

Featuring Dr. Erin Nelson, Dr. Sarah Larsen, Heather Newman, Brent Preston  In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, Dr. Erin Nelson from the University of Guelph interviews some of her community partners. She speaks with Dr. Sarah Larsen, Research Director at the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, and two participants in its farmer-led research program, Heather Newman and Brent Preston. The episode covers ecological farming and farmer-led research and shares important examples of what this looks like in the (quite literally) field.     Contributors  Co-Producers & Hosts: Laine Young & Amanda Di Battista  Producer: Charlie Spring Sound Design & Editing: Narayan Subramoniam    Guests  Dr. Erin Nelson Dr. Sarah Larsen Heather Newman Brent Preston   Support & FundingWilfrid Laurier University The Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems Balsillie School for International Affairs   Music Credits Keenan Reimer-Watts   Resources  Moving Beyond Acknowledgments- LSPIRG Whose Land Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity & Sustainability  Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario EFAO's Farmer-Led Research Program EFAO's Research Library EFAO 2018: Minimum tillage with tarps Does tarping between succession plantings reduce the amount of tillage and labour required for organic salad production? EFAO 2020 Research Report: Performance of Chantecler chickens on a reduced protein grower ration Farmers for Climate Solutions Evaluating the EFAO's Farmer-Led Research Program Nelson, E., Hargreaves, S., & Muldoon, D. (2023). Farmer knowledge as formal knowledge: A case study of farmer-led research in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 12(4), 1–24.     Connect with Us:  Email: Handpickedpodcast@WLU.ca Twitter/X: @Handpickedpodc Facebook: Handpicked Podcast   Glossary of Terms  Agroecology  “Agroecology is a holistic and integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agriculture and food systems. It seeks to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment while also addressing the need for socially equitable food systems within which people can exercise choice over what they eat and how and where it is produced.”  https://www.fao.org/agroecology/overview/en/    Biodiversity  “Biological diversity — or biodiversity — is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms, from genes and bacteria to entire ecosystems such as forests or coral reefs. The biodiversity we see today is the result of 4.5 billion years of evolution, increasingly influenced by humans. Biodiversity forms the web of life that we depend on for so many things – food, water, medicine, a stable climate, economic growth, among others.”  https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/biodiversity    Climate Change Adaptation  “Adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects. It refers to changes in processes, practices and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit from opportunities associated with climate change. In simple terms, countries and communities need to develop adaptation solutions and implement actions to respond to current and future climate change impacts.”  https://unfccc.int/topics/adaptation-and-resilience/the-big-picture/introduction    Ecological Agriculture   “Regenerative, organic and other holistic practices that improve soil health, protect vital resources such as water and biodiversity, reduce synthetic inputs and prioritize renewable energy sources.  Socially engaged practices that ensure that farming communities are diverse, vibrant, and resilient, while making healthy agricultural products accessible.  Forward-looking practices that are knowledge-intensive and regionally specific, and embrace the potential benefits that innovation and technology provide.”  https://efao.ca/about/    EFAO  “The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) supports farmers to build resilient ecological farms and grow a strong knowledge-sharing community. Established in 1979 by farmers for farmers, EFAO is a membership organization that focuses on farmer-led education, research and community building. EFAO brings farmers together so they can learn from each other and improve the health of their soils, crops, livestock and the environment, to steward resilient ecological farms.”  https://efao.ca/    Extension Services  “An agricultural extension service offers technical advice on agriculture to farmers, and also supplies them with the necessary inputs and services to support their agricultural production. It provides information to farmers and passes to the farmers new ideas developed by agricultural research stations. Agricultural extension programmes cover a broad area including improved crop varieties, better livestock control, improved water management, and the control of weeds, pests or plant diseases. Where appropriate, agricultural extension may also help to build up local farmers' groups and organizations so that they can benefit from extension programmes. Agricultural extension, therefore, provides the indispensable elements that farmers need to improve their agricultural productivity.”  https://www.fao.org/3/t0060e/T0060E03.htm#:~:text=An%20agricultural%20extension%20service%20offers,developed%20by%20agricultural%20research%20stations.    Farmer-led research  “Farmer-led research is a process of inquiry that uses the scientific method to address your on-farm curiosities and challenges in a way that is compatible with your farming and your equipment. It is a flexible and powerful tool that can be integral to improving operations on your farm, including the environmental and economic impacts of your innovations and comparisons.”  https://efao.ca/farmer-led-research/    Tillage  “Tillage—turning the soil to control for weeds and pests and to prepare for seeding—has long been part of crop farming. However, intensive soil tillage can increase the likelihood of soil erosion, nutrient runoff into nearby waterways, and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. A reduction in how often or how intensively cropland is tilled enables the soil to retain more organic matter, which leaves the soil less susceptible to wind and water erosion and helps store, or "sequester," carbon.”  https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-practices-management/crop-livestock-practices/soil-tillage-and-crop-rotation/    Discussion Questions  What are some of the benefits of “farmer-led research” compared to research proposed and carried out by an external organization or agency?    What did hearing from the farmer-researchers themselves add to your understanding?    The farmer-researchers talk about isolation in the farming profession. How do you think participation in the farmer-led research program could help with that isolation?   One guest mentioned the de-funding of extension services in Canada. Why do you think access to knowledge about ecological and organic farming might be in decline? How do you think farmer-led research could make up for some of this loss of knowledge in Canada? How might farmer-led extension services differ from- and improve upon- more traditional structures of agricultural extension?

New Climate Programs for Canadian Farmers – with Brent Preston. Canada now has new programs aimed at helping farmers adopt practices to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The new federal climate plan released in December 2020 and Budget 2021 made major commitments for funding agriculture climate programs. But are these programs well designed and will they actually help farmers change practices? We explore this topic with Brent Preston of Farmers for Climate Solutions. They advocated for the new $200M On-Farm Climate Action Fund for cover crops, fertilizer management and rotational grazing. Others include $185M for Agriculture Climate Solutions focused on Living Labs research collaborations, $165.7M for Clean Ag Tech Program, and some part of the $631M Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund aimed at agriculture. And the new federal-provincial funding framework for 2023-2028 is being negotiated right now. Will it also increase agri-environmental funding? Canada dramatically underfunds agri-environment efforts compared to Europe and the United States. Links: Canada's Revised Climate Plan https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan.html On-Farm Climate Action Fund https://www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2021/08/helping-farmers-to-reduce-ghgs-and-improve-resiliency-to-climate-change.html Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-funding/programs/nature-smart-climate-solutions-fund.html Emissions Reduction Plan https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview/emissions-reduction-2030.html Farmers for Climate Solutions https://farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/

South African dairy farmers operate in an extremely challenging environment, but like many other food producers their resilience outweighs the current struggles. This week we share a guide on how to start a dairy farm in Mzansi!  During the festive season South Africans are often warned about a surge in crime. Isabel Kruger, chairperson of the Red Meat Producers Organisation Stock Theft Forum unpacks this, sharing vital tips for new farmers dealing with livestock theft this season.  Dr Nadia de Beer from Agrifarmacy SA, explains how Afrivet's new reproductive aid product, called BoarBetter is changing the game for Mzansi's pig industry.  Our “agripreneur 101” features, Yvette Abrahams, the owner and creator of Khoelife, a smallholding producing indigenous soaps, hand sanitisers, body oils and other personal care products in the Western Cape.  On the top of our book pile, is The New Farm by Brent Preston. And, our farmer tip of the week comes from SEED programme manager, Stephanie Mullins. 

Canada now has new programs aimed at helping farmers adopt practices to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The new federal climate plan released in December 2020 and Budget 2021 made major commitments for funding agriculture climate programs. But are these programs well designed and will they actually help farmers change practices? We explore this topic with Brent Preston of Farmers for Climate Solutions. They advocated for the new $200M On-Farm Climate Action Fund for cover crops, fertilizer management and rotational grazing. Others include $185M for Agriculture Climate Solutions focused on Living Labs research collaborations, $165.7M for Clean Ag Tech Program, and some part of the $631M Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund aimed at agriculture. And the new federal-provincial funding framework for 2023-2028 is being negotiated right now. Will it also increase agri-environmental funding? Canada dramatically underfunds agri-environment efforts compared to Europe and the United States. Listen to find out more about climate and agriculture. Links: Canada's Revised Climate Plan https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan.html On-Farm Climate Action Fund https://www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2021/08/helping-farmers-to-reduce-ghgs-and-improve-resiliency-to-climate-change.html Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-funding/programs/nature-smart-climate-solutions-fund.html Farmers for Climate Solutions https://farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/ The Power of Soil: An Agenda for Change to Benefit Farmers and Climate Resilience https://www.greenbelt.ca/the_power_of_soil

Brent Preston, is a farmer in Creemore and president of Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, one of the member organisations for Farmers for Climate Solutions. He explains how the agricultural industry will need financial help from the federal government to help our country meet the targets for the Paris Agreement; The Ontario government is looking to create digital ID for all citizens by the end of the year. We find out more from MPP Michael Parsa; One in twenty babies born in Ontario has been exposed to opioids during pregnancy.Researchers from several organizations and hospitals have published a new paper outlining their findings. Epidemiologist Andi Camden, the lead author, tells us more about the study; Saiqa Sheikh is an owner of the restaurant Jerkabago and founder of Diverse Roots of Rural Ontario. She explains how she often struggled to feel accepted in Prince Edward County; Mia Rabson is a national reporter for The Canadian Press. She updates us on what's happening on Parliament Hill including the vote condemning China's treatment of the Uigher minortiy as a genocide; Wild pigs are going - well, wild - across southern Ontario. We learn more from Peterborough biologist, Keith Munro; Scott Wildeman of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada explains why they want the federal government to offer tax deductions for the cost of fitness activities.

For this week's episode of Tent Talk we bring you another presentation recored live at InTents: The Farmers Market Conference 2019. In this talk Brent Preston, organic farmer and author of The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution, shines light on the complexity of our food system. Though he doesn't claim to have a quick-fix solution to these large issues, Brent offers an interesting paradigm shift for the way we approach food production. Register for the 2021 InTents, the Farmers Market Conference, MARCH 15-18th, 2021 and purchase the LEARN AND GROW ticket to receive access to a full year of exclusive content and extended Tent Talk interviews. Take advantage of super early bird pricing and register today at farmersmarketpros.com. Enter TALK21 at checkout for a discount on your registration.

We discuss the political implications of Chrystia Freeland's appointment to federal Minister of Finance with Lydia Miljan, a political science at the University of Windsor; Should it become widely available, the saliva-based test for COVID-19 being used by many professional sports teams could allow us to change the way we live during pandemic. We find out more from epidemiologist Colin Furness of the University of Toronto; Brent Preston is the owner of The New Farm in Creemore. He talks about the initiative by the organization Farmers for Climate Solutions to create what they call 'resilient' farms; Dropped your watch off the end dock? Call Dusty Dives. Dustyn McCready-DeBruin tells us how he's made a business out of diving for thngs that have fallen to the bottom of the lake; Nadia Danyluk of the Owen Sound and North Grey Union Library recommends some non-fiction books that have since been adapted for television or streaming online; Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, the Medical Officer of Health with the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, outlines their preparations for the new school year and their call to have the province end the state of emergency.

According to Brent Preston of The New Farm, a gardener grows food and a farmers grows and sells food. This week's guest expert is Rene Rawhouser blurs the line. He is an avid gardener, who feeds 15 people on his 2,500 square feet of land. Like commercial growers he needs to think about crop schedules, extending his crop season, and rapidly changing consumer preferences. Unlike farmers, he doesn't get paid. Instead he is rewarded by knowing he is providing quality vegetables for his children and grandchildren. In part one, he shares why he gardeners, how he got started, and when he reached his capacity limits.

The world has always had dangers, but we can find our rest, hope, trust in the Lord. Guest teacher: Brent Preston.

In episode #362 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews organic vegetable farmer Brent Preston. He is the president of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, one of the member organizations of a new Canada-wide coalition called Farmers for Climate Solutions, which is pushing for changes in policy that will make the country's agricultural sector part of the solution to climate change. They talk about the relationship between agriculture and the climate crisis, and about the work of Farmers for Climate Solutions. For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2020/07/14/radio-farmers-fighting-climate-change/

The Farmers for Climate Solutions campaign is an effort to build a movement and change policies to help farmers fight climate change and adapt to the changes. Farmers are experiencing weather extremes brought by climate change, 2019 being a glaring example. Katie Ward, the national President of the National Farmers Union and Brent Preston, President of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario tell Paul Smith more about the campaign. Those organizations and five others are partners in the campaign that launched on Agriculture Day, February 11, 2020. The focus is on changing federal and provincial policies to better encourage farmers to adopt climate-friendly practices that can also benefit profit and resilience. We also talk about recruiting more organizations to the campaign. More information is available at: https://farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/ https://www.nfu.ca/ https://efao.ca/

On this episode, Cam takes a trip to Heartwood Farm & Cidery to catch up with some friends from the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO). Val Steinmann and Brent Preston are both farmers involved with EFAO's award-winning farmer-led research program, coordinated by Sarah Hargreaves. Together they talk about the importance of soil for their operations, how EFAO has supported them to discover innovative ways to improve soil, and the results of a recent soil health benchmarking study. Give them a follow on social media: @EFAO2, @soilsarah, @heartwoodcidery Stay up-to-date on the latest Soils at Guelph news: @SoilsAtGuelph

We talk to Brent Preston of TheNewFarm on the values of organic farming, short supply chains, growing what people eat, building communities through farms and customers with shared value. https://thenewfarm.ca/

Brent Preston, along with his wife Gillian, were urban professionals who moved to a remote part of Ontario and started a farm, The New Farm. In their early years, they struggled, but somewhere along the way, they stumbled a model for how to succeed at the business of farming. The story is one about a small, sustainable, organic farm that ended up providing not just a livelihood, but a happy, meaningful and fulfilling way of life. In this episode, I sat down with Brent to learn more about his story. LINKS Buy the book, The New Farm Learn more about the farm, The New Farm   Send us mail: Gold Shaw Farm PO Box 225 Peacham, VT 05862   Learn More About Gold Shaw Farm YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/goldshawfarm Web: http://www.goldshawfarm.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/goldshawfarm Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/goldshawfarm Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/goldshawfarm  

For this week's episode of Tent Talk we bring you yet another live episode. In his presentation "The world needs less food," recorded at the 2019 InTents Conference held last month in San Diego, organic farmer and author, Brent Preston dives deep into the complexity of our food system. Though he doesn't claim to have a quick-fix solution to these large issues, Brent offers an interesting paradigm shift for the way we approach food production.

For this week's episode we had the pleasure of speaking with Brent Preston of The New Farm. Brent is a farmer and the author of The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution. He told us about his experience finding his true calling in life and how he was able to build an organic farm that is environmentally and financially sustainable. In this episode we also tackle some big questions about the future of farming and re-thinking our current food systems.

2:03: Paula Gallagher, librarian and book critic, makes her weekly recommendation: ----The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution,---- by Brent Preston.5:23: Roy T. Meyers, professor of political science at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, talks about the GOP tax cuts and the latest increase in federal spending — a combination that will send government deficits into the trillions, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Meyers, who once worked for the CBO, is an expert in the federal budget process. He provides a 30-minute history on recent deficits and how, rising to new levels, they could affect the nation's economy.Links:https://thenewfarm.ca/book/https://userpages.umbc.edu/!!!_meyers/index.html

Links Australian Podcast Awards Click here How organic farming will save us all – if we can throw away our antiquated notions of what it means | National Post http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dUo   ****   This is the World Organic News Podcast for the week ending 8th of January 2017. Jon Moore reporting!   The week, indeed, this year begins with an article from the National Post entitled: How organic farming will save us all – if we can throw away our antiquated notions of what it means. And the title says it all. We live in times of minutely defined identity. Each of us is encouraged to define ourselves as some combination of words that describes our family status, sexual orientation, voting intentions, lifestyle and who knows what else. That people have bought into this way of seeing themselves means they must also place others within a category or combination of categories. Hence I quote from the article: Quote: If there is a stereotype of the organic farmer it’s that they spend their days wrapped in droopy clothes made of hemp and burlap, becoming one with nature while foraging for chanterelles. End quote.   The truth, of course, is much bigger than this. Yes there are organic farmers like those described but and I quote again from the article:   Quote: Yet the reality of many organic farmers couldn’t be further from the truth. For those serious about agriculture free of synthetic chemicals, farming is a complex system that requires endless days of laborious work, with the potential to yield lucrative results. End Quote.   Indeed the business of organic farming is as much a cerebral one as it is physical. A knowledge of so many disciplines is required: agronomy, entomology, soil science, animal husbandry, meteorology, algebra, accounting, hydrology, history and I could go on but will spare you. Quite often these things are just within the lifetime of each organic farmer’s experiences, sometimes they need to be studied.   The author, Claudia McNelly goes on to use one farm as an example. Brent Preston gave up an office job to grow food or as he is quoted later in the piece, grow soil.   Quote: Well-managed, nutrient-dense soils are the guiding light to finding success in self-sustaining, organic agriculture. “It’s not just something that can be done for 10 years or 100 years until the soil is exhausted,” says Preston. “The goal is every year your soil is better than it was the year before.”   End quote.   Now we know, or should by now know, chemical based farming destroys soil health. Dead soil is just dirt and dirt blows away. The death of soil through chemical agriculture is, or usually is, a slow process. This is the deal with the devil I’ve discussed in earlier episodes. 1% soil loss of soil per year for increased short term returns. Unfortunately 1% per year is a compound interest situation. This means not much appears to be happening for five, ten maybe even twenty years but the bill will come due and these bills always come at the worst time. Drought, flood and/or fire seem to accompany these payments.   Cover crops, rotational grazing and cropping are all part of a system which grows soil. Again a lengthy quote:   Quote: For millenniums(sic), crop rotation – the practice of moving crops and livestock around to ensure too much of one nutrient is never depleted – was the go-to method for maintaining soil health. During the Middle Ages, three-field rotation – a system where one field is allowed to rest every crop cycle – took over. This was the standard method of farming until less than a century ago, when increased food production became the goal. This meant that all available farmland would be put to use to grow crops. End quote.   This meant that all available farmland would be put to use to grow crops. This was the deal with the devil. Not only was monoculture encouraged as scientific, the use of a single variety across all locations was encouraged or, in some locales, mandated from above. Locally adapted varieties were lost, generations of selection tossed into the dustbin of history. We still have time to retrieve some of these species but we must act quickly. We can also start the process of selecting for local varieties by using open pollinated, non hybrid varieties ourselves. Each season selects for the next, evolution is relentless and uncaring. We can work with it or be steam rolled by it.   Above all, organic farming is about people. Organic farms tend to be smaller than say, corn or wheat farms yet they are far more profitable on a per acre basis. Once cereal subsidies are removed, they become more so.   Quote: Organic farms generate more money per acre than their conventional counterparts. Even though they are not as big, they are usually far more profitable. “The amount of money we generate per acre on the farm is many multiples per acre of what our neighbours produce growing cash crops,” says Preston. A well-run small-scale organic farm will generate somewhere in the neighbourhood of $40,000 gross sales per acre. Corn and soy, known as “cash-crops” generate an average of $300 per acre, according to a 2016 paper published by the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois. End quote.   It is the huge number of acres planted to corn and soy which make them viable and which are destroying soil at an increasing pace across the globe.   In essence the difference between a broad acre monoculture and a small area organic farm is one of thought. Much more planning, thinking and pondering is required of the small area farmer than the broadacre ploughing enterprise. The latter may have fed the world during the 1960s and 1970s but it was the improvements in transportation world wide that did much more on that front. We have managed to grow more food than the world population needed since about 1850. Political indifference, poor transportation and wars are the reasons most people have starved. Ireland was, after all, exporting wheat to England as her citizens were starving to death during the potato famine.   Independant, small area farmers, Yeoman, if you like, have, throughout history been a troublesome, cantankerous class. A ballast against change, think of the lack of revolution in the UK in 1848, the cutting edge of revolution, the US war of independence and the manpower for classical Greek and Roman republican armies. These people are thinkers, they have to be to survive. Given the inane, mindless consumerism of our current “developed” world I would suggest we need cantankerous thinkers more than ever. Joel Salatin springs to mind. Our soils certainly need their care and attention. Take your position, even if you only grow a rosemary bush in a plant pot, you have made a statement. Annoy your representatives until we  see the end of subsidies for big ag and those funds redirected to farmer’s markets, school ag education programs and a world of shorter, safer food supply chains. Nothing changes until those in power are forced to change. Let’s make our local food producers the new celebrities! Just think how different our world can be.   And that brings us to the end of this week’s podcast.   If you’ve liked what you heard,could please follow the link in the show notes and vote for World Organic News in the Australian Podcast Awards Click here Thanks in advance.   Any suggestions, feedback or criticisms of the podcast or blog are most welcome. email me at podcast@worldorganicnews.com.   Thank you for listening and I'll be back in a week.   ****   Links Australian Podcast Awards Click here How organic farming will save us all – if we can throw away our antiquated notions of what it means | National Post http://wp.me/p5Cqpo-dUo

"Despite What You've Heard, Small Farmers are Doing Just Fine". That is the title of a recent article by Brent Preston who runs an organic farm with his wife in Canada. What is so striking about this brief but compelling article is that it is completely opposite of the other articles about small-scale farming that have been making the rounds on social media over the past year. Those articles had titles such as, "Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers" or, "Has the US hit peak farmers' market?" (this one is actually a pretty decent read and very informative) and the most recent big splash, "What nobody told me about small farming: I can't make a living". Can an online article have a more depressing title than those! Thankfully Mr. Preston has taken some time to respond and he is offering a different picture of the small-scale farming landscape, one that I feel is a little more representative of the reality. Obviously the statement that, "small farmers are doing just fine" paints a pretty broad stroke and there are farms out there that are struggling or having tough patches. But, the reality is that there are always some businesses (remember farming is a business) struggling or working to pull themselves out of a hole. A struggling restaurateur could have easily written an article titled, "What nobody told me about the restaurant business: I can't make a living". Thankfully Mr. Preston took time in his article to share some of the "common elements" that he has noticed on successful farms over the years. I could not have said them better! What do you think about the latest installment of the, "how are small-scale farms" doing genre? Were you encouraged by the writing of Mr. Preston or deflated because even the success that he wrote about seemed difficult to obtain? I would love to hear your thoughts! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook!  As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter