Agriculture Business

Since its publication in 1977, The Unsettling of America has been recognized as a classic of American letters. In it, Wendell Berry argues that good farming is a cultural and spiritual discipline. Today’s agribusiness, however, takes farming out of its cultural context and away from families. As a result, we as a nation are more estranged from the land - from the intimate knowledge, love, and care of it.

How much do you know about the meat on your dinner plate? Journalist Christopher Leonard spent more than a decade covering the country's biggest meat companies, including four years as the national agribusiness reporter for the Associated Press. Now he delivers the first comprehensive look inside the industrial meat system, exposing how a handful of companies executed an audacious corporate takeover of the nation's meat supply.

Twenty years ago, Joel Salatin wrote You Can Farm, which has launched thousands of farm entrepreneurs around the world. With another 20 years of experience under his belt, bringing him to the half-century mark as a full-time farmer, he decided to build on that foundation with a sequel, a graduate-level curriculum. Everyone who reads (or listens to), and enjoys that previous work, will benefit from this additional information.

Why do we consume 35 percent more food when eating with one other person, and 75 percent more when dining with three? How do we explain the fact that people who like strong coffee drink more of it under bright lighting? And why does green ketchup just not work? The answer is gastrophysics, the new area of sensory science pioneered by Oxford professor Charles Spence.

By explaining the lean system for identifying and eliminating waste and introducing efficiency in every aspect of the farm operation, The Lean Farm makes the case that small-scale farming can be an attractive career option for young people who are interested in growing food for their community. Working smarter, not harder, also prevents the kind of burnout that start-up farmers often encounter in the face of long, hard, backbreaking labor. Lean principles grew out of the Japanese automotive industry, but they are now being followed by progressive farms around the world....

Growing on just one and a half acres, owners Jean-Martin and Maude-Helène feed more than 200 families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands and supply their signature mesclun salad mix to dozens of local establishments. The secret of their success is the low-tech, high-yield production methods they've developed by focusing on growing better rather than growing bigger, making their operation more lucrative and viable in the process.

Raised as a fourth-generation farmer, when Will Harris inherited White Oak Pastures he was a full-time commodity cowboy who played hard and fast with every tool the system offered–chemicals, antibiotics, steroids, and more. His ancestors had built a highly profitable, conventionally run machine, but over time he found himself disgusted with the excess, cruelty, and smalltown devastation this system entailed. So he bet the farm on forging a different way of doing things. One that works with nature not against it, and bridges the quickly widening delta between consumers and their food.

When Rudolf Steiner gave these lectures 80 years ago, industrial farming was on the rise and organic methods were being replaced in the name of science, efficiency, and technology. With the widespread alarm over the quality of food in recent years, and the growth of the organic movement and its mainstream acceptance, perceptions are changing. The qualitative aspect of food is once again on the agenda, and in this context Rudolf Steiner's only course of lectures on agriculture is critical to the current debate.

No experience in farming? No problem! The Profitable Hobby Farm gives you all the tools you need to launch a thriving hobby-farm business. Based on the author's expert guidance and the motivating experiences of other small farmers, it shows you how to blend strategy, marketing, and money management in order to prosper. The Profitable Hobby Farm provides sound, friendly start-up advice on a variety of topics essential to making an initial foray into a local-foods venture. A supplemental PDF is included with this audiobook.

This report is part of a multi-volume technical report series entitled Running a Food Hub, with this guide serving as a companion piece to other United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports by providing in-depth guidance on starting and running a food hub enterprise.

Over the past several years, Hardwick, Vermont, a typical hardscrabble farming community of three thousand residents, has jump-started its economy and redefined its self-image through a local, self-sustaining food system unlike anything else in America.

Farming’s number one mental barrier is entitlement. We inherit farms from our grandparents and just assume we’ll gift it to our grandchildren. Just because your family had a successful farm 10 years ago doesn’t mean you’ll still be farming in 10 years. In order to still be farming in 2040, you’ve got to assume that you are the underdog! Armed with this mindset and the three tools in this book, your family can implement radical changes that gives you the competitive edge that bulletproofs your farm against anything.

Discover the secrets to maximizing your farm's potential, building a profitable agricultural business, and achieving the wealth of a lifetime with our newest eBook: "Cultivating Wealth!" Dive into 20 in-depth chapters that cover every aspect of modern farming, from understanding your land and resources to adopting the latest technologies and best practices for increased yield and profitability. Created by an expert in agriculture, this comprehensive guide will transform your farm into a thriving and valuable asset that will serve you and your community for generations to come. In "...

Unearth the secrets to sustainable farming with "From Plot to Plate" - a comprehensive guidebook designed to inspire a new generation of global change-makers. With a pulsating passion for the environment, this eBook dives into unknown territories of sustainable agriculture and agribusiness — the future of food, right in your hands! Each chapter in our book has been meticulously designed to walk you through every aspect of building a successful and sustainable farm business. Journey from the broad understanding of sustainable agriculture to the nitty-gritty of business plan development for...

Andy Junkin helps you navigate through the many pitfalls of farming with family and how you can rise above these challenges and get through any tough times. We need to stop being tough on one another, motivate your family to make tough decisions together as a team, change your farm’s culture so you can make the right decisions to bulletproof your farm against any tough times - now or in the future.

Grassroots Rising is a passionate call to action for the global body politic, providing practical solutions for how to survive - and thrive - in catastrophic times. Author Ronnie Cummins aims to educate and inspire citizens worldwide to organize and become active participants in preventing ecological collapse. This audiobook offers a blueprint for building and supercharging a grassroots regeneration movement based on consumer activism, farmer innovation, political change, and regenerative finance.

When the majority of people think about agriculture, they picture big farms spanning across large acreage. They imagine thousands of heads of cattle roaming across the landscape or they imagine fields filled with brown-gold heads of wheat waiting for massively expensive farm machinery to arrive for harvest. What you may not realize is that it's often possible to make more money on a small farm with just an acre or two, than on a massive farm with huge acreage.

Introducing, "Blossoming Profits," an engaging new eBook that marks a revolutionary tool for all aspiring farm store owners and veterans alike, who aim to skyrocket their financial journey. This eBook serves as a comprehensive guide that delves deeply into the financial compass guiding the robust agriculture industry. The eBook begins by demystifying the nitty-gritty of Financial Management, setting the stage for the upcoming conceptual understanding. It then proceeds to offer invaluable insights into the pulsating heart of Farm Store Economics, enlightening about the wide spectrum of ...

Bombastic headlines about science and technology are nothing new. To cut through the constant stream of information and misinformation on social media, or grab the attention of investors, or convince governments to take notice, strident headlines or bold claims seem necessary to give complex, nuanced information some wow factor. But hype has a dark side, too. It can mislead. It can distract. It can blinker us from seeing what is actually going on.

This comprehensive guide takes you step-by-step through the whole process of how to start and operate a successful organic plant growing business using containers. Chapters thoroughly cover such topics as: start-up, greenhouse options, certification/licenses/fees, botany basics, growing container plants, making compost, disease and pest management, demonstration gardens, marketing and merchandising, dealing with employees, and safety. Appendices include example activity logs and forms, instructions for making a soil-texture analysis, and even tips for creating a simple employee handbook. An...