You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise
Author: Joel Salatin, Allan Nation
List Price: $35.00
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ISBN: 0963810928
Publisher: Polyface Inc (June, 1998)
Sales Rank: 12,357
Average Customer Rating: 4.45 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 3 out of 5
Overrated
While this book is to some degree inspirational to city dwellers contemplating the enterprise of farming, it is short on details and somewhat flawed in execution. Some of my complaints have to do with production values (terrible photos, extremely poor binding considering the cover price) and there is also a lot of repetition and some weird interjections of Salatin's personal views on such things as the negative effects of maintaining "deviant" sexual habits (one can only guess at what he's suggesting here) and there is also some very questionable advice about maintaining health insurance. I would have liked to see some more hard information on the mechanics of maintaining pastures, forage planting, etc. instead of exhorting the reader to buy his other books on the subject.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Great Book !
This book is not designed to give you exact deails on a farming enterprise, his other books do that well. This is a book designed to show you that YOU CAN FARM. It gives you the appropriate perspective to take when beginning a farming enterprise. I have read all of his books and this is one intelligent man. While you may not agree with all of his personal views, if you want to start farming, READ THIS BOOK FIRST!!! My family did well in their agricultural enterprises when they followed methods similar to Salatins. When they began using so called "conventional" methods, profits went down, work increased and headaches abounded. This is a must read for anyone thinking about farming. One of the few times you will see farming presented in a positive light.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Great High-Level How-To
"You Can Farm" gives you a high-level overview of a family-size pastured beef, poultry, and pork farming operation. There's also a good dose of the "why" as well as the "how-to" included in this book. Joel discusses why a family-friendly farm is superior to a commercial commodity farm for a family with children. He also covers the ethics of properly pricing your products so that you realize a return off the products you provide which will allow you to live comfortably. Joel's viewpoint is that a family who dedicates themselves to farming and being stewards to a piece of land should be able to reap a return on-par with a mid-level attorney. If you want to be a "poor, dumb farmer" don't read Joel's books. But . . . If you want to raise your family in a healthful, wholesome country environment AND make a reasonable living while doing so, this book is a good second step. As a first step, I would highly recommend one of Joel's other books "Family Friendly Farming." That book is all about the "why" behind small family farms. After reading "You Can Farm" and "Family Friendly Farming," I would highly recommend "Pastured Poultry Profit$" and "Salad Bar Beef," as these are the titles that go into the nuts & bolts details of Joel's grass-based small farm production model.
Joel also includes an extensive suggested reading list as an appendix in each title discussed above. He is very supportive of new farmers reading as much as possible on any given topic BEFORE they dive into a new enterprise. He doesn't consider his opinion to be the last word on any subject.
Joel's writing style is very readable. His advice is valuable and unconventional (i.e., start out on rented land to avoid long-term debt until you are SURE that this is going to work for you, only buy the equipment you need -- when you need it, etc.), it resonates with a high level of caring for those who may take his advice and jump into this "farming thing."
Joel Salatin's books come with my highest recommendations
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