"He's not a REAL farmer."
Someone said this to me when I mentioned I'm working with a guy who just rented his first 25 acres.
That comment fired me up.
I got defensive of him.
There's no all-or-nothing application process in ag to "qualify" as a farmer/rancher.
Frankly, if you have a 1/4 acre vegetable patch and one pig and call yourself a farmer, who am I to judge?
Our goal ought to be to encourage more people with the grit & gumption to chase their ag dreams...
Not call them fake farmers & diminish their standing in the ag community.
-Some folks are able to earn 100% of their living from the farm/ranch.
I applaud them.
-Some have off-farm jobs to subsidize their operation.
I'm happy for them.
-Some just enjoy the country life on a hobby farm and don't expect to make any money.
I respect them.
I will gladly help any one of those people, if I can, because they're all part of the ag community.
So the gist is, we all started somewhere & each story is unique.
And if you're small-time and call yourself a farmer, good for you...
I've got your back.
And I know hundreds of others do too.