Making Money Farming is Hard | High Tunnel Customer Emily Pek (ep.3/4)

[@tylers7390]

I was congratulated by a customer last week. "You're doing it! You're home with your family, farming, and making a living!" I couldn't help but chuckle. I sell small square alfalfa bales off of 12.5 acres. Some day I may own a couple hundred acres and scale up, but for now it amounts to less than 5% of my gross income. My main income has me shackled to the house day and night. I rarely get an hour of daylight to focus on anything that's truly important to me. It's not quite the farm life I moved here for, but it seems to be the most feasible way to keep "doing it".

[@tunnelvisionhoops]

Thanks for sharing that, Tyler. Very interesting to hear, and in my conversations with small producers, there are many in the same boat.

[@kjbaran]

The greenhouse is the real gem here. Let demand be what’s farmed, be food or flowers.

[@michaelvillarreal8838]

Thanks for sharing this interview, I can relate. Years ago we ran a family wholesale nursery and if I didn’t love the work would have never seen any success in that business.

[@tunnelvisionhoops]

Thanks for watching, Michael, and for sharing your experiences. I feel this interview captures the way a lot of small producers feel.

[@jeffklein602]

The only people making money on our farm are our employees. We, the owners, make zilch. Off-farm income keeps us going. Is this sustainable? Yes, if the only thing that matters is loving the work. If bills have to be paid, then it is clearly not sustainable. I certainly understand Emily's conundrum, as I live it every day (except maybe for January LOL).

[@tunnelvisionhoops]

Thanks for that input, Jeff, and thanks for watching. As a manufacturer of high tunnels, and as someone who has farmed, nothing would make me happier than seeing farmers making more money and living less stressful lives. We’re going to check back in with Emily in a week or two to see how her season went and to see if she’s ended the year on a high note.

[@RanaureliFarm]

Hi, does Emily Pek have a KZbin channel? May I have a way of been inrouch with her, I'm a start up just like my self

[@tunnelvisionhoops]

Hi, thanks for watching. She just started a KZbin channel which you can find here: kzbin.info/door/KwMK3JiQsprEfW2p7cqyZw. She also can be found on Instagram (at)frayedknotfarm

[@RanaureliFarm]

@@tunnelvisionhoops Hey, thanks. I just now subscribed to her channel, I'm the 2nd to do so. Hope I can share her's and mine experiences

[@tunnelvisionhoops]

Awesome! I think I was number 1, so we're the first two :)