>

I work in agribusiness. I know how hard it is.
I wouldn't say it comes from stardew valley, this trope of "living a simple farmer life" is rather old.
That being said, I agree. Farming is hard, and anyone who had worked in the fields knows it up to a certain extent. >

Can be simple and hard work. >

It isn't simple at all though. You have to know what to plant, when to plant, how to plant, where to plant, irrigation, pesticides, fertilization, weather, water flow dynamics, and endless more topics to get a good crop, if you're lucky. Not to mention the business side >

You have to be a mechanic, a horticulturalist, a chemist, a stock market analyst, a geneticist, a meteorologist...for real farms, anyway. Not hobby "farms".  It's not at all simple. >

Even hobby farms are hard to manage. Think you'll just have a couple sheep and a cow?  How do you shear the sheep?  How do you milk the cow? Get it pregnant? Still have to know all the details of raising them and keeping them healthy whether its 4 or 400 or 4000.  And what if they arent eating all the grass? How do you manage the grass on your 40 hectares?  Winter feed? Gonna need a little tractor probably....  Who's doing the fencing? Were we thinking this would be cheap and we'd live off the land?  lol >

Haha exactly! a person I know has a full time job and her husband has a full time job and they decided they want to buy sheep, goats, cows, and chickens to sell and then also breed and sell and they were like it’s not going to be much work.
I looked at them crazy I was like that is not true but best of luck biting my tongue wanting to say you’re an idiot >

I bet they got a shock. Sheep, goats and cows.  Chickens are easy.
For the most part they are animals that require home visits from transport companies, vets, breeding technicians and/or a farmer delivering a Bull, shearers, vets, a Ram, and likewise with goats too I suppose.  And you've got to plan when, where, and how for all of these things. Do people even know what happens if you skip a milking? Production-wise.  Do they even know what I'm talking about when I say "production"?   So you figure that out, and you take a few hours off work for the cow, ....the sheep,..... and the goats too.  What was the opportunity cost of time off work versus the return (or savings) of having animals?  Is that mental joy of the property offsetting the mental stress and monetary costs?
I'm not saying don't get a hobby farm, or don't become a farmer (I've been one myself) I'm glad people are saying don't think its gonna be "Little House on the Prairie". It's probably gonna be an ongoing cost or break-even at best proposition.  Small farming is tough. 
Even if you scale-up a break-even proposition and you'll see that even farmers with larger properties aren't' all sunshine and roses either!
/ranty rant >

Exactly!! They said that they were looking for another stream of income and it would be something easy and low maintenance to do. I was happy for my self control (this is a client of mine, if they were a friend or family member I would of tore into them but had to keep it professional and just give my opinion without insulting them) haha all I said was it’s going to be a lot more work than you think it is haha. I wanted to say you’re crazy if you think it’s going to be easy >

I think lots of people who say that don’t literally mean they want to be 100% self sufficient and produce everything they consume. Most of them probably want a 1/2 acre to 1 acre farm plot where they can still grow some crop and have animals, while also getting away from the big city. >

1/2-1 acre is barely enough for a few chickens… lets bump that up to like 5-10 acres.
A cow with calf needs at least 2 acres. >

You think an average person living in a city like Seattle who wants to get away is dreaming of maintaining 10 acres and a cow + calf? A chicken coop and a good sized garden is a lot work for someone who’s not familiar with the lifestyle at all, jumping to ten acres and livestock is a bit of a leap >

Yep. Growing up my parents had a hobby farm. A chicken coop, a couple goats and a pasture we rented out. It was fun.
City people don’t usually want to deal with cattle; but a few goats, maybe a llama or alpaca and sone chickens on an acre or two; it’s not about “living off the land” more like owning pets. >

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Lmao, who the fuck thinks farming is easy? 
Anyone talking like that probably is rich and talking about having a horse and a garden haha >

I think that it is generally younger people who are just getting out on their own, and are suddenly well aware of having to go to a job every day, and the raising cost of living, and they think back to the shows they have seen that glorify the 'country life' and they think they can get a small plot of land, toss seeds in the ground, and then have fresh vegetables throughout the year.
However, what OP didn't address were all the farmers' children who are growing up, and dream of moving to the city, because they are going to party every night, and have fun, and have a well paying job, go on fancy vacations....
Basically, they are people who have only known one life, and they idealize the life they have only heard about from movies and media. >

The grass is always greener on the other side >

It also helps that we don't run cattle, so the grass on our side of the fence isn't fully of unwanted weeds and things the cattle don't want to eat. >

I don't want a big farm. I want a few chickens and ducks. Maybe some veggies for personal use. I know it's mostly fantasy though. 
I don't think most people want a for profit farm. They want a homestead situation. Just them their kids and enough meat birds to not buy meat anymore. >

How many birds is that? For 4 people to have meat everyday, that's probably 2-3 chickens a week. So 100 chickens roughly a year, plus some other animals. You'd need 200 chickens or so to sustainably do so, plus a cow or two for milk. >

Well you dont need meat everyday, there are plenty of roots that store really well over winter that you can eat. Of course you wont be able to eat like you used to, but thats a compromise you have to be willing to make. >

Considering some tractors are priced at the cost of a whole house, farming is very hard to enter if your not born into it >

Hard work yes, not necessarily difficult outside of the financials. 
I do believe most people massively underestimate how much work farming is though. >

I think that's the point I was trying to make (not particularly successfully) >

I think it's just a different hard. To some people who work an office job, the idea of escaping the office stresses (re-orgs, downsizing, resource issues, project deadlines, politics, commuting) is very appealing. >

Farming today is exactly what you described people trying to escape from. Reorgs (transition planning) resource issues( where and how to allocate capital, equipment is incredibly expensive. We’re talking million dollar combines snd $20,000 acre land) project deadlines (farming is a constant deadline, planting, harvesting, maintenance) politics ( the amount of politicking in todays farming is huge, landlord/tenant relationships, neighbors, government. It’s massive) commuting ( you ever farmed land 30 miles away? And there’s a reason semis have over a million miles on them). That’s just the tip of the iceberg. A well run farm entails an extremely strong ceo/manager well adept at many facets of business, mechanics, engineering and finance. I’m not trying to be mean but that’s an incredibly naive statement. I’ve worked corporate, banking and farm >

There’s a great documentary series about a lawyer who decides to become a farmer and all the problems he faces in the process >

Lmao. Got me >

One part of my family comes from a farm in the Ukraine and let me say it's a really peaceful life but a hard one. They do EVERYTHING per hand, it's hard and unforgiving. Try to slaughter a pig by yourself >

Grandfather owned a farm, when I was a teenager, we’d spend time there just tilling the field and planting seeds. It’s hard labor, the ground is often clumpy, rocky, and it takes time to till through it, it would exhaust me and make my back sore every day. We were out there tilling from dawn until dusk. We also milked cows, once at the crack of Dawn, and the second time in the middle of the night. No machines, all done by hand. Cleaning the barn of poop from his goats, cows and chicken was probably my worst part of staying over at his house haha. Loved chasing his roosters though, they’d chase me right back. It helped me shape me and be a more responsible teenager, but when I was growing up, I absolutely dreaded doing it. Now imagine being a farmer year round, I could never do it. 
When Covid first appeared people were telling they want to live the farm life and far from people. I thought Covid had gotten into their brains, they were making it sound like a fairytale life, it is anything but! I tried to knock some sense into as many as I could. Lol >

Been there too. >

It is very difficult, which is why it was mechanized asap so most people could move to the city for better jobs.    This is a hundred-year old trend, children. >

i'm not sure people think that farming is an easy job. i don't know that that's a common or popular belief.
yes there are cutesy games about farming. but i don't think people assume that farming is an easy industry. >

I don't think this is an unpopular opinion. Also, I have heard people say that about buying a farm and moving there. I don't think anyone that says that is implying that farming is any less difficult than what they do, but rather they're idolizing the solitude compared with the hustle and bustle of their life, and comparing the honest work of actually tending to physical things, and making something real, to their job they're dissillusioned with. That's always how I have taken it in context. I think these comments are filled with a deep admiration for the work of farmers, so I'd think they'd be flattering. I wish somebody talked about the work I do with any kind of reverance or admiration. >

That depends on the scale. If you simply want to be self sufficient with vegetables and fruits and maybe a few chickens, it is pretty easy.
Of course farmers have it hard because they usually produce for hundreds of people and have to deliver. >

Even then.  To be self sufficient or even close(like minimalist or something) it is still mad work.
Those few chickens, you're not gonna eat them(cauae then you're out of chickens) so you need to scale up if you want to eat them. 
And eggs alone won't keep you good plus you'll want variety in your meals.
Then along with that, the feed and water goes up as you have more chickens.
Then for vegetables. Once you harvest you have to eat or find a way to preserve. You can do rotating plots woth doffrent stages of growth, so you have a steady supply of vegetables but then seasons put a big kink on that type of growing. >

I would say that it is less work than a full time job. My friend has a small veggie garden aside his fulltime job and he has so much output there it is crazy.
You can easily grow enough in summer to get you trough the year. Nowadays it is easy enough to conserve these foods. Though you would need to buy oil for example.
Then again it also depends on your lifestyle (meal variety), where you life (in some places you can't even grow anything) and if you make a good plan beforehand. >

It's not as difficult as a full time job but you're not going to produce enough to justify not having a job and on top of a job there's still hard work and needing to learn various different skills to know how to farm well >

I don't even own the farm I'm at, I keep a horse there and care for another. Just this in itself is stressful as hell, summers are hard, and winters are cold. This is the first year we have bought as much food as we have now.
It's a small establishment animal wise, but it got tons of land. My grandparents are in charge, I barely do anything there when it's nor specific hard work that has to be done (like when we gather hay, or set up fences)
I wanna take over some day, but by hell, it's gonna be rough >

You will wake up at the asscrack of dawn every day, and work long, 10-12h days. Weather and many factors outside your control will determine if you even make money. Loss of a crop can be disastrous. 
Everything will smell like shit all the time. It's not easy, but it is necessary. Stop romanticizing it. >

Shit sometimes smells like money. Like about every 10 or so raising fat cattle. >

Most white collar workers wouldn’t last a week on a farm. In fairness, most farmers wouldn’t last a week at a desk job. There’s a job for everyone. >

The problem is most dream jobs come with a catch either they aren't a stable income or they are even more work then just a  regular old job in a supermarket of office. Or they simply can't be jobs at all since there's no real way to make money from them. Youtuber and streamer for example its not a secure income and it takes years of work and luck to even make a living off it and it could just be all taken away easily if people lose interest in your content. Maybe its best just to stick to regular jobs and have these things be hobbys. >

The real sticking point is no days off. No holidays, no vacations, no sick days, no weekends. Hard work that is endless and provides no opportunities for breaks. >

I grew up on a 10k acre wheat an cattle ranch. It certainly a lot of work but it goes in spurts and there can be plenty of down time.  We had a river cabin we spent time at and plenty of great vacations. >

Green Acres is the place to be. Farm living is the life for me... >

Land spreading out so far and wide. Keep Manhattan just gimme that country side. >

New York is where I'd rather stay. 
I get allergic smelling hay. 
I just adore a penthouse view. 
Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue... >

At least with cell phones, you won’t have to climb up the telephone pole to make a call >

people that don't find beauty in civilization, science, technology, marvels and a lot of other nice things (or they don't realize they do) often believe dumb things like "the true life is into nature", this not only spits over all mankind has come up with but it's also extremely naive and un-wise
i worked as a farmer, it's was not only exhausting, it was also super hard, you have to keep a calendar for ALL you have to do during the year, learn a lot of things, deal with diseases plants get, play like in the stock market for the best price you can sell and buy, pay a lot of services, and also it was extremely repetitive, you have 2000 tomato plants? 2000 times tieing em to the wire, 2000 times pruning em, etc >

I wouldn’t say it’s dumb to believe true beauty is in nature or vice versa. It’s all subjective really. >

for the same reason such people shouldn't shit over modernity, but the point is that they do, i see this too many times, even my father reasons like this, in his case it's the inheritance of the sixties and seventies, nowadays people are just biased and they range from poetry attention whores to gullible ones, two figures often spotted together >

I'd be shocked if I could last even a week farming for a living! >

ugh yes. we didnt even have a big farm growing up, we raised chickens, meat rabbits, and mules. I was up every morning at 4 am to feed them all, then after finishing school ( i was homeschooled) id have to go right back out and grab eggs, clean a rabbit for dinner, and had daily work with the mules to keep them well-trained enough to sell. it was backbreaking >

I have zero desire to grow my own food. I can barely cook it for myself. 
I'd be a failure if I had to live off the land in any way. >

Peopole who say that don't really want to farm, they just want to be around less people. >

I don't think most people who say it want to have their entire livelihood based on farming but they want to just have a few animals and maybe grow some things themselves. I will agree that people seem to think even that is way easier than it actually is though. >

Farmers are truly shade-tree engineers. Farming is the art of problem solving in the service of sustenance, and it's incredibly hard. It's also back-breaking labor under conditions completely at the whim of nature. >

There's a difference between homesteading and running a farm, most people that say they want to live off the land are referring to the former. 
The latter implies you're providing for more than just your family, and the scale is much larger. They want to have a chicken coop, maybe a cow, and a sizeable garden that is enough to supplement a majority of their groceries. I agree most people underestimate how much work it is, but farming is vastly different than self sustained gardening and homesteading. >

You mean my years of playing Stardew Valley won't help me?!?! >

Yes I know. I would much rather do hard manual labor in benefit of myself instead of doing some bs office work in benefit of a corporate overlord. >

The clash of the pastoral and the urban is a pretty long historied one. You'd be surprised how long people have been saying stuff exactly like that. It's a really interesting topic for things like literary culture, because it was the driving force for a lot of understanding.
Personally, I'd argue its biblical. >

A dispute with a long and storied legacy, and yet this current period is the first time anyone has been able to discuss it with anyone else from any place at any time, and if this thread is anything to go off of, that distribution of knowledge seems to have softened and made empathetic most of the points being made regardless of their actual stance. 
That’s the wildest part to me reading through these comments, very few people are being outwardly disrespectful over this historic misunderstanding and that’s a thing uniquely afforded to us by the internet. >

I think it's solved one of the main issues of the pastoral-urban clash, which is that both sides had a demonised or perfected image of the other.
In reality, both sides shared entirely regular people living in entirely regular conditions. Both had problems and benefits, and that was difficult to communicate in any great number prior to this kinda point in history. >

Well put! What sucks is the goalposts moved and now we gotta deconstruct other clashes stemming from demonized or deified cultural caricatures of other actual real-ass regular people. That’s probably just a human thing broadly and something we’ll never fully get away from but it also doesn’t seem to stop being a headache. >

You wanna strain your back? Because that's how you'll strain your back. >

I lived on small farm growing up.  I married a girl born and raised in NYC.  It is amazing to me how many plants she has killed, how hard it is for her to learn, and perplexing that she refused to take any advise from me or ask me how to do something.  I used to just sit back, watch, and come in for cleanup when they died.  Now I secretly tend to her garden when she isn’t around.  She genuinely thinks she now has a green thumb and I haven’t the heart to break it to her. >

Eh, I went from a stressful city-based job (management consulting) to ranching and personally feel the opposite. 
In my old job, I may have been at a desk most of the time but I was actively working 12-16 hours a day without breaks. Multiple deadlines to meet each day. Extremely stressful. I finally hit a breaking point when we moved to remote work during COVID because I was expected to be online all day.
Since moving to Montana, I find it funny when other ranchers complain about how hard it is but they all take hour+ long lunch breaks, take days/weeks off during hunting season, have no processes/management practices in place and complain about the financials of everything but spend absurd amounts of money on equipment they don’t need, horses they rarely use, and still get a lot of aid or at least have the opportunity to get it if they’re willing to spend time applying for grants or other programs. 
To maintain a ~3k acre bison ranch (almost all leased land), I have two hands, the occasional WWOOF’er, and myself. It was a lot of work the first summer to get all the infrastructure in place, but since then it’s a 40 hr/wk, M-F gig for us with the occasional long, hard couple days or weekend work when something unusual comes up. 
Do I make less money than my corporate job? Yes, significantly. But there’s also a lot of non-monetary benefit to the job like getting to work outside/with animals, the sense of accomplishment building something with my hands, and feeling like I’m making a positive contribution by regeneratively ranching and working to achieve “entire life on farm” animal welfare status.
I think farmers/ranchers far overestimate how hard their job is because they make it hard on themselves and underestimate how physically/emotionally tiring corporate jobs can be. Hard work is hard work, whether you’re pounding fence posts or building a financial model. >

I would agree about the labor and so on, but you absolutely do not need to be "well off" to start a farm or a homestead. Source: am poor and have a homestead.
Also, yes no holidays etc, however there are times when there is very little work for a month or so at a time.
Most people who want this are indeed naïve, but it is a good goal to have, and anyone can learn to do it, and anyone can become capable if they want it. >

I feel like people overestimate how hard it is. To make profit is very resource, finance, and research heavy. And the work definitely isn’t easy. But one or two farmers can manage a large amount of animals and crop with some level of automation. Bees are very profitable if you’re in the right area. Same for flowers, bamboo, and other decorative plants. And with the rise of “organic free range local” stuff, profits are easier to get for new farmers (or at least were).
It’s not easy, but as long as you are relatively wealthy and smart, it shouldn’t be that difficult to get into. >

I'm in the middle of learning how difficult it is.  Will report back someday.