>

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
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.