Hi All,

I had a great interview this week with Beth Hoffman about her experience leaving her life in San Fransisco, and taking over a 530 acre farm in rural Iowa with her husband. She shares her story in her new book, Bet the Farm. The farm had been in her husband’s family for generations, but Beth had never farmed before, and this was going to be a new journey for her. As a journalist, Beth often wrote about food and agriculture, so she was very open to giving it a try!

The book is about the realities and challenges of farming, of transitioning to organic, living in a rural community with limited internet access, finding help for the farm, finding markets for your products, all while trying to make a profit. She explores ways of working cooperatively with Co-Farming, purchasing land together and sharing equipment and labor to make the process more affordable for young farmers, yet she acknowledges how hard it is to get started if you have to start from scratch.

This is a must read for anyone who is contemplating starting a farm!

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