In the agrarian habit of thought, to paraphrase Tom Hodgkinson, “jack of all trades and master of none” is just bourgeois propaganda. Farming lends its self to a variety of experiences and work. To be a farmer is to be engaging in many activities. But as the history of farming over the last several decades has shown, farming has become increasingly specialized and professionalized. The ideal has become the full-time farm. And the necessary cushion to keep that full-time farm afloat is no longer a diversity of income from a diversity of work, but USDA subsidies (farmer welfare), so called “disaster relief” (available for even minor droughts that would have been no problem for farmers with good water management practices), and bank loans. The loans and subsidies drive farmers to become even more specialized. These farmers are planting monocrops and purchasing more equipment to farm even more land to keep up with payments and get the right number of payouts—it’s a snowball effect. 

Farming as a “career” is a miscategorization that we would do best to leave behind. We need more people who farm and do several other things. In the end it will turn out that all these activities feed each other. I get my best writing ideas when I am out on the farm. When I write I get ideas for solutions to farm problems. When I do consulting work I realize new ways to make my farm more profitable. They all aid each other, and I would never want to do any of these tasks by themselves. Farming is not a career, it is a habit of life that is centered on the miraculous multiplication of food—two pigs becoming eight, one seed becoming the start of thousands. It is a habit open to all of those who are willing to take the time to burn some energy (preferably ATP), put down some money, and grow food to feed others.

So the answer to the question “How many people can really make a living from farming?” is this: Don’t make a living from farming. Make farming a living. That is a possibility open to anyone with access to land.