Looking for partner or partners to start cattle company/ecovillage pirate farmer community.

Hey! Tired of dreaming of a tomorrow that may never come? I was. I went out into the wilderness in a cabin in southeast Indiana and bought goats, 5 years ago. I have moved from place to place since then, picked up some jersey cows, hopped around a bit more and I finally found a great place! I have a backer, 100 acres for at least the next 3 years, with the opportunity to buy, land that has never been farmed or had chemicals applied, a good foot of black sandy topsoil goes over most of the property. We got some of the best water in the country from a 150 foot well, a big bulldozer, 10 cows, 30 goats, acres of fields and woods and wetlands who knows what's next!
I am as about as radical as radical can be without being criminally insane! Organically and nutritionally radical! I have been organic farming 7 years and have studied the works of Sir Arthur Howard, Charles Walters, Masanobu Fukuoka, Bill Mollison, Sepp Holzer, the Nordells, Joel Salatin, Pat Colby and more. Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and We Want To Live by Aajonus Vonderplanitz are my favorite non-farming books. I was pretty into End Game by Derrick Jensen but honestly couldn't make myself read it.
What I am looking for is people to join forces to start an organic farming community of sorts. Right now I'm in Northern Michigan, but it might not be forever, however, I would like to buy this property as well as likely others in other places or of course lease other properties. There would be obvious advantages to having land closer to urban centers but also different regions have vast advantages in different crops and farming techniques. Wouldn't it be great to travel and visit and be at home wherever you go?
I want to push the boundaries and looking for others with the same agenda. I have seen with dismay the ecological food movement being taken over by "fake it til you make it types" but also people with the best of intentions, who really don't know much about organic farming. Sub par produce that is often more expensive and labor intensive to produce is passing the grade. I think the competition is weak. Growing a superior product than 98% of what's out there comes natural to those who delve into this movement with true passion, openness and honesty.
Life is too short to be spent stooped over pulling weeds by hand in barren sun scorched fields. I don't care to hear about all the cattle farmer's "cow problems". I'm not going to force feed my animals crap that kills earthworms, but sadly most of the local foods movement farmers I talk to are not above this. I'm not trying to insult anyone, I know everybody is trying their best. But I want to raise the bar.
I am looking for people interested in dynamic healing, of our own bodies and of our surroundings. We must leave the land we use in better shape for the next generation. We must sacrifice so that others will not suffer the hardship we grew up in. Are you with me? In the words of uncle Joel, "don't wait, do it NOW". For those who want clean wholesome food NOW, who want a healthier ecosystem NOW, who want to live in a better community NOW, let's start it NOW! I'm not looking for nor yet prepared to accept interns. I am looking for experienced or committed individuals who want to start their farming careers NOW, who want to make money for the good of the planet. Money is not the source of all evil, greed is. Let us be paradigm changing entrepreneurs who are remembered for creating a bright future for the children of tomorrow.
Requirements for applicants... youthful enthusiasm! It would help if you have done farm work, have a good work ethic, have skills in some of these categories... veterinary, mechanical, engineering, carpentry, gardening, stockmanship, nutrition, wildcraft, traditional skills, hunting/fishing or even biology. But mostly youthful enthusiasm. Wouldn't hurt if your a rock and roller at heart like me, but remember, we will be the neo hippies, we don't want to get f'ed up, we want to get un-f'ed up! HEALING!
If that wasn't too confusing or if it was interesting to you, go ahead and give me a ring! 989-255-3325
Sincerely thank you for your consideration, peace and love,
Emile.

very cogent; i'm already set in Hawai'i and i'd never go back to America, so i'm not telling you what to do for any advantage to me....but from the point of view of those who would join such community....
not all, but I should think many looking to commit to putting effort into building such community want to know that it is indeed permanent rather than maybe and hopefully.
nothing wrong with moving about to see where to be...I did it all my life and found it.
but if you want QUALIFIED committed hanai ohana, most want more commitment back.

That's okay, I wouldn't want those people anyways, though I used to be like that. I am not made of money and neither are most of the people who want to farm. Buying land is a risky venture. Much better to rent first. Renting land is highly profitable right off the bat and is an offensive wealth generating posture. Owning land is for the already wealthy and is a defensive wealth maintaining posture. Much better to be renting and turning a profit off land then to take a gamble and settle for less because you "have" to own it. I used to really want to own land, so I could start a food forest and live off fruit. However fortunately I quickly found that it is quite easy to rot your teeth out of your head picking and living off of wild fruit, which abounds all over the place, even in cities. I want people who can think bigger. The average person, even the average wannabee farmer seems frightened by the prospect of infinite possibilities. They often seem to want to justify their existence with a moral code of agricultural and consumptive conduct and judge others by that code. Local is great. Vegetables have very short half lives, often 24 hours. Back in the day no one used to buy vegetables, this is a practice that was first made mainstream in Paris France. Everyone used to grow a garden. However, livestock are very transportable for 12 hour or less distances. Sure it's stressful, but everyone has stressful days. I know it's not that bad because my cows made better than half the amount of milk on the trip they normally do in a 12 hour period. Something that they only do while cudding, something that they only do when in a relaxed state. A really rainy day can easily throw dairy goats off just as much!

Anyways, unless you are old (40's+) and depleted of energy, please rent before you buy. Make your mistakes now before they hurt you really bad and leave you lying and bleeding later on. I am so glad I started my journey when I did. First off, I was young and without energy. Raw milk gave me my life back. Second, though it has been hellish at times and blissful at times, the blissful times healed my mind, soul and body, while the hellish times did not beat me and taught me. I learned far more from my failures than my successes and they pushed me to be a better person and farmer. I can now see a clear path ahead of me. I can tell quickly and skillfully what is going to work and what isn't. All these failures-and surviving them (my animals survived too), have given me about the confidence of a baseball bat full of nails. I am ready to shred whatever life has to throw at me. I am ready to lead and motivate others, (though I am more of a Bones or a Spock than a Kirk, though I could be Kirk I guess).

Besides that, I'm not ready to plant the stakes for a community, I am looking for 1 or better 2 or 3 dedicated, motivated young people who are desiring this type of lifestyle as much as I am. There is no doubt in my mind that with some good help and planning I would have been successful already now. However, my failures have taught me well and I am more prepared than ever today. I am ready and willing to share and teach what I have learned to others and am excited to learn from the experience of others. There are three things to chose from when deciding on a life in farming and you need a lot of at least two of them. Labor, time and money. I have been focusing on the first two, but I am just one man. One plus one is better than three individuals. One plus one plus one is better than 7 individuals. Teamwork multiplies efficiency and moral. Moral multiplies productivity and success. I am a hopeless optimist but I do get bogged down sometimes.

Listen folks, if you don't know who Allan Savory is, if you haven't seen the Ted Talks video, watch it. The aforementioned revolution is here! Let's throw in our chips while the market is still a tender morsel to be grabbed!

all good points as well...but for politicizing buying or renting; it's still a matter of get off the fence and choose somewhere and get to it.
rent, buy, beg, borrow or steal land that's all previously stolen property....how one comes to be able to live off of the land is not so important as making footprints on it.
it's not lack of money that keeps anyone from growing food; it's simply lack of will to direct effort that way.
there are many paths...fiduciary factory farm profiteering is one, family farm for family's future is another, and 'hit it and quit it' seasonal profiteering as a double life is another....we all have the free right to choose a path and no right to be offended.
everybody is somewhere on some path......and we all have the free right to decide what is important, even pick several kine....most people don't care what you care about.
most people don't care what I care about. most people are not interested in eating real food with the sun's warmth still in it. I am, so I put my efforts into letting such things grow.
other people see land and can't think of anything to do with it except practice getting better at hitting a ball with a stick. maybe i'm the idiot; I likely would be good at golf if I wanted to put effort into such things....and they seem to give people who are good at it an awful lot of cash and prizes with which one could acquire much land and equipment!
but I misspent my youth on airplanes and motorcycles and other contraptions and the mechanical engineering thereof!
in a couple of months, i'll have made my 50th trip around the sun....so i'm going to ride the horse that brought me here. i'll continue to work methodically toward my death while enjoying the best food and weather on the planet.
so; I must have misunderstood the intent of your particular search and path, and my suggestions do not apply to most anyway of course....good luck with all.

jones smith wrote:all good points as well...but for politicizing buying or renting; it's still a matter of get off the fence and choose somewhere and get to it.
rent, buy, beg, borrow or steal land that's all previously stolen property....how one comes to be able to live off of the land is not so important as making footprints on it.
it's not lack of money that keeps anyone from growing food; it's simply lack of will to direct effort that way.
there are many paths...fiduciary factory farm profiteering is one, family farm for family's future is another, and 'hit it and quit it' seasonal profiteering as a double life is another....we all have the free right to choose a path and no right to be offended.
everybody is somewhere on some path......and we all have the free right to decide what is important, even pick several kine....most people don't care what you care about.
most people don't care what I care about. most people are not interested in eating real food with the sun's warmth still in it. I am, so I put my efforts into letting such things grow.
other people see land and can't think of anything to do with it except practice getting better at hitting a ball with a stick. maybe i'm the idiot; I likely would be good at golf if I wanted to put effort into such things....and they seem to give people who are good at it an awful lot of cash and prizes with which one could acquire much land and equipment!
but I misspent my youth on airplanes and motorcycles and other contraptions and the mechanical engineering thereof!
in a couple of months, i'll have made my 50th trip around the sun....so i'm going to ride the horse that brought me here. i'll continue to work methodically toward my death while enjoying the best food and weather on the planet.
so; I must have misunderstood the intent of your particular search and path, and my suggestions do not apply to most anyway of course....good luck with all.

No disrespect to what you do or what others do brother! Just saying what I am looking for and what I am about.

I gots 100 acres that could be 3+ years or forever, perhaps just a grand adventure that readies us for the next move. At least I will have a much larger and more commercial flock in 3 years. I also have the fencing to put up 40-80 acres or perhaps more, depending on what we are keeping in.

Just installed 3 nukes so should have raw honey this year!

I have saved most of the juicy bits. I got a bad reputation for over hyping things, causing people to lose interest. No more! I could go on and on but I don't want to bore anyone. Feel free, to talk, or even visit. If you don't like it, it could just be a cool vacation!

The earth that I visit is stale. Want to meet some refreshment? Here I am!

I was going to say, on the local food thing. It used to be, before the great depression, that yearling steers were shipped out west by rail car, and fattened to age 4 or 5 before being driven home on the trail. Often this was done during bad droughts and as cattle marched back east, they ate along the way and on that good grass usually actually gained weight on the trip, as much as 1-200 pounds!

Ah, if only the American West wasn't so marred by the whole indian and buffalo killing thing. My fantasy is an outlaw western future paradise where most everybody gets along, cows, immigrants, natives, buffalo and wolves. Sigh.

Got 59 goats, 8 or 10 or something are about to kid any day. Next year will have a commercial size milking herd I guess. Most of the American goat breeds are included with more nubians than anything else.

Back in the old days I would have just hitchhiker to your farm for a visit. Man I miss the old days. Kathy

Emil,

Just now finding this site and your post. Interested to know if you are still active with this dream and seeking others.

Thanks,

Kimberly