Big Team Farms––a new economic model?
New Down to Earth episode! If you’re a regular listener to this show you probably know the problems with industrial agriculture, like overuse of toxic chemicals, inhumane treatment of animals, destruction of soil, labor and public health issues. Journalist Sarah Mock offers us another model – what she calls Big Team Farms. We talk about this model and what problems it could solve if implemented well. Sarah is an agricultural journalist, and the author of two books, including Farm (and Other F Words), and her most recent, Big Team Farms.
Catch Sarah as a keynote speaker at this fall’s Regenerate Conference in Denver.
Shownotes
2’34 growing up on a farm in Wyoming, trying to go into international relations, pivoting to agriculture journalism
6’35 most farms in the US are family farms
7’36 the limitations of family farms––everything from family conflicts to the pressure to do extractive practices
13’32 the labor problem of family farms––if you want to do regenerative agriculture at a high level, you need labor, but there’s often not enough money to pay them enough
17’50 defining “Big Team Farms” in contrast to family farms, and what problems this model is trying to solve
20’34 some examples of big team farms and new ownership models
25’02 the employee ownership model
26’36 when you have a business, make sure there’s always an exit plan
28’00 different strategies for dealing with legacies for your children if you turn your farm into a multi-owner partnership
34’24 does the big team farm model benefit laborers?
37’33 big team farms and regenerative agriculture
39’57 resisting “maximization”
46’18 the minimal role of consumer demand as a change mechanism
50’11 policies that could improve the food system––that’s also very difficult, as USDA has always been about promoting big ag
53’22 commodity payments should be tied to regenerative agriculture practices
55’57 Sarah’s own experience of a big team farm falling apart
59’36 we don’t’ know if the big team farm model will work, but it’s the best one Sarah has come across
More Episodes
Episode 186 – Fair Trade: Good for farmers, the land, consumers, and business
Fair Trade: Good for farmers, the land, consumers, and business Paul Rice started out as an anti-capitalist labor organizer, working with coffee farmers in Nicaragua in the 1980's. Over time he saw that what growers needed most was a fair price for their product — and...
Episode 185 – Federal Fiasco for Farmers
Federal Fiasco for Farmers Since the new administration took office, programs benefitting farmers have been slashed, frozen, paused, and canceled –– and the effect is leaving them in a tough position. Carolina Mueller, Associate Coalition Director of the National...
Episode 184 – Let it Flow: Restoring Balance to Parched and Flooded Landscapes
Let it Flow: Restoring Balance to Parched and Flooded Landscapes Minni Jain and Philip Franses are co-founders of The Flow Partnership, and they are co-authors of the new book, The Language of Water: Ancient Techniques and Community Stories for a Water Secure Future....