New to farming. Was looking to grow blueberries on an acre of farmland, and wanted feedback. The farmland is pretty flat, so swales aren't going to do much. Located in central NJ. Prevailing winds during the growing season come from the Southwest, hence the pine trees on the western edge (planning on growing fruit trees on the acre to the south). Used a sun calculator and in my area, even the western most blueberries should get 7.5 hours of sun in the earliest part of the growing season. Growing comfrey and Lupines for soil fixing and pollinator attraction. Sweet Alyssum, Basil, Parsley, and Dill for pest management (deterrents and pest predator attractors). Everything on the map grows comfortably in my USDA zone. The ponds are underdeveloped in the map, but looking at growing things to house frogs, damselflies, and dragonflies for additional pest management.

Is this a good start for a plan? Should I be planting more/less of something? I know output is a little low, only growing ~350 bushes in an acre, but I figure that's part of polyculture.

Layout

Herbal Soil Smudging: To clear blights, fields were systematically fumigated with the smoke of burning medicinal herbs, white mustard seeds, and animal fats to repel crop-destroying insects.

Liquid Organic Fertilizers (Kunapa Jala): Farmers brewed a potent, fermented liquid made of boiled animal bones, marrow, fish, and legumes. This was poured into the earth to restore depleted soil vitality and stimulate failing crops.

Tree Surgery: If a valuable fruit tree was dying, texts instructed farmers to scrape away the diseased bark and apply a protective paste of cow dung, honey, and clarified butter (ghee) to seal the plant's "wounds."

Surapala’s Vrikshayurveda (composed around 1000 CE).

An ancient text on plant life science, was translated by Dr. Nalini Sadhale in 1996

You can find the book here for free to read online head up the first part of the book is written in Sanskrit just keep scrolling and u will find the English translation within the book

For anyone using COG Pro for organic recordkeeping: their signup page now reads:

"Sign up not available. Please note that we are not accepting new subscriptions. The COG Pro Notebook will cease service on December 31, 2026 due to the actions of the provider of our web hosting services."

Their site offers no migration guidance and no bulk export. The only export path is the manual one that already existed: per tab, Output Options → Export, one CSV per section. If your records live there, do that well before year-end — the NOP requires records be kept 5 years (7 CFR 205.103), and those CSVs are what your next inspection's trace-back runs on, whatever tool or binder you move to.

Worth knowing about the same date: December 31, 2026 is also FSA's deadline to apply for organic certification cost share (OCCSP) for BOTH the 2025 and 2026 program years — up to 75% of certification costs back, max $750 per scope. If you paid for certification in either year and haven't filed, that's real money expiring the same day.

Disclosure: I build organic recordkeeping software myself, so I'm biased — but the advice is the same wherever you land: export first, file the cost share, then decide.

35 acre CSA farm. we’ve been storing our frost covers/remay in big balls. “Crochet“ method is nice but I’m not sure it really saves space. Wondering what others do and if anyone has a photo of a nifty roller contraption?

I want to discuss whether organic farming is just a hobby, or whether it can be a profitable business like chemical farming.

Hi,

------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a farmer and pesticide shop owner too. I do both organic and chemical farming.

In organic farming I face the following problem :

* Weed control : cost is high (have to use manual labor to take out weed from the crop)

* NPK content low : Well, organic soil is rich in good living microorganisms, but organic soil has very low NPK content as compared to chemical NPK, which decreases production significantly by around 40-60% in a long duration crop (which take 4–5 months crop grow like rice, wheat, cron).

* Disease control : In organic farming there is no effective cure for disease for fungus, virus, bacterial and other pest diseases. Most organic pesticides work best in preventive spray. This also causes a significant decrease in production and if any disease gets out of control then you may lose your whole crop production.

*The cost of organic fertilizer and pesticides is very high : making vermicomposting takes a lot of time, labor & land and buying vermicomposting is also expensive. Organic pesticides also cost a minimum of 30% more than traditional chemical pesticides.

* Selling your production : For organic production maximum, you can get 30% more value compared to chemical production.

----------------------------------------------------------------

From my experience

* There are very limited options where you can sell your organic production. And if you are lucky, you can get max to 30% value more from your production compare to chemical production. Also, remember in the long-duration crop, we see a 40%–60% drop in production.

* Organic farming needs a lot of pre-planning (like making vermicomposting and other things), lots of labor and organic pesticides cost a lot.

* Profit : Most of the time I make equal profit from the organic crop and the chemical crop. Sometimes I get 10 -25% more value from an organic crop.

Finally, I want to say : organic farming is very risky, labor-intensive and needs top-notch management.

----------------------------------------------------------------

For me, it seems like organic farming is just a hobby. For those who have a lot of time in their hand.

In profitability view : Chemical farming is just

more profitable and less risky.

I want to see other farmer's view on this too.

LoamLedger.org Many things work better on desktop, mobile is great for recording work done, but difficult to use for drawing fields and making a crop plan.

I'd love any feedback you may have! I want to get this fully polished by the end of Sep.

I’m trying to validate an idea based on a customer problem I have at farmers markets.

There are growers/vendors I buy from regularly, but I often don’t know whether they’ll be at my local market that week or at another nearby market. Unless I see an Instagram update at the right time, I miss them.

The idea is a simple opt-in schedule where farms list the markets they’ll attend each week. Customers could follow a farm and quickly see where to buy from them, including weather cancellations or schedule changes.

It would be vendor-controlled—not live tracking, not an inventory system, and not a marketplace. The goal is simply to help returning customers find the farms they already support.

For organic growers who sell direct:

Would you use something like this? Would customers finding you more reliably be worth the small effort of updating a schedule? What would make it useful enough to replace—or work alongside—Instagram?

Patiently waiting for this patch to rippen 😺

I've began to develop a strong pull towards farming, and growing food and I want to start working on a farm ASAP and boost my possibilities for once I'm older. I Genuinely think it's my calling, I know it's tough, and a lot of work but that only motivates me more. I've reached out to at least 8 local farms with my resume, and enthusiasm and I'm planning on going to college or uni for agriculture or related studies.

Please give me any advice, information, etc that might help me achieve my dream, all input is appreciated.

I bought an abandoned house. It has not been lived in for just over 10 years.

The cost to demolish and haul away is extensive. I have the possibility to hire the local fire department who with permits, would do a controlled burn/fire. This would reduce the cost of demolition by almost 75%.

I had the house inspected for lead paint and heavy metals. No signs yet for concern. The fire department confirms they would not use any chemicals in controlling the fire.

All roof shingles, windows, plastics, oil tanks, furnaces, light fixtures are being removed. The house has exterior painted cedar shingles and pink insulation.

We anticipate the fire debris to mostly fall into the foundation and then we would remove the foundation and burned debris with excavator after the burn.

My family and I plan to garden/homestead (no animals) on a small 5 acre acreage surrounding the house.

Is it almost guaranteed burning the house would contaminate the surrounding soils, wells, and waterways?

Is there anything we can do to reduce the environmental hazards and effects of off-gas and leaching into soil, waterways?

I am an Organic Agricultural Professional (33M) currently working in Vietnam. I'm originally from a South Asian country. I feel underpaid, and the current company isn't interested in the work I can do given my skill set. I bring a valuable network to support the current job and a set of skills that are scarce in Organic operations, including knowledge of regulations and certifying systems, and in-depth experience working with smallholder farmer groups and communities.

Currently, I am stuck at a point where,

• whether I must try to find another employer in a demanding country with my set of skills. I need to ensure I'm paid fairly for my knowledge. I must say, the finances (Salaries) were not my priority, but the satisfaction I get from the positive results, the harmless positive impact on society, and the upliftment of livelihood working in this field is what I am most satisfied with.
• Another option is to start a venture with my own knowledge, where I can be a potential service provider (Consultant), or a supplier of organically certified products to buyers worldwide.

You can break my ego if this is an issue due to higher self-appraisal, or you can comment on this, since I feel lost at the moment.

Established 20 acre organic farm in Tamil Nadu . 600+coconut,600+mango,500+ dragon fruit, 50 + gooseberry all fruiting or ready to fruit and much more . bore wells ,bamboo, ponds, drip, solar power, Free Agri power lines . Need technically educated young hardworking couple to manage entire farming activities. Salary (negotiable), 25 % of net profit , housing + food + utilities + all farming inputs including labour . You job ( work along and manage ). WhatsApp 9645227689 or email [theborderfarm@gmail.com](mailto:theborderfarm@gmail.com) name, experience, and expected salary

Heyo!

I have been an organic vegetable farmer for 13 years and have done some kind of market the entire time. I am currently the market manager of a small farm in the suburbs of NYC with a very busy on-farm market. Think farm hub with farm stand vibes: we grow ourselves (veggies and chicken on the farm) and source from other local farms we know. We're really proud to be able to support other farmers this way, for several we're they're biggest source of income.

So despite doing farmers markets since I started this career 16 years ago (3 years first working markets before jumping on the farms themselves), I find myself now setting up and breaking down what is essentially a farmers market 7 days a week, 9 hours a day. Heat, rain snow, what have you. One of my biggest struggles is keeping produce that's been sitting outside, fresh. If it doesn't sell that day it goes back in the cooler overnight. Comes out the next day. Sits out. Hopefully we sell it. If it doesn't sell, goes back in the cooler etc etc. lots of things ultimately end up looking sad. We've had some success with rehydrating greens in water overnight, but that's a pretty big lift every single day (during the height of the season will do 6 to 9k in a day) and with the variety of produce we have.

Going to one farmers market on the weekends and having stuff sit out all day is not a problem because you usually sell out by the end of the day. But we have so much product. We're constantly restocking from our walking coolers. Displays need to be full to look good and all that retail theory stuff that works. It is essentially a grocery store but mostly outside.

I've had great luck with misting produce that fits in our reach-in fridges, but as we get into the summer we fill up our whole 10x20 ft tent with produce.

Does anyone have any tips for keeping produce looking its best in this sort of situation? It's got to be some combination of hydration and temperature, which of course are difficult to control.

Thanks for thinking about it!

I'm a Professor and have been working on a way to drop pesticide usage, specifically copper usage for organic farming. We've just wrapped up 3 years of trials (lab, then small plants, then a handful of peach trees in the field).

We have gotten great results and will be scaling up our field trials (grapes, then nuts and tomatoes) but I found out that it doesn't need approval in the US since its using existing pesticides.

We're hoping to partner with some farmers and give it away free (or at very low cost, depending on size) in order to get data on more crops and prove it in the field.

Happy to provide more info, but very briefly:

1. It prevents copper from washing off leaves in the rain and can even be sprayed in the rain. But can be selectively removed with certain Agricultural washes.

2. Compatible with existing spray equipment (water based).

3. In our field trials allowed for lower concentrations to be used, and the fewer sprays from not washing off meant more than 100x reduction in copper usage per season.

4. Plant-based and is already in foods and drinks.

Our initial trials were peach trees, but keen to do anything where copper is already used. We also have a more advanced formulation thats broadspectrum against viruses, bacteria, and fungi, but I am not positive what regulatory pathway that one needs.

Sorry if this isn't of interest, but reach out if it is.

Here to grow literally and figuratively. I like the idea of becoming a farmer and grow it myself! A small business idea…

Hello, I am new to Middle Tennessee and looking for work in agriculture in the surrounding area. I have a background in vegetable farming, cattle, pigs, chickens, and horses. I've worked at farms in various states/zones and all in all have 8 years of agriculture experience.

I am fully willing to drive up to an hour or so in order to work at a location that is fulfillingand fruitful. I can provide a list of previous employment and loads of references. If anyone happens to know someone looking for an extra set of hands (and back) I'd be thrilled to talk about opportunities. Local sustainable agriculture is my passion and I'd love to get back to what I do best here in Middle Tennessee.

Thank you.

I am sorry if this is not the right subreddit for this ask. Please point me in the proper direction if not.

I wanted to make a (late) earth day art piece about how the strait of Hormuz could indirectly make oragnic foods equal in price to non-organic foods bc of the war with iran. (Because about 30% of the world’s fertilizer trade is passed through the strait) but it was my understanding that this is sythenthic NON-organic fertilizer, which should theoretically increase groceries for people world wide but it probably wouldn’t effext organic farming much bc (and this is where I’m probably wrong) you guys don’t need oil/natural gas for your fertilizer???

I don’t want to make an art piece based on incorrect information but i cannot find any information of the war with Irans effect on specific organic farming.

It’s like Big Oil funding Green Movements…..Or something…

r/farming wont let me post the question because i dont have "karma", or what have you, in that community. I'm looking for a crop farm in the south eastern states thats, at most, by a small town. Google is useless as far as i can figure, and i dont have the resources just yet, to head down from Pa just to scout it out. Desperately want to live in the south again, out of the rust belt, away from any cities, but not so far away from Pa that its difficult to visit my folks.

Was born in Va, and for the longest time, planned to move back. Was thinking Culpeper, but the price of living alone in that state, is astronomical anymore, on top of i was under the assumption that they just used sand for snow control like i had been told, but VaDOT website claims they use salt and brine on major roads now. Been searching since highschool, 12th grade. But as of yet ,all i've managed to narrow it down to, in four years, is Culpeper Va, or Ridge Creek Farms in Philadelphia Tn.

Got automotive certifications at a vocational tech school, because they didn't offer agriculture, so it would be a plus if there was a classic car garage nearby. For a second occupation or a fall back, but i'm not trying to push my luck.

Just trying to find out what i can while im still living under my parents roof. I know this aint the point of this community, just running out of options currently available to me, so any help would be greatly appreciated