• You Can Farm

  • The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise
  • By: Joel Salatin
  • Narrated by: Joel Salatin
  • Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (947 ratings)

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You Can Farm  By  cover art

You Can Farm

By: Joel Salatin
Narrated by: Joel Salatin
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Publisher's summary

Have you ever desired, deep within your soul, to make a comfortable full-time living from a farming enterprise? Too often people dare not even vocalize this desire because it seems absurd. It's like thinking the unthinkable.

After all, the farm population is dwindling. It takes too much capital to start. The pay is too low. The working conditions are dusty, smelly and noisy: Not the place to raise a family. This is all true, and more, for most farmers.

But for farm entrepreneurs, the opportunities for a farm family business have never been greater. The aging farm population is creating cavernous niches begging to be filled by creative visionaries who will go in dynamic new directions. As the industrial agriculture complex crumbles and our culture clambers for clean food, the countryside beckons anew with profitable farming opportunities.

While this audiobook can be helpful to all farmers, it targets the wannabes, the folks who actually entertain notions of living, loving and learning on a piece of land. Anyone willing to dance with such a dream should be able to assess its assets and liabilities; its fantasies and realities. "Is it really possible for me?" is the burning question this audiobook addresses.

You Can Farm is wonderfully narrated by the author, Joel Salatin, who co-owns (with his family) Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia.

©2018 Joel Salatin (P)2020 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

What listeners say about You Can Farm

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great book. made me angry.

Joe has some great business stuff in this book, even though it's not a book about business. great cultural commentary and other good philosophy stuff.

the title of the book is a little misleading though. I'm sitting here listening to Joel salatin talk about raising 500 turkeys and adding $7,800 to your farms annual revenue, and I'm thinking, "what the heck are you talking about? who is trying to make $7,800?"

maybe the title should read, "you CAN farm, you'll just never make any money doing it."

or maybe, "you can farm, but why would you want to?"

if you think you want to start a farm, you should definitely read this book. if after reading it you still want to start a farm, then I guess there's no talking you out of it, maybe it is your calling.

as for me, this book has helped me to drop all delusions of profitable farming and instead look around my community for a farmer who I can just buy my stuff from. maybe we don't need that many more Farmers, we just need more people supporting those Farmers that we do have. I never complain about price to a farmer ever in my life after reading this book.

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19 people found this helpful

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Joel’s classic, finally on Audible!

The words contained in this book are timeless. It’s crazy to me to think this book was written over twenty years ago and everything still applies. In fact, we can see the changes that were brought forth from Joel, this book, and others like him. If you intend to farm, listen to this book with intention, writing it down, and taking it to heart. It will bring you far.

Polyface, PLEASE bring the rest of your wonderful books to audio, so those of us working in the garden, or pulling the tractors can listen while we work! Thank you!!

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14 people found this helpful

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Every young farmer should read this.

While I do not agree with all of his politics, there is an incredible amount of wisdom in Joel Salatin's recommendations for starting your own farming business.

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6 people found this helpful

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Amazing and inspiring!

I am extremely inspired by this book. I have read additional reviews saying that this book is only philosophical and I would say that the Joel’s philosophy is a requirement for would be farmers to adopt. This book is full of advise that you couldn’t pay anyone else to sit and discuss in such detail how to successfully achieve my goals of breaking out of the everyday grind and transitioning with my family into this new lifestyle. I want it, I live it and my family is closer than they ever were. To be honest, I have found many of Joel’s philosophies essential in my life along with my family. This book has only proven that all of my dedication and hard work has worked before and that my goals are on the right track. I have an improved knowledge, better insight and I know that I am on the right track to success. Thanks Joel and God bless!

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Excellent!

I loved it, very informative. All of Joel's books have really opened my eyes and truly changed my life

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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable book many great Ideas

Narrator was easy to listen to, hope he does his other books, like salad bar beef or Pasture poultry.

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Easy to understand!

Joel laid out very simple plans that I feel I can replicate. I ordered all his books from his website.

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Arrogant, Out of Date, Clumsy, Redundant

This audiobook has a release date of 2020 but it was written in 1998… today that is over 25 years ago and a lot of things discussed are very clearly out of date. Though it is interesting to hear someone talk about using computers for filing only 5 years after internet went public and 9 years BEFORE the first iPhone, much of this book is painfully dry. There is nothing in it that isn’t wrapped up in a couple 20 minute YouTube videos by literally any homestead YouTuber today (BTW YouTube was launched 8 years AFTER this book was written). Joel’s reading of it is clumsy and unprofessional as he stumbles along ad libbing and skipping content as he sees fit. Many edits with timbre changes make it noticeably awkward. Joel has an almost cult-like following of folks that regard every word and action he performs as part a flawless ministry. Scarily similar to Dave Ramsey, even when he is clearly ultracrepidating, his word is gospel to his followers; which may account for the near flawless reviews. This book may be beneficial for someone who hasn't had any internet access or social media influence for the last 10 years. 25 years ago this information may not have been readily available, but today this was a painful waste of 14 hours trying to eek out a piece of information that is not repetitiously explained in much better detail by any and all regenerative, permaculture or modern homesteading content creators.

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Not for young aspiring farmers

The author says if you can’t make it through the book, you wouldn’t make it as a farmer anyway. I disagree.

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YOU ARE INSULTING MUSLIMS IN THIS BOOK

religion of muslims is called ISLAM, not Muhammadism. its an insult. you are calling yourself a religious man. behave like one. thank you

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