Though the producers we spoke with were all very committed to their work, they often faced many challenges ranging from acquiring and keeping land to sourcing equipment (i.e. especially if trying to find used) to finding help (i.e. labor/workers).

The two most common challenges that our producers faced were financial stability and the grueling physical nature of the work itself. These challenges were especially apparent through the eyes of the apprentices who were often experiencing this way of life for the first time.

Financial Stability

Both P1 and P5 touched upon how they had to deal with challenges that were both hard to predict and often beyond their control, like losing crops to weird weather. As P1 stressed when he said, "you're not just going to a cubicle and collecting a check every Friday," such variability made maintaining financial stability a constant struggle. P5 stressed that “one bad crop probably could have taken us out or been really really hard to recover from.” A4 said that she realized, “You know you’re not going to make a whole lot of money...This farm doesn’t break even.” A1 even brought up a story about how “there was a big drug bust for pot down the street” which made her think about “how much money those growers get while we get nothing for produce.” She even joked about it, suggesting, "If we just made carrots illegal..."

P10 also mentioned the challenge that money posed for land ownership, explaining, “We rent all of our land. We don’t own land. It’s very expensive to buy land in our area…at this point it’s a big liability for us that we don’t have long-term assets to our land. It would be a huge bump in the road for us to have to move."

Physical Nature of the Work Itself

All of the producers we spoke with enjoyed the physical work involved with farming, but that did not make the work any less exhausting on a day-to-day basis. Many of the apprentices, who were just getting used to such strenuous work, emphasized these issues. A4 said, “It’s hard when we’re weeding all day long. Shoveling compost across the farm all day long. It’s kind of a wake up call. You just do the work and sometimes it is not like...every moment is not fulfilling. Sometimes it is just that routine. Sometimes it is hard for farmers and you’re just working all the time." A3 also brought up challenges such as feeling isolated and having no free time when she said, “I feel like a lot of farmers I know who have been doing it for a while work so hard and it’s really hard on your body and it can get kind of lonely because you are so invested in your work and you don’t have a lot of time for other things.” P14 mentioned that “farming by nature is a very exhausting and full-time job so there’s not a lot of time to interface with other farmers” and said that, “the long-term sustainability of the farmer” really depended upon “setting limits for yourself…recognizing that there’s always going to be more to do on a farm but you really need to set aside time every week to have a day of rest and do something different.”