TBF 018 :: Part Two of an Interview with Luke Gran of Practical Farmers of Iowa, Updates, and a Hard Lesson Learned

If you missed last weeks episode you might want to check it out before listening to this one because it is the first half of my interview with Luke Gran the Next Generation Coordinator with Practical Farmers of Iowa. PFI is an organization that I have been involved with since almost the very beginning of my farming journey and their staff, field days, on-line resources, and "Farminars" have helped me along the way.

In this section of the interview Luke and I talk about everything from the 100 Days, 100 Beginners campaign that is currently running to raise funds to help beginning farmers to balancing the town job with the job on the farm. If you are a beginning farmer (which is someone who has been in charge of farming for less than 10 years) I would encourage you to get connected with PFI and their wealth of information!

You can learn more about Practical Farmers of Iowa or Luke Gran by checking out these links ...

• Practical Farmers of Iowa
• Practical Farmers of Iowa on Facebook
• Table Top Farm (the farm that Luke and his wife are partners of)

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

This weeks "Hard Lesson Learned" is actually a lesson that I didn't exactly live through (although I was a toddler at the time). Last week I had the opportunity to watch "The Farm Crisis" which is a public television documentary aired on my states PBS station. The 1980's farm crisis is piece of recent history that I have grown up hearing about because it was an event that hand a deep and difficult impact on our family. But, this documentary really brought it to life for me ... maybe it is because I have a farm now ... maybe it is because I have a family now ... or maybe because it is just a difficult story to hear. There are many lessons to be learned. More than I might even want to think about, but my encouragement to you is to take about 90 minutes out of your life and watch this. It is an important part of farm history that we would do well to remember.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... 

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

TBF Show 018 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)