Farmer, subsistance farmer, or homesteader?

I'm all of the above, depending on the day, and the mood I'm in. Some days I am all three, some two, and when its brutally cold out, I am just one. Hey the chickens got to eat!

Wikipedia has this definition of 'subsistence farming';

Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye toward what the family will need during the coming year, rather than market prices. Tony Waters[1] writes: "Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace."

They define Homesteading;

Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.

The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading remains as a way of life. According to author John Seymour, 'urban homesteading' incorporates small-scale, sustainable agriculture and homemaking.


Farming;

Agriculture (also called farming or husbandry) is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life.[1] Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. Agriculture is also observed in certain species of ant and termite,[2][3] but generally speaking refers to human activities.






Sounds like they define homesteading as a 'back to the land' movement or anyone practicing self sufficiency, this is a broad term that can include knitting one's own clothes. While subsistence farming is the actual practice of cultivating food for one's own consumption. Farming is the practice of cultivating food and stuff for any reason.

Therefore, a subsistence farmer is a farmer and a homesteader ( all three ). A farmer and homesteader may or may not be either of the other two.

I'm just a guy. I wanted to have a place to live and something to eat. I've attained my goals.

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Backwoods hick. Or as the politicians say, Pennsyltuckian. Generations of my family have been homesteading and didn't know it. When I went to college I discovered that it wasn't "normal" to have a freezer full of deer meat.

I know what you mean, Raven12. Whenever I talk about deer sausage, people ask me "where do you buy deer sausage?" When I tell them I grind my own, they look at me like I killed my kids and ate them or something. A woman was by here yesterday, I was giving her some samples of salsa and various jams. Sh kept looking into the pantry. I gather she has never seen 50 gallons of salsa in one place at one time before. LOL.

I consider us "small farmers". We raise our own vegetables, fruits, meats and forage nuts, morels, berries and wild game. BUT, we also sell our cattle, lamb, chickens, and produce. We enjoy our lifestyle and the small profit we make!

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frugaltable.com
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Living a rich life frugally....

To my mind:
A subsistence farmer is one who farms because that's the only way to have food on the table.

A homesteader is one who raises their own food, but does other self-sufficient things as well. This may include selling things produced and/or working off the farm.

A farmer raises animals and crops, but may well just sell them all and head to the grocery store.

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www.morbidaffectation.blogspot.com

www.ladiesfarmjournal.blogspot.com

And if you sit around the feed store bellyaching about how broke you are because you're a farmer, yet you just drove your $50,000 pick up to the FSA office to sign up for your subsidy payments and then went and bought a new $250,000 combine...yer a lyin farmer.

Farmer grows grains in bulk to sell - corn, wheat, soybeans. Might do other things like livestock and such, but grows grain for sale in bulk.

Rancher grows livestock that mostly grazes it's feed for their main ag enterpise, of course might grow some grain and other farm stuff, but they are probably in the more open west, have a lot of acres, and graze animals for a big part of their work.

Subsistance farmer - not many left, China was an area that had a lot, a family that lives off the land, farming their land to make enough food & fiber to live another year, hand to mouth. Kinda how 'Little House on the Prairie' wanted to show things.

Homesteader - family with a real job to live on, and enjoys raising a garden, maybe some few livestock, perhaps enjoys a tad simpler ways of the world and enjoy what they have in land and simpler ways to live. Not backwards or simple minded, not at all. Just, happy with doing their own stuff on their own place, and have a hand in it themselves.

There can be a lot of crossover, but in my mind the subsistance farmer is in a bad spot, in a poor country, or otherwise held back from getting to a better place in life. I veiw it as a term aimed at people stuck down & out, just trying to survive.

Well, I type all this, and _then_ read what Caitedid said so well and so briefly. So - what they said, simpler than all my jabbering.

--->Paul

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

I am a suburban homesteader.
My husband and I both work full time jobs
We raise chickens for eggs, bees for honey, a few products for the farmers market but not much just enough to help pay for some of our endeavors.
We supplement our food source with tomatoes, peppers, kale, cabbage, radishes, onions, garlic, artichokes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, eggplants.
We plant edible plants wherever we can tuck them in,
apple tree, blueberry bushes, almond tree, etc...

However we don't grow enough to eat for the year -we buy our tomatoes from a local tomato farm, friends let us come pick fruit off of their fruit trees, we forage for nuts and we buy from our local farmers market to supplement our food. We try very hard to cook everything from scratch and eat local food only with a few exceptions.

I think a farmer runs a full time business. I have never heard the term subsistence farmer but it sounds like a farmer where they eat there food and sell the extra....kind of like a homesteader but often the farm is there full time job or only one of them works outside the home maybe?

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KarenLynn
Raised Bed Garden Reveal

If I were a farmer and had just bought a 50K truck, and a quarter million worth of combine... I can see where I might honestly be broke. I know if I spent 300 thousand dollars today I would be "tapped out" of my cash reserves.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

And everyone knows you can't truly be a farmer unless you're get welfare.



Er...I mean...
"Subsidies"

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

I'm liking it!

"Squire Chuck"

Might even need a new hat to go with the title

Chuck

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Might does not make right, but it sure makes what is.

I'm a Crankcase!!!!

OMG That is so hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes!! I AM a HOMESTEADER!!!

Now where do I find the nearest Homesteader's Anonymous???

I'm a homesteader! I'd like to say that I've made a living on some small scale with my critter addiction but it's a sinking ship. I put way more into it than I can ever get out of it but I have the satisfaction of seeing my kids grow up knowing how to milk a cow, pluck a chicken, can some peaches, pick up pecans, and hoe a garden. They might need to know that sometime in their lifetime.

As well, I kind of use my gardens and critters as a living form of the drug prozac. It's what helps me keep what little sanity I have!!!!!

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Francismilker

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16

My husband grew up on a dairy farm that was a business as his father constantly had to remind him. Bill married me and we became subsistence farmers ekeing out a living while bringing back a runout 10 acre farm to fertile production. We grew all our food and sold vegetables and goats for cash to pay taxes and few other things. We expanded our homestead to making everything from soap to yogurt and clothes.We were recyling and organic gardening before it was popular. We became about 99% self- sufficient out of necessity as we had very little money. We also were self educated in learning all we could about insect natural control using natural methods and natural fertilizers. Now Bill teaches others how to garden. So I guess we are subsistence, homesteading, farmers and now teachers can be added.Only thing we never learned was how to make a lot of money? But we are still living alright so I guess we didn't need it!