Future of Agriculture – Getting Started in Farming with Tom Bottoms
Tom Bottoms earned his bachelor’s degree in Plant Sciences from the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and in 2013, he received his Ph.D. in Horticulture and Agronomy from the University of California. He currently works as an employee of a large farming operation based in Northern California with the intention of eventually accumulating his own farm land and building his own operation.
Tom joins me today to share what inspired him to work in the agriculture industry and what motivated him to continue his education in agriculture. He shares why he decided to pivot his career from agriculture academia to work in the private sector, his experience while working with the African Leadership Partners in Swaziland, Africa and the challenges he has faced and overcome while helping a small farm operation significantly grow during his missionary operation in Africa. He also explains the importance of networking and building relationships within the farming industry to help you achieve your goals as a professional, the importance of self-awareness and professional development, and tips on how to get started in farming.
“You’ve got to continue to develop yourself – to put yourself in a situation where you’re learning about the industry.” – Tom Bottoms
This Week on the Future of Agriculture Podcast:
- Tom’s experience as a missionary in Africa.
- How he helped the African farm operation become successful.
- How he balances his personal life while advancing his career.
- The importance of networking with others in the industry and how it has impacted his career.
- The farming operation he is currently working with.
- Why he believes setting firm, inflexible deadlines on certain goals is dangerous.
- The importance of focusing on improving processes more than the financial opportunities available when you are just starting out in farming.
- The importance of building trust within your farm operation.
- How to get started in farming.
- Assets that young professionals can offer to established farming operations.
Resources Mentioned:
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t book by Jim Collins
- Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Harper Business Essentials) book by Jim Collins
- Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business book by Gino Wickman
Tom Bottom’s Tips for Getting Started in Farming:
- Try to keep your day job as long as you can while you are trying to get started.
- Ask yourself what you are doing now to make it possible.
- Read and understand how basic farming operations work.
- Question everything.
Connect with Tom Bottoms:
- Email: [email protected]
We Are a Part of a Bigger Family!
The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today.
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Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots!
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Sharkfarmer Podcast – Sarah Nolet (international spy)
Ag tech…
Big data…
backwards flushing toilets… Sarah Nolet covers it all
Please visit our sponsor: Farm Command
What the Farm Podcast – Curling with Kirk Muyres
Today Rob and Lesley talk to professional curler Kirk Muyres. Kirk talks about how his diet and farm background affects his performance.
Ontario AgCast – Dr Jude Capper
Dr. Jude Capper is a passionate supporter of the dairy industry both in her native UK and around the word. With a PHD in Ruminant Nutrition, she is something of an expert in dairy production, however that doesn’t stop on-line trolls from vegansplaining to her why dairy is bad. They have gone so far as to suggest that the reason she got breast cancer at 26 years of age is karma from eating meat and dairy. If she can keep her cool on Twitter, anyone can. We talk about her #Februdairy campaign. Also, she claims Will Evans is way cooler than me and Jerseys are better than Holsteins….
Rock and Roll Farming Podcast – Twice Around the World
Tonight I’m delighted to be heading up to Perthshire in Scotland to talk to farmer, consultant, and host of the Pasture Pod Podcast Michael Blanche @totallyewesome
We start off with talking about how the hell he developed an interest in farming, given he’s the son of an accountant and a teacher, and how he got his first sheep and a tractor at the tender age of 3.
We discuss how he went from being an almost beret-wearing English student, to being a tweed underpants wearing REALM student at Harper Adams, and how this in turn led to a job in land agency.
We go into why ultimately this wasn’t for him, and the next step which was working as a farm advisor for SAC, before talking about his first steps into the zany World of sheep farming, which was partly inspired by a life changing trip to Wales.
We talk about the initial challenges, and how in the first five years he TRAVELLED THE EQUIVALENT OF TWICE AROUND THE WORLD (?!) to see his sheep, and also the heartbreak of being repeatedly turned down for farm tenancies.
We hear at length about his Nuffield scholarship ‘The Farming Ladder’, and how the experiences he had, and 1st generation farmers he met from all around the World, changed his outlook and increased his determination and need to farm even more.
We also talk about how eventually, at the 8th time of asking he secured a tenancy, and just two months later had just £500 cash available for a 500 acre farm. We also of course discuss the fantastic Pasture Pod Podcast, why pasture pumps him up, and his bedroom shrine to me.
All this and lots, lots more. People take the piss out of me for overusing the word ‘inspirational’ in my podcast interviews, but I don’t care – Michael Blanche is a truly inspirational man, and it was a pleasure, as well as great fun, to talk to him tonight..
This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru.For more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org.uk or www.rockandrollfarming.com
Future of Agriculture – Could Organic and GMO be on the Same Team with Rob Saik
Rob Saik is the founder of the Agri-Trend® group of companies whose primary goal is to help farmers grow food through agriculture consulting services in areas such as agronomic production, carbon-offset trading, grain marketing strategies, and data management systems for producers around the world. He is the creator of The Agri-Prize contest series, a TEDx and keynote speaker, and the author of the book The Agriculture Manifesto – 10 Key Drivers That Will Shape Agriculture in the Next Decade which has earned an Amazon 2014 Best of Books award. Additionally, he is the Executive Producer of the movie KNOW GMO as well as the webisode series LEARN GMO.
Rob joins me today to discuss the mission behind The Agri-Trend and the connection between the organic movement and the non-GMO movement. He explains how he believes GMOs can impact the future of agriculture, sustainability, and the food supply around the world as well as the impact they can have on the health of consumers. He also shares why he believes many consumers refuse to use GMO-friendly products and the importance of due diligence when educating yourself about organic and genetically engineered crops.
“Most of what you are reading about GMOs on social media are an absolute distortion of the truth.” – Rob Saik
This Week on the Future of Agriculture Podcast:
- How Agri-Trend helps farmers allocate scarce resources.
- The impact that banning GMO products have had on certain countries and cultures.
- The connection between the organic movement and the non-GMO movement.
- What farmers should consider to grow more crops organically.
- Why farmers shouldn’t be at odds when deciding to grow organically or become GMO-friendly.
- Why he believes many people think GMOs are bad or unhealthy.
- How “organic” and “non-GMO” food labels are misleading consumers.
- How GMOs can contribute to the agriculture industry’s long-term sustainability.
- The impact that embracing genetically modified food can have on the world’s starvation crisis and consumer health.
Connect With Rob Saik:
- KNOW Ideas Media
- KNOW Ideas Media on Facebook
- KNOW Ideas Media on YouTube
- Will Agriculture be ALLOWED to Feed 9 Billion People – Rob Saik’s TEDx Talk
We Are a Part of a Bigger Family!
The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today.
Share the Ag-Love!
Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots!
Learn more about AgGrad by visiting:
AgGrad on Twitter
AgGrad on Facebook
AgGrad on LinkedIn
AgGrad on Instagram
Shark Farmer Podcast – Karen Eifert Jones CRP to CPR
Sometimes farming can be heartbreaking…. literally
Karen Eifert Jones talks about reevaluating her views on farming after her heart stopped. Plus working for the USDA during the Clinton years. Giggity
Please visit out advertiser Farmers Edge
Keeping Ag Real – KeepingAgReal Enters the Terrible Two’s | Happy Birthday Edition
We are celebrating with a guest host on this week’s episode of Keeping Ag Real.
The mission: Provide the listeners with a better look at my personality by inviting a guest host to interview me, myself and I.
The result: She or he makes me laugh until my stomach hurts. And, has a heck of a time telling us all that Keeping Ag Real is part of the Farm & Rural Ag Network.
Thank you to everyone’s support this last year! I can’t wait to see what is in store for year two.
Take a listen!
Ontario AgCast – Robert Larmer
What happens when you return from a successful off farm job to the family and things go badly? Robert Larmer talks about his passion for silage, struggling through stray voltage issues and the mental toll it took. He’s also got stones – curling stones and has competed against Olympic champions.
Rock and Roll Farming Podcast – Jill of all Trades
Tonight I’m really happy to be heading down under to outback south Australia to talk to Gillian Fennell on her family’s one million acre cattle station.
We talk about the part of Australia where they live, and some of the challenges they face with the climate and remote location, before moving on to talk about her background growing up in a small Queensland town and her time misbehaving at boarding school!
We discuss how she met her husband Mark, and how after a whirlwind romance they headed off windmill contracting in the Northern Territory, camping in the bush and fixing broken windmills, before moving back to town for a couple of years and attempting to live a ‘normal life.’
We then hear about how her Father in Law sold up and moved to a one million acre cattle station in South Australia, and their decision to go along too. We talk about the initial challenges they faced with no air conditioning, no mobile phone, no internet, and the nearest town being 350km away, as well as the strains of living in such close quarters with in-laws.
Gillian talks candidly and openly about her history with depression, something that has plagued her since her teenage years, and how seeking treatment has helped her to control it, as well as the importance of social media in helping to overcome isolation problems.
We talk about their three children and how they’re schooled at home via the Alice Springs School of the Air, and how challenging this can be, as well as the difficulties in keeping young people in rural communities. We also discuss Gillian and her husband Mark’s roles as volunteer Ambulance Officers, and what this entails, dealing with incidents from road traffic accidents to bar brawl injuries.
We the discuss in depth the cattle on the farm – 5000 head of Charolais x Brahmans. We talk about their characteristics, and how they suit their system and management, as well as some of the practicalities and how they muster them 3 times a year using motor bikes and gyrocopters to wean and sell.
We also talk about the difficulties that particularly kangaroos, but also wild horses cause, and how they have to deal with these on a regular basis.
All this and lots, lots more. I started this podcast with the aim of helping to show off cool and interesting people involved in agriculture, and Gillian fits the mould for that perfectly! Check it out folks.
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