Success with Traditional Mixed Farming

It’s a rare thing to start a new farm business around resiliency, regeneration, and education. Here’s how Arlie LaRoche got it done in the most unlikely of places: rural Saskatchewan.

If you’re curious about where food comes from, chances are you’ve visited nearby farms that sell direct to customers. Chances are also pretty good that the farmers follow principles of holistic management – one of the only production models comprehensive enough to manage all that modern society needs from agriculture.

Buying direct from farms exposes consumers to all the hard work it takes to grow food and prepare it for sale to the public. It’s hard not to leave feeling grateful that someone else is willing to hang out with livestock and unscramble the regulations to make farm-fresh foods available to the public.

The work of farming is not for everyone, to be sure, but more and more people these days are leaving successful careers to give it a go. Some have become major social media influencers, like 2 Brothers Organic Farms and popular essayist Chris Newman, who left global business leadership positions in business to raise healthy food on regenerative farms and to have a better life.

In the same way, Arlie LaRoche went from environmental consulting in Saskatoon straight into farming just outside the city, co-founding a restaurant and building community along the way.

The key factors instrumental to achieving new farm financial sustainability are summarized below, based on Arlie’s experience.