I’m assuming you already read my “About Me” page, so I will skip the long introduction. To give you a little intro, I am the farmer’s daughter turned farmer’s wife. Farming and ranching is my heart and soul. I spend my days paying bills, chasing kids, and helping my husband. Our farming story began when I was twenty-one and my husband (fiancé then) was twenty-five. We decided we wanted broiler houses. It was his idea, but once we talked about it I was completely on board. My parents had been operating their broiler houses for over twenty years at this point, so they were our biggest help and support. The problem was, so much had changed since they went through the process of purchasing their farm. This was when I realized there was very little information available for starting a farming business. There are plenty of blogs and websites for hobby farms, but I wasn’t able to find anything on starting an agriculture business like we needed. Luckily, with my parents help we were able to get in touch with the right people to get our dream started. That’s when my crash course of starting a business began. From applying to multiple banks, to the mountains of paperwork, to getting the permits needed, to getting quotes, to getting insurance, to purchasing equipment, and to finding contractors. We were in over our heads as soon as we took our first step. There were so many times we almost gave up. There were a lot of times I thought we were fighting a losing battle. But, by the grace of God and help from family and friends we managed to get our farm up and going. That victory was a short lived one though. Once our farm was operational we had to learn how to run it. We weren’t just helping my parents with theirs anymore, we were operating our own farm. We had to learn how to manage money, since we no longer received a regular bi-weekly pay check. We had to learn to set up accounts for purchasing equipment. We had to learn to grow chickens and manage the books. There were so many things we had to learn in such a short amount of time. A lot of it we learned the hard way. You will here me talk about my family repeatedly. That’s because they have been our biggest support system and our greatest help. Without them we wouldn’t have what we have today. They continually offer advice and support. Throughout the whole process of getting our farm started and operating it I have learned so much. Lately, I’ve realized that everyone isn’t lucky enough to have the support system we have. With this blog I’m hoping to share tricks, tips, and advice I’ve learned to possibly help another farmer or rancher out there. I am not an expert by any means, nor am I trying to pretend to be. I continue to learn new things every day. I just want to offer the knowledge I’ve learned so far along our journey, so that maybe it will help someone else. Please don’t hesitate to comment on any and all my post, I would love to hear from you!