Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How much money do you actually need to make as a farmer to survive? Not how much you want to make — what's the real floor? Most people dramatically overestimate that number.
Curtis Stone's framework: calculate your actual cost of living, set your production goal (say $80,000), then budget your first year at one-third of that (~$25,000). Year two: two-thirds. Year three and beyond: the full target. His own first years: "If I could make twenty grand a season, that would be enough." He was prepared to live below the poverty line while he learned.
Also covered: Curtis's defensive pest rotation strategy for multi-locational urban farming (move the crop, don't spray it), when insect netting is the only solution (cabbage root maggot during May–June gestation cycle), crops he stopped growing because of pest pressure (kale in summer, Brussels sprouts entirely), and the total crop losses that every farmer goes through — rats nibbling every turnip on a $500–$2,000 bed, wireworm wiping out thousands of feet of carrots.
The episode's core message: "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. If you're not prepared to accept what absolute failure looks like, don't do it."
Originally recorded October 7, 2015. Curtis was in his sixth year of farming in Kelowna, BC.
➡️ Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at shop.moderngrower.co
🎥 Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights! 🌿
Follow Modern Grower:
➡️ Instagram: instagram.com/moderngrowerpro
➡️ Instagram: instagram.com/moderngrowerco
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
🔊 Carrot Cashflow: bit.ly/carrotcashflow
🔊 Farm Small Farm Smart: bit.ly/farmsmallfarmsmart
🔊 Farm Small Farm Smart Daily: bit.ly/farmsmallfarmsmartdaily
🔊The Growing Microgreens Podcast: bit.ly/thegrowingmicrogreenspodcast
🔊The Urban Farmer Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTd1FPZ7J8xS3ebyyIxmBqp1pl2h87RpU
🔊The Rookie Farmer Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTd1FPZ7J8xRJ0O4mAIdgX94QvXTI0ZZ7
🔊In Search of Soil Podcast: youtube.com/insearchofsoil
Check out Diego's books:
📖 Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon: amzn.to/4hoqUx6
📖 Ready Farmer One on Amazon: amzn.to/42FjrVX
0:00 — How Much Money Do You Need to Survive as a Farmer?
3:00 — The Fudge Factor: Target ⅓ of Your Goal in Year One
4:00 — "Work to Learn, Not to Earn"
5:00 — Curtis's Pest Strategy: Defensive Rotation Across Multiple Plots
7:00 — When Relocation Doesn't Work: Insect Netting for Cabbage Root Maggot
9:30 — 80-Gram Netting: Expensive, but Lasts Years
11:30 — Crops He Won't Grow (Kale in Summer, Brussels Sprouts Ever)
13:30 — Total Crop Losses: Rats, Wireworm, and $2,000 Beds Gone
16:00 — "If You're Not Prepared to Accept Failure, Don't Do It"
18:00 — $20K/Season as the Survival Target in the Learning Years
22:00 — How to Design Around Your Cost of Living
25:00 — "When You Want to Farm May Not Be the Right Time to Farm"
30:00 — Success Isn't Binary: What You Learn Is the Real Value
#CurtisStone, #UrbanFarmer, #MarketGardening, #FarmBusiness, #FarmStartup, #PestManagement, #SmallFarm, #MarketGarden, #FarmPlanning, #ModernGrower, #FarmSmart, #TUFRewind, #DefensiveRotation, #FarmingBusiness, #NewFarmer, #FarmingBusiness, #GrowForProfit, #FarmEntrepreneur, #SmallFarmBusiness, #FarmEntrepreneur, #FarmSmallFarmSmart, #CarrotCashflow
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
How much money do you actually need to make as a farmer to survive? Not how much you want to make — what's the real floor? Most people dramatically overestimate that number.
Curtis Stone's framework: calculate your actual cost of living, set your production goal (say $80,000), then budget your first year at one-third of that (~$25,000). Year two: two-thirds. Year three and beyond: the full target. His own first years: "If I could make twenty grand a season, that would be enough." He was prepared to live below the poverty line while he learned.
Also covered: Curtis's defensive pest rotation strategy for multi-locational urban farming (move the crop, don't spray it), when insect netting is the only solution (cabbage root maggot during May–June gestation cycle), crops he stopped growing because of pest pressure (kale in summer, Brussels sprouts entirely), and the total crop losses that every farmer goes through — rats nibbling every turnip on a $500–$2,000 bed, wireworm wiping out thousands of feet of carrots.
The episode's core message: "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. If you're not prepared to accept what absolute failure looks like, don't do it."
Originally recorded October 7, 2015. Curtis was in his sixth year of farming in Kelowna, BC.
➡️ Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at shop.moderngrower.co
🎥 Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights! 🌿
Follow Modern Grower:
➡️ Instagram: instagram.com/moderngrowerpro
➡️ Instagram: instagram.com/moderngrowerco
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
🔊 Carrot Cashflow: bit.ly/carrotcashflow
🔊 Farm Small Farm Smart: bit.ly/farmsmallfarmsmart
🔊 Farm Small Farm Smart Daily: bit.ly/farmsmallfarmsmartdaily
🔊The Growing Microgreens Podcast: bit.ly/thegrowingmicrogreenspodcast
🔊The Urban Farmer Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTd1FPZ7J8xS3ebyyIxmBqp1pl2h87RpU
🔊The Rookie Farmer Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTd1FPZ7J8xRJ0O4mAIdgX94QvXTI0ZZ7
🔊In Search of Soil Podcast: youtube.com/insearchofsoil
Check out Diego's books:
📖 Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon: amzn.to/4hoqUx6
📖 Ready Farmer One on Amazon: amzn.to/42FjrVX
0:00 — How Much Money Do You Need to Survive as a Farmer?
3:00 — The Fudge Factor: Target ⅓ of Your Goal in Year One
4:00 — "Work to Learn, Not to Earn"
5:00 — Curtis's Pest Strategy: Defensive Rotation Across Multiple Plots
7:00 — When Relocation Doesn't Work: Insect Netting for Cabbage Root Maggot
9:30 — 80-Gram Netting: Expensive, but Lasts Years
11:30 — Crops He Won't Grow (Kale in Summer, Brussels Sprouts Ever)
13:30 — Total Crop Losses: Rats, Wireworm, and $2,000 Beds Gone
16:00 — "If You're Not Prepared to Accept Failure, Don't Do It"
18:00 — $20K/Season as the Survival Target in the Learning Years
22:00 — How to Design Around Your Cost of Living
25:00 — "When You Want to Farm May Not Be the Right Time to Farm"
30:00 — Success Isn't Binary: What You Learn Is the Real Value
#CurtisStone, #UrbanFarmer, #MarketGardening, #FarmBusiness, #FarmStartup, #PestManagement, #SmallFarm, #MarketGarden, #FarmPlanning, #ModernGrower, #FarmSmart, #TUFRewind, #DefensiveRotation, #FarmingBusiness, #NewFarmer, #FarmingBusiness, #GrowForProfit, #FarmEntrepreneur, #SmallFarmBusiness, #FarmEntrepreneur, #FarmSmallFarmSmart, #CarrotCashflow
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
