Historically sharecropping has been associated with taking advantage of the less fortunate, those with the land had the ability to dictate terms to those that did not. Often times the agreements were structured so that those doing the farming, the sharecroppers, ended up owing more to the land owner after the growing season was over then they did before it started. However, it doesn’t need to be that way.
There are many that have land, but not the time to fully use it, and there are others that are looking to farm but do not own land. If these can be brought together with terms that are mutually beneficial then a new generation of farmers can start producing crops. This will be more challenging with grain crops, but for market gardens, this could work.
I have started down this path by allowing a friend to garden and keep animals on my property. However I did not have any prepared garden beds or even cleared land in a good spot. Therefore there wasn’t much production this year so I did not take a share. However, I did get some land clearing work done and also someone who could take care of my animals when I traveled.
We are under discussions about increasing production and opening up a farm stand for the 2017 growing season. According to the department of transportation, I have an average of about 8,000 cars a day passing my house. Therefore we think this will be a good location for a farm stand. Follow us by subscribing to this blog and checking out our Facebook Page. If you are in the Ypsilanti Michigan area and are interested in eggs or produce, come by and see how we are doing.