Crushing It and Failing - The Tale of Two Pastured Poultry Businesses Run by the Same Farmer with John McAuley of Healthy Hen Farms (PVP134)

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Imagine it's your first year in college and you get an offer to go be an apprentice on farm.

You've never farmed before. And you've never really thought about farming before.

Taking the offer means that you would need to drop out of college to commit to the apprenticeship.

And so would you future wife, because you're also engaged.

She isn't from a farming family or background either.

So it's you two, in college for something that isn't ag related, dropping out out college to take an apprentice ship on a farm.

What would you do?

Most people would say tell me more.

Well, this is a farm raising chickens on grass. And this farm is located in Swoope, VA and it's run by a farmer named Joel Salatin.

What would you do? Would you and your wife drop out of college to accept the invitation to be apprentices or not?

A lot of people would say yes.

But it's 2016.

What if you got this same offer in 1996 when very few people outside of the area knew who Joel Salatin was, it's 1996 when pastured poultry wasn't a thing, and it's 1996 and you are going to be the second ever apprentice on Joel's farm.

It's not the same slam dunk answer that it might be for many of you as it is today.

That's the exact question that my guest, John McAuley was faced with back in 1996.

To quit school and farm, or not.

Let's find out how that played out.

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