HOW I FIXED MY HOMESTEAD BURNOUT | 2023 Homestead Sheep Farming Cattle Ranching for Profit
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- Опубліковано 31 жов 2023
- Have you had to make similar adjustments? I'd be encouraged to know in the comments section!
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I hit a major season of burnout last summer. As I talked to others, I realized I wasn't alone: many other are facing similar season. Here is why I hit Homestead burnout and what I did about it. I hope it helps you and please remember: Adjusting is not the same as quitting.
-the Shepherdess
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00: Homesteading intro
0:48: WHY I HIT BURNOUT
2:20: HOW I ADJUSTED MY FARM
3:40: 2 RULES FOR MY FARM
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"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,The Holy One of Israel:“I am the Lord your God,Who teaches you to profit,Who leads you by the way you should go." Isaiah 48:17
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What breed of goats do you have?
@@Jokerfromtexas Boer-French Alpine cross :).
Thank you Grace ❤
I try to fallow the old rule “I can do anything but I can’t do everything”. Love the content God Bless
I love how efficiently you present things. No extra blah blah, just the real stuff. And it's always truly great info. Great wisdom! ❤
Three years ago, I retired from a government job in Wash DC. Started a ranching operation on my grandfather’s 300-acre ancestral farm in Virginia. I started with cattle, sheep, goats & chickens. Over the 3-year period, my herds grew. I overextended myself, and it has been very challenging. With livestock, it inevitably comes with death. With each death, it can take a toll on one’s mental state of mind; oftentimes blaming myself. The burnout is real and impactful, both physically and mentally. As the Shepherdess always emphasizes, “start small.”
get over it, youre lucky to have all that so suck it up
Growing food and managing animals is a lifestyle. I'll do it till the day I die, along with music as long as my fingers can move across the fretboard.
With the drought I am selling the sheep. I'll keep the cows through the winter on rented crop residue,then look at available grazing in the spring. I'm willing to take the nanny goats through the winter because they eat a lot of fallen leaves and don't take so much feed.I need the goats to clean up trees and brush next summer. Cows and goats are a good match as they eat mostly opposite forage.
Smart!
I feel your pain.
I got hit with cancer and just could not keep farming anymore. It’s sad but the final nail in the coffin was a divorce. Forced to sell and closed on the farm Wednesday.
We we were one of the oldest farms in the country at 9 generations: 1746 to 2023. A sad day, but we move on.
I hope you found a buyer who will honor your legacy. I’m so sorry. What a hard time for you and your family. Good luck.
I'm sorry.
Do you have any local support? There may be some groups by you that can help.
I've had to go to a couple different groups and that really helped me with codependency, narcissistic ex and divorce.
Yea its harder than it looks on UA-cam that's for sure. I tried to renovate a house and build a Homestead at the same time.. and had a baby!
You need a hug
😳 That is quite ambitious my friend. Congratulations on the life achievements, though! 🎉
Girl you're doing great! I grew up that way. The difference is people. There were 3 generations where I lived. Altogether 2 Elders, 4 children, 3 grandchildren on a permanent basis. I was the youngest. It's easier that way. I give you high praise for going it alone.
I really appreciate this perspective. We are getting ready to get our land and our animals. So this really helps to rein in all the “dreaming” to “what is practical and why”.
Don't get goats, is all I can say... Sheep come with their own challenges, but they don't need a fort knox for containment. Depending on what you have for ecology, pigs are honestly the easiest and most profitable keepers.
Take it from someone who had to sell out involuntarily. I miss my ranch and the activities that come along with it more than you ever know. So follow this young ladies advice, and don’t do anything without giving it great thought taking in the consequences of your decision.
I can see someone that’s lived in the city their whole lives and literally no experience do this. It’s hard and constant work, and it takes time to learn.
Never make major decisions when you are mentally, emotionally, or physically exhausted is a great rule. It leads to rash decisions you will most likely regret.
One point parallel with the considerations of family is having some reserve energy for when things go south. If one scales their operation to 100% of available time/energy/resources, they are almost assured of falling short. Seldom does everything work as planned, weather, personal health, livestock difficulties....whatever (and the list of potential problems really is endless). As such one always needs to keep some time/energy/resources in reserve to deal with the almost certain unexpected difficulties.
God is so good. His mercies are new every morning. I’m so impressed with your wisdom which must come from above. Thank you for sharing it ❤
We’re 3 years in with rabbits, chickens and sheep. We bought 2 pigs, one for meat and the other to breed but ended up putting both in the freezer. They ate more than our 5 kids and we didn’t want to feed them junk. It was a lot. I think growing out animals for food first is a great way to start.
Goat herder here. Absolutely agree with the shepherdess! Still in our first year, or the cupcake phase of things, but already I have seen other homesteads that began when we did, in January, fall off. There is a huge movement of homesteaders right now, and a lot of people get it into their mind they can do it all in this first year. You absolutely cannot. When you try, you hit this burnout twice as fast. Rooting for all of you here! Good luck! 💛
Year 7 here. Better than ever.
I got rid of ducks this year. They were a cost with no return.
How can you have such sense at your age. I have developed long Covid and reluctantly sold off most of the sheep to keep just 4 ewes and their lambs after I realised my poor husband was becoming exhausted, having to do my farm work and his. I had already given up the vegetable garden and that was heartbreaking for me. I also have only 2 laying hens rather than 10 back in the little coop next to the house. Enough eggs just for us. This is a pause for me that I should have taken earlier. Grateful we had not bought the goats and milking cow yet.
I really appreciate your message regarding proper stewardship of mental and physical energy! We should all be aware of this and talking/sharing with others. Thank you! Love your channel! Mike
I was going to move forward with sheep but then got pregnant again 😊. Decided to save more money ahead and move forward in 2 years. Still debating between sheep and meat rabbits.
I already have ducks, geese and chickens that sell well.
Excellent advice. People don’t realize and are prepared for all the hard work 24/7.
👍
Goats are always difficult. Ask me how I know. Sheep over goats!
Always enjoy overlooking your flocks and herds
We are in the race, till death do us part, let's together enjoy the race.
If you're in a race then your getting something wrong.chill 😊
@theShepherdress - Thanks for your honest and hopeful message, and I love the scriptures at the end! God bless you little sister!
You've been a major inspiration to keep on keeping on_ & to love &be thankful the lord has blessed us
Excellent advice. Thank you for this video!
Another terrific video. You are so clear and concise and well spoken. You’d be a great spokesperson for something huge if you wanted to be. You’ve got all of the talent and clearly the brains!!
Thank you!!
Such good advice. I've been homesteading for over 50 years. There have been times when I changed it up so I could meet the needs of my children or aging parents. Now that I'm an old Great Grandma I have reduced my numbers and only keep a few dairy goats and chickens. I think many of us have gone through seasons of having to many things going on, on the farm, and its wise to stop and think about what is really profitable and enjoyable.
I grew from a few chickens to adding a heifer, 50+ chickens, 20+ ducks, geese and goats all in one year. About a year later I sold the goats as they were my biggest drain on time. It was also because of lack of infrastructure for those animals. I'm currently working on a barn and some fences for another cow and some sheep as I feel those would fit what I have (land wise) better and hopefully with less stress. Also the ducks aren't pulling their weight so some are defiantly going to have to go. I used to be all about keeping every animal but the animal pulling it's weight thing is really been a big criteria for keeping it or not lately. 😄
Well done and thank you for sharing this logical view. I appreciate your discipline to acknowledge busy seasons and not make decisions during that time out of exhaustion. Smart and purposeful. Good advice for any business and I’ve noticed this trend beyond even homesteading. It’s smart also to step back and see what works what doesn’t and how to improve based on your goals. When you move with purpose you will reach goals you care about and feel more successful along the way.
I see the negative comment below and quite frankly we need to be encouraging as many young people to learn homesteading as we can. Negative comments are not the way,, let’s encourage the next generation learn and grow here. Yes it’s hard but we can be part of the “why” we do it too. The ranching community and family experience is real - let’s take care of each other.
So true. We are homesteading to give our kids a future on many different levels. It’s hard but one day at a time!
4:51 So important!
Excellent advice. With older parents and Grandma to take care of, I plan on either selling all of my sheep or keep just a few. Maybe buy lambs in the spring. Cut down the cow herd to a more manageable number and do a better job with them.
Good advice!
Love this God fearing former! Am learning so much am looking to get 15’to 25 acre to start forming in 2024 by the grace of God , I believe we has the people of God has the power to dominate this venture!! Am in Georgia USA watching
what you just said is life in general
Very wise advise. Thank you for your insight. Blessings always.
Amen well said and so true.
Good word for today thank you!👍
Well said young lady!
Thank you so much for the valuable information you share in your videos. You are a blessing to us.
You have such wisdom and common sense….what you’re saying applies to life - not just farming. If I’m overwhelmed and burned out, I need to examine why, determine the stressors and cull what doesn’t serve me well. Life…even my Christian walk is about course correction. Thank you for sharing so authentically - you are truly an inspiring human💕💕
So grateful for you, Liz! Thank you for commenting. ❤️
That 6 year cycle is discouraging. I would say I just finished my 2 Year honeymoon phase, the sustainability has been quite difficult, Raising a commodity targeted for a different purpose aside form the beef, has presented its own challenges. Our goals are lofty and the reward is distant but there is potential. Thanks for sharing your videos and knowledge, tho our goals are different your videos have helped with the care we have provided to our cattle. You also helped build up our courage in reaching out to neighbors for lease purposes. Tho we have only been successful gaining one piece to date. it was a huge step to just get the letters written Thank you again
Absolutely loved what you shared! Thank you for sharing!!
Good advice! Thank you
Sage advice. Thank you.
Excellent talk!
Great message! Thank you.
Great video. I have been thinking about our set up and what we want and need to do differently next year. It's great to hear what others are doing and how they have adjusted.
Djust remember that god does anything with a 7 years cycle so eventually if you keep your goals in mind everything will be good😊
Man Grace. This video couldn't come at a better time. I am in that process an just happen to do like you in wait for cooler temps, sheep that are more comfortable an make the hard choices. In growing this flock of sheep from holding back all are ewe lambs to get to this 60. It's taken 5 hard years to get here, but where ready to start making money other then just selling boys every year. Well at a 1.7 rate this year on 30A with extreme drought it made things not fun tough. I knew I had to make changes. So where going to cut loose 2/3 in order to make room for cows of some sorts. Like you said you are either going to let burn out push you away or you make compromises. Thanks for the promptly video. I saved it so I could keep watching. 😂
Excellent Video!!!
Very well said, we've had to shift gears, focus and even remove certain enterprises entirely this year from our farm for this very reason.
"We had to downsize our hobby farm because man you actually have to do work unlike every other job I've ever done" people like you are a joke.
Thanks Grace
So much info packed into this short video! Excellent!
Another great video! Thank you for the rawness and openness you shared…the comparison of mental/physical energy to topsoil was spot on!! I know my mental energy is replenished when I’m able to be with my animals more vs more homeschool and household chores that drain me.
Let’s not forget that our husbands/family members that work alongside us have different things that energize them or drain them. I absolutely love my goats and donkeys, my husband prefers the chickens and the steer. Team work and communication go a long way and help to lighten the load.
Your life sounds similar to mine. Great advice!!
Oh yeah.....we are learning these things also here in senegal...and have learned much. ❤
Great video as always.
I actually was not aware of Joel's input on the topic, but instinctively as soon as I saw his video discussing the Homesteader Tsunami, I suspected there would be burnout. I estimated 8 to 10 years, so it looks like I was off a little. 😁
I relate to your video a lot. I have one employee, run hay, all kinds livestock but the goats and sheep are pretty much my life. There's very little time for anything else or myself.
Amen
Good morning ma'am, i cant tell you enough how much i love your videos, and your amazingly peaceful voice.
I grew up on goats milk and i like it pretty good. I have had what i thought was "lactose intolerance" my entire life (40+yr).Almost 2 years ago God blessed me with an opportunity to buy a dairy ewe who had already then bread by a highfalutin dairy ram(only about a month pregnant). I prayed the whole time that she would have at least 2 ewe so i could eventually be able to breed and milk them as well, and then about a month before she was due i started praying that should would have 2 girls and a boy so i could sell him to pay for his mom.Praise God! Mary (momma ewe) gave birth to 2 girls and 1 boy. Well to make a much longer story shorter, we were finally able to start milking her and try Sheeps milk for the first time and it is the best milk we have ever had, it is so much better then goat & cow milk (to me), and there's tons of research showing its much healthier then those as well.
Maybe one of these days i can share the whole story and some milk as well.
6 year cycle is right. As a retired trucker, I observed a similar cycle in trucking.
💗💗💗
I want to help build homesteading communities
It’s a great goal. How do you want to help?
@@neatnateable I'm a great carpenter that can build and helping with agriculture and animals
@@anthonyman8008 That's great. I would like to have more such skills myself. Do you have people to help there where you are?
@@neatnateable no, not yet....you?
Actually it’s hard to find people…. Small farming community sounds great though. I’m in central TX
I've really needed to hear this lately. Thank you.
This past summer was brutal and still no rain in sight for us in the FL panhandle so it has made things extra difficult. Along with other life difficulties and doing the majority of farm work alone, I'm about burned out. Time to process some of these animals that aren't giving back what I put in.
❤❤❤
Burnout is a thing, for sure.
I don't think I'm capable of actually quitting something that I've put tons and tons of work into like that, but, from experience, I have scaled things back and put things on pause. No quitting stuff because of burnout though.
*personal stewardship " - well said, it isn't in most people's thoughts at all
After reading the comments I was surprised at the negative goat comments. Dairy goats are trained from day 1 to get on a goat milking stand. Scrub goats are not. Sheep are stupid. I was around them many years. Will never have sheep. Raised dairy goats for 30 years. Had to quit due to age and health. Decided this year if I wanted nutritious healthy food I needed to raise my own. Have a milk goat. Have few chickens and few meat rabbits. I think too many people go into homesteading thinking they need all of these animals which just depletes the resources. Start out very small and grow.
Love you videos and content. Love you’re book too! Grace we are on the cusp of starting a new sheep farm and we are about to spend money on clearing for pasture. Up to this pint it was exciting but now I’m getting 2nd thoughts. I’ve been praying and am not sure what the answer is yet. Do you have any encouragement or wisdom you would want to share?
I would let hesitate if you have a good plan for selling (or personally consuming) the offspring!
Start small and I don’t think you can go wrong!
It’s not burnout that they feel, it’s a number of things that may feel like burnout, like ignorance and lack of long term thinking. When you’re not looking at the next big turn in the road, every bump in the road can feel like the end. Write down short and long term goals like what you will do during this war that’s around the corner and even what you plan to do after the war.
Don’t ever stop moving forward and remember the only thing stopping you from what you want… is you. Best of luck 👍
Dave Ramsey “Burnout? What??? Thats impossible, you were never on fire”😂
Back in the stone age (1950s, 1960s, 1970s) when big family farms were still 300 to 500 acres, all of the things said in this video were common knowledge. Unfortunately, most of those family farms have been demolished by big corporate farms (thousands of acres). I know because I was fortunate to be raised on a family far in the late 1960s and 1970s. I can confidently say, that the way I grew up is gone.
What I find fascinating is people think they can do this on their own when I grew up on the ranch my Brother lived next door Everybody was on the ranch Everybody had a job it wasn't Run by just 2 people or 4 it's almost Impossible You must have a group that can delegate tasks because You can't be mucking out a chicken pen and planting tomatoes or harvesting or drying or Canning or Whatever the merid of events that need to take place when You have fruit to Harvest and Animals to process it takes More than just 2 that's WHY you're Burn Out that's WHY You Quit It's not just something that a couple do it's something a whole group family does is why there was 10 kids in a family.
I got 63 acres in Oklahoma if you need some space
Itll change shortly. Think of alternative.
would anyone happen to have a link to Joel's article that is referenced in the video? I'd love to read more.
It was in a private, snail-mail publication he produces: the Stockman Grass Farmer 👍🏻
@@theShepherdess thank you
Hobby farming > burnout
Real farming > just livin' man
I would love to ask you questions concerning some issues that I am having, but honestly, I do not know if I am savvy enough to know how to read a response if you did respond back to me.
I thought your information was helpful. Thank you. I have come to the same conclusions myself.
So...not. Unlike the marriage 7 year itch to leave and/or divorce. Goats are the easiest of larger pasture grazers when handled well. Milk sales and uses will do very well as times grow tougher, tighter. Freeze drying milk and selling it rocks!❤
You should have reached out to somebody because you know I am a city boy but I grew up in the country and I was in FFA and 4-H one of my dreams is to have a hobby farm should not give you you should be proud
Guess I’ve survived if I made it past 6 years:)
Buy
The bottom line is the farm was and always will be hard work and time consuming; profits aren't guaranteed even if smart and a hardworker; if one is looking to get out of farming you can easily find 1001 excuses to do so.. Many people forget that during the Counter Culture "Revolution' aka Hippie Communes, they tried to be self sufficient. But the reality is no such thing, even the Amish need outside goods and services to survive. And having young Boomers with ideals while smoking dope, writing songs, reading, poetry, dancing, etc., wasn't going to do anything but take time away from farming.. Anyone can have fantasies. Farming is about sweat, dirt, and pain..
I’m like both my dude. The poetry comes from the land and work, and the dope is all hard work; it’s a crop too.
So basically like any other business a lot of it boiled down to the 7 p’s
Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance.
Hey sister put God first and I promise you he will show you the way
If you're (or your brother) trying to raise pigs on pasture, you need the right breed. I saw what look like durocs in the video, but those are a rooting pig: you want kune kune or meishan. All other breeds are best suited to woodland environments, where they can root up and eat the trees and underbrush to create future pastures etc. (What we have pigs for, as we bought a woodlot - our sheep are also helping with land-clearing, but then we run the pigs in behind.)
Goats are absolute HEATHENS, and I will never, ever ever own even a single goat!My ex warned me about them, and then I learned that he wasn't exaggerating when someone moved goats onto the shared portion of my property... I lost half a summer just chasing those @#$%ers around,and reinforcing the pallet barn to lock them up that I had built for my sheep!!! Goat milk is bloody rank, very few people can stomach it, so just get rid of the goats altogether and get dairy sheep!
Pigs root, kunies are terrible… yes they will rip up your grass, but you can give them more room or move them more. I would agree that pigs do prefer to be In woods and they love eating roots. I’ve seen lots of pigs out happily eating grass, that’s most heritage breeds.
Goat cheese is super delicious.
She don’t have no hobby farm, everything has to meet the bottom line.
This is the reason gambling should be legal everywhere. Why should farmers have all the fun. Every year is a gamble, no matter how large your operation is. Know when to scale back or surge ahead. Adversity will be part of it!
I want goats. I could work and pay someone to take care of my goats when I'm working.
Get good at one thing before you start more im a farmer our farm is mostly hay and beef cattle just 25 head its enough and the only reason I have cattle is because i love having cattle lol
Joel Salatin is a major driving force in the publics view of agriculture as a Sensationalized lifestyle.
Diversity is not the problem. Like you said in the video. You didn't have a plan. Also you failed to keep within your own abilities. Diversified portfolios are made by selling off part of an enterprise that has become an overwhelming majority of your business.
You know you don’t HAVE to have a separate animal for milk. You COULD just milk your Dorpers 😉😉😉😉😉
Any helpful tips on that? We’d like to try with ours…
@spoolsandbobbins yes I wrote a book on milking sheep! It’s available from Sawdust Publishing
First
When are you going to be looking for new labor???
Lmaooo
Lol all these ppl just follow trends , in y2k it was tougne rings lol
Selling out is a bad phrase.
Hugelkultur 🤐 😉
also, i can feed all those, with very cheap solar powered led wheat or alfalfa (works even in desert areas)
Just study these two.
Hugelkultur, if you have enough rain.
If not, study
microgreen led growlight racks.
I am an expert educator on led growlights.. you want ones that utilize the Samsung LM301B, that is your best bang for buck.
You can do it, its all simple to do, and even done in many other far away lands, heh. chicken.. or cows, it can feed even in shipping containers.