{"id":47753,"date":"2024-02-20T14:27:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T20:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/?p=47753"},"modified":"2024-02-20T12:43:53","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T18:43:53","slug":"where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This may surprise you! A number of people are looking to start farming, but don&#8217;t have any agriculture background. However, it can be challenging to get an ag business loan if you don&#8217;t have farm experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rene Johnson, vice president of ag banking with Lake Ridge Bank, says there are steps you can take before applying for a loan to improve your chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/mid-west-farm-report-madison\/so-you-want-to-start-farming\/embed\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"0\" title=\"So, You Want To Start Farming?\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson has been in the ag lending and farming industries for more than 20 years. She&#8217;s noticed an uptick in nonfarm consumers wanting to get involved in agriculture or even start their own farm businesses. Some of these folks have a romantic idea of what agriculture entails. Others have what it takes and just face a barrier to entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson&#8217;s first recommendation is to connect with an established farm business to learn the ropes &#8212; like a mentor. She recommends connecting with someone who is doing similar work to what you want to do, whether it&#8217;s a dairy, llama herd, viticulture, or a pumpkin patch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From there, an aspiring farmer can get a better understanding of their needs as a beginner when it comes to required assets, balance sheet, and workload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson says the cost of entry in agriculture is expensive. The good news is that for a beginning farm, you likely don&#8217;t need a lot of land or brand-new machinery. She says it&#8217;s important to work with a bank or lender who specializes in agriculture, so they can guide you through the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This may surprise you! A number of people are looking to start farming, but don&#8217;t have any agriculture background. However, it can be&#8230; <a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":13279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"First Recommendation -- Find A Mentor","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[900,52,55,53,54,17,1973],"tags":[14589,6659,14588,14585,78,14586,14587],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.7 (Yoast SEO v22.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start? - Mid-West Farm Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rene Johnson, vice president of ag banking with Lake Ridge Bank, tells us steps to take before applying for a farm loan.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rene Johnson, vice president of ag banking with Lake Ridge Bank, tells us steps to take before applying for a farm loan.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mid-West Farm Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-20T20:27:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-20T18:43:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"734\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephanie Hoff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stephanie Hoff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stephanie Hoff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fabbcf86c90ca525c69d422d11b4ce49\"},\"headline\":\"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start?\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-20T20:27:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-20T18:43:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/\"},\"wordCount\":252,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ag business loan\",\"ag lending\",\"farm business loan\",\"farm loan\",\"featured\",\"Lake Ridge Bank\",\"Rene Johnson\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Agribusiness\",\"Commodities\",\"Dairy\",\"Grain\",\"Livestock\",\"News\",\"Specialty Ag Products\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/\",\"name\":\"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start? - Mid-West Farm Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-20T20:27:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-20T18:43:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"Rene Johnson, vice president of ag banking with Lake Ridge Bank, tells us steps to take before applying for a farm loan.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":734},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Agribusiness\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/category\/agribusiness\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/\",\"name\":\"Mid-West Farm Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Midwest Farm Report\",\"alternateName\":\"Farm Report with Pam Jahnke\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/farm-mock-logo-updated.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/farm-mock-logo-updated.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":159,\"caption\":\"Midwest Farm Report\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fabbcf86c90ca525c69d422d11b4ce49\",\"name\":\"Stephanie Hoff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/605c4ab12af4da1abe7ceba129e1ef32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/605c4ab12af4da1abe7ceba129e1ef32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Stephanie Hoff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/author\/shoff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start? - Mid-West Farm Report","description":"Rene Johnson, vice president of ag banking with Lake Ridge Bank, tells us steps to take before applying for a farm loan.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start?","og_description":"Rene Johnson, vice president of ag banking with Lake Ridge Bank, tells us steps to take before applying for a farm loan.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/","og_site_name":"Mid-West Farm Report","article_published_time":"2024-02-20T20:27:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-20T18:43:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":734,"url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Stephanie Hoff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stephanie Hoff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/"},"author":{"name":"Stephanie Hoff","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fabbcf86c90ca525c69d422d11b4ce49"},"headline":"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start?","datePublished":"2024-02-20T20:27:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-20T18:43:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/"},"wordCount":252,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg","keywords":["ag business loan","ag lending","farm business loan","farm loan","featured","Lake Ridge Bank","Rene Johnson"],"articleSection":["Agribusiness","Commodities","Dairy","Grain","Livestock","News","Specialty Ag Products"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/","url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/","name":"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start? - Mid-West Farm Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-20T20:27:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-20T18:43:53+00:00","description":"Rene Johnson, vice president of ag banking with Lake Ridge Bank, tells us steps to take before applying for a farm loan.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg","width":1200,"height":734},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/2024\/02\/20\/where-does-an-aspiring-farmer-start\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Agribusiness","item":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/category\/agribusiness\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Where Does An Aspiring Farmer Start?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/","name":"Mid-West Farm Report","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#organization","name":"Midwest Farm Report","alternateName":"Farm Report with Pam Jahnke","url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/farm-mock-logo-updated.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/farm-mock-logo-updated.jpg","width":300,"height":159,"caption":"Midwest Farm Report"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fabbcf86c90ca525c69d422d11b4ce49","name":"Stephanie Hoff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/605c4ab12af4da1abe7ceba129e1ef32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/605c4ab12af4da1abe7ceba129e1ef32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Stephanie Hoff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/author\/shoff\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/checkbook-e1708454575233.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47753"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47753"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47754,"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47753\/revisions\/47754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midwestfarmreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}