JM Fortier talks about successful small-scale farming, his book, and his new magazine, Growers & Co.

Small-scale farming expert JM Fortier joins us to talk about his road to profitable small-scale farming. He’s an innovator who is out to remake agriculture.

Fortier talks about his own farm, Les Jardins de la Grelinette, as well as his work in training a new crop of farmers at a model polyculture farm in Hemmingford, Quebec, Ferme des Quatre-Temps.

He hopes to connect with non-farmers too, so that they can have a window into the world of farming. He’s done that with a television show, and his newest project—a magazine.

Successful Small-Scale Farming

Fortier is quick to point out that a profitable small farm is not an oxymoron. In his book, The Market Gardener, he outlines the steps that he took to earn more than $100,000 from a 1.5-acre market garden. That figure has risen to over $200,000 today.

He notes that a key element to profitable small-scale farming is to manage expenses.

He says successful small-scale farmers share these traits:

Dedication
Entrepreneurial outlook
A strong sense of customer service
Ability to work with numbers and deal with accounting

Rock-Star Farmer

Fortier notes that there was a great response to the recent French-language television series Les Fermiers (The Farmers) which documented work at Ferme des Quatre-Temps.

The farmers, he says, became TV rock stars.

While celebrity is nothing new in culinary circles, he’s happy to see the growing interest in farming. And he’s not surprised, because he feels there’s a hunger for knowledge about food.

He notes that 95 per cent of the farmers-in-training he’s working with come from a background other than agriculture.

Connecting with Non-Farmers

The Market Gardener has sold more than 200,000 copies and been translated into 7 languages. Fortier says that the book appeals to would-be farmers as well as people who are simply interested in where food comes from.

His next project? A new magazine.

While many print publications are closing up shop, he says that—just like working with the soil—a print magazine is something that’s very tactile.

A return to small: A return to print—they work nicely together.