Aiming for it! New Farmer 16 | Making up my mind.
I am currently 49 years old.
Can I start farming after 50 if I prepare now?
This note is for recording those preparations.
Atsuma Town is my top candidate for where I want to start farming.
I am aiming to take over the management of a certain haskap farm.
However, about two months ago, a new story came my way.
I received information from someone about a cherry farmer in a certain place who is looking for a successor.
The farmer is elderly, and it seems their son has no intention of taking over the business, so they want to pass it on to a third party.
There may be elderly farmers all over Japan facing similar succession problems.
And so, with no successors found, abandoned farmland continues to increase.
Well, although I had been aiming for the path of a haskap farmer, I wanted to hear the story to broaden the possibilities of starting a farm, so I visited the cherry farm under the autumn sky with the person who introduced me.
As I passed through the residential area and headed toward the mountains, a suddenly open space appeared with many cherry trees and the sturdy frames of greenhouses covering them.
There was a mountain behind it, and vineyards were spreading out as well.
I felt excited, thinking, 'Oh, this is quite a nice place.'
When I greeted the person working in the field, it turned out to be the cherry farmer's son.
That was when a shocking fact was revealed.
'My father passed away last month...'
The father had been working energetically until the day before he passed away, but one day he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and passed away suddenly.
I offer my sincere condolences.
'I intend to dispose of the fields...'
It is impossible to take over such a magnificent cherry orchard without knowing the know-how.
Until I learned this fact, the thought of becoming a cherry farmer had crossed my mind, but that dream vanished like dew.
I have made up my mind.
I will become a haskap farmer!
Actually, I recently received a notice of acceptance as an agricultural trainee for the Atsuma Town Community Revitalization Cooperation Squad.
At the end of this month, I will also have a meeting to discuss the conditions for taking over the management.
My dream of becoming a new farmer. It is getting closer and closer.
Done
Thank you for reading until the end.
Thanks to your support, the "Aiming for New Farming" series has progressed smoothly, and this is the 16th article.
So far, we have covered:
1. Let's go meet farmers
2. What kind of public farming support is available?
3. Summary | Knowing the hurdles and facing them
4. Is agriculture something you love?
5. Work experience at a haskap farm
6. What is a haskap?
7. Starting to press the accelerator and brake at the same time
8. Aiming for the top with technology
9. "If it's something you love, you should do it!"
10. Just like a Roomba! A weeding robot
11. The path to new farming through third-party succession
12. Taking over management from a haskap farmer
13. Atsuma Town's farming support is generous!
14. I visited the agricultural training facility
15. Haskap berries starting to ripen
16. One for every farming family!? A radio-controlled sprayer
17. The agriculture I want to practice in Atsuma Town
18.Even on the same tree, the taste differs depending on the location!
19. Haskap, the enchanting fruit that is good for your health
20. Let's go haskap picking!
21. Restaurant in the field at Yamaguchi Farm
22. Wanting to become a calendula farmer... and moving
23. The lifestyle of an artistic farmer
24. Why train? What should I train in?
25. What do I want to do as a haskap farmer?
I am writing under this theme, and it is compiled in a magazine.
Also, I am writing various things with the theme of Education x XX.
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The article that has been read the most this week is here.