Hacker News Reader

Comment by ukfarmer | Hacker News Reader

Ah, I was on HN before I was a full-time farmer, and I still work on various free software stuff. After we sold the startup I co-founded to a large acquirer, I took on a Shropshire farm where I've been building a calf-rearing and beef enterprise.

View on HN

Would it be intrusive to ask roughly where in Shropshire? I’m near Newport.

Not at all: I'm between Ellesmere and Whitchurch, same end of the county as you.

Ah that makes sense, thanks! living the dream that I hope to live one day

The one thing I did that I'd recommend to anyone who wants to move into running a farm business: spend as much time as you can working for other farmers before you start. You'll have fun, learn loads, find your strengths and weaknesses, etc.

The great thing is, if you are able to juggle tech stuff and farm work, each feels a bit like time-off from the other because they're so different.

Sound advice. Do you have a blog or anything?

Sorry, I don't I'm afraid. I have plenty of stories of my complete incompetence to relate, but I find it so much harder to motivate myself to write that kind of thing in the evenings than to tinker with software projects.

> The one thing I did that I'd recommend to anyone who wants to move into running a farm business: spend as much time as you can working for other farmers before you start.

At the very least watch Jeremy Clarkson (of Top Gear fame) make a fool of himself:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarkson%27s_Farm

Reply on news.ycombinator.com