Family farms in America are slowly disappearing, with a 2022 USDA census reporting that America lost 142,000 farms over just five years. The average farmer in America is now nearly 60 years old. But it’s not government subsidies that farmers need to stay afloat, Joel Salatin @Polyface_Farms told me in my recent interview with him. What small farmers really need is the freedom to innovate and sell directly to local consumers—without facing a morass of red tape, regulations, and mandates. He told me: “In my lifetime I have watched this erosion of farmer access to retail dollars. Meanwhile, we’re seeing farmers go out of business hand over fist.” Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms in Virginia, is widely recognized as a leading pioneer of sustainable or regenerative farming practices that enrich the land, rather than depleting it. CHAPTER TITLES 01:38 Grass-fed cattle philosophy 03:50 Pigs and compost 04:53 Factory farming 08:43 Everything you want to do is illegal 09:05 On-farm manufacturing hurdles 10:00 Daily regulatory pressures 10:30 Big government vs small business 13:11 Aging farmers 13:59 Regulatory burdens 14:35 Market-based vs regulatory solutions 14:58 Food freedom 16:09 Driving industry change 17:48 Legal battle and victory