Turn to farming

歌曲 Turn to farming
歌手 英语听力
专辑 VOA慢速英语:农业报道

歌词

[00:00.10] From VOA Learning English,
[00:03.22] this is the Agriculture Report.
[00:05.88] The United States is one of the world's
[00:08.58] leading agricultural powers,
[00:10.84] but few Americans are farmers.
[00:13.74] One recent study showed just two percent
[00:17.66] of the population do the job in agriculture.
[00:20.87] Yet, small farms seem to be appearing in many areas
[00:25.80] to meet a growing demand for locally produced food.
[00:30.20] The people operating these farms often have little
[00:34.91] or no experience in farming.
[00:38.29] Mark Mills once worked as a pastry chef.
[00:42.49] He decided to leave his secure job and turn to farming.
[00:47.85] He says his decision was based on two things
[00:52.17] - a strong interest in agriculture
[00:55.58] and his ignorance about what it takes to be a farmer.
[00:59.73] Mark Mills was a history major in college,
[01:04.37] all he knows about producing food
[01:07.54] comes from growing plants in his home garden
[01:11.39] and 26 years of working in restaurants.
[01:16.16] So why did he become a farmer?
[01:19.16] "Well, it's beautiful.
[01:20.22] Why wouldn't you want to come to work here?
[01:21.33] I'm my own boss.
[01:22.60] But really, it's my love of food," Mills said.
[01:24.20] In recent years,
[01:25.76] many Americans have developed a taste
[01:28.76] for fresh locally grown foods and vegetables.
[01:33.48] The number of farmers' markets has increased
[01:37.19] over 50 percent in the past ten years.
[01:41.20] Federal, state and local governments
[01:44.90] believe now is the time to create jobs and new businesses.
[01:50.09] Mark Mills was one of four people accepted
[01:54.85] in the New Farmer Pilot Project
[01:57.70] in Montgomery County, Maryland.
[02:00.61] Sarah Miller works with the local
[02:03.77] Department of Economic Development.
[02:06.58] She says the program has worked better
[02:10.39] than many people expected.
[02:12.30] "Boy, we didn't even know how many we would get.
[02:14.35] We thought maybe one or two would be great,
[02:16.12] but I don't think that we expected four," Miller said.
[02:17.97] The project provides the new farmers
[02:20.53] with specialised business training,
[02:23.17] like marketing and business planning.
[02:26.89] "They provided the connection with the landowner,
[02:29.39] so I could actually have the land to farm on, which is key.
[02:31.49] Then, certainly, they provided the financing
[02:33.21] for the deer fence and the irrigation,
[02:34.91] some basic things to get going," Mills said.
[02:36.26] The program links the new farmer with an experienced one.
[02:41.17] For Mark Mills, that person is Woody Woodroof,
[02:45.95] he works at the Red Wiggler Farm in Maryland.
[02:50.01] "The big thing to work with him on now is season extension,
[02:53.42] helping him to do the things that will allow him
[02:58.18] to harvest crops deeper into the fall
[03:00.95] and early winter," Woodroof said.
[03:02.02] Mr Mills' first year in farming was successful.
[03:06.41] He produced about 450 kilograms of turnips,
[03:11.88] 90 kilograms of carrots,
[03:14.88] and 130 kilograms of green leafy vegetables.
[03:20.00] The hardest part was not growing the crops, he says.
[03:24.56] The problem has been selling them.
[03:27.77] Mr Mills says, his farm probably lost more money than it earned.
[03:34.34] Luckily, his wife has a non-farm job,
[03:38.96] and can provide financial support, at least for now.
[03:43.46] Experts say many new farmers need to support themselves
[03:49.69] with another source of income.
[03:51.93] And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report.
[03:57.30] I'm Bob Doughty.