Betting the Farm With Beth Hoffman

Betting the Farm With Beth Hoffman

From FarmHouse by Lancaster Farming

March 5, 2026 · 30 min · Episode 82

About this episode

Beth Hoffman discusses her transition from journalism to farming and the financial challenges faced in agriculture.

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're speaking with Beth Hoffman, author of " Bet the Farm ." Before coming to farming, Hoffman worked as a journalist covering food systems and agriculture. She's also worked as an Associate Professor for the University of San Francisco. When she and her husband got the opportunity to move to his family's cattle farm in Iowa and begin farming, she decided to take the plunge and begin working firsthand in the agricultural systems she'd spent years writing about. "I covered a lot of farms, I'd been on a lot of farms but I'd never actually done the farming myself," said Hoffman. "There's a real mythology around farming and homesteading and it's going to be, you know, really back to the land and getting your hand in the dirt and that kind of thing." As Hoffman and her husband settled into farming, they found themselves dealing the same big issue many farmers face: the challenging finances that come with working in agriculture. "The economics of farming was something that I didn't really know much about. And I learned. We learned very quickly even before we moved out, just kind of doing spreadsheets and looking at the kind…

People in this episode

Host: Lancaster Farming

Guest: Beth Hoffman

Topics covered

  • farming
  • agriculture
  • financial challenges
  • food systems
  • journalism
  • homesteading

Keywords

  • farming
  • agriculture
  • financial challenges
  • food systems
  • journalism
  • homesteading
  • Beth Hoffman

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of San Francisco

Books & works: Bet the Farm

Places: Iowa

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