Why Do This?
Some of the reasons to participate in the Tour...
Education
The MO Farm Tour lets young people interested in a career in agriculture get first-hand experience with the various fields of study that farmers regularly put into practice (a.k.a. "Mule School"). The Tour is also designed so that each Volunteer develops a substantial network of farm friends, references, and potential job opportunities along the way - and avoids the "compartmentalization & commodification" of the global marketplace.
The Farmer also learns a lot through the Tour as well – as the “veritable jet stream of labor and ideas” circulating around the State in the form of the Tour provides a regular supply of new ideas and approaches to the Farm.
And the best thing? No tuition – and no final exams!
Labor Supply
One of the key issues facing Agriculture today is shortfalls in the labor supply. This leads to immigration issues, “child labor” laws, and inappropriate technologies as surrogates for reliable farm hands. But if the MO Farm Tour concept works, it would alleviate some of these issues.
Simple Exchange
The Tour is designed to be a simple exchange of goods (e.g. room & board) and services (farm labor) - thereby reducing Tour participants' exposure to weaknesses in the fiat currency system. Farms benefit from the elimination of typical business headaches such as: minimum wage requirements, taxes (W2 forms, &c), workers compensation insurance, cash flow demands, time cards, paychecks, etc. Volunteers also benefit from our program as it eliminates (while on Tour at least) the demands for rent, car payments, grocery runs, tuition fees, gym memberships, etc.
Local Support
Unlike programs such as WWOOF, HelpX, or WorkAway, the MO Farm Tour is locally-owned and operated by fellow Missourians. Even our Volunteers are from the Show-Me State. If you support the locally-grown movement, then you should support the Tour - we are a home-grown operation through-and-through!
Health & Fitness
Fresh country air and clean living – that’s what it's about. With health care issues being a concern for many, a healthy lifestyle of farm chores and family values can help us avoid some of that.
We’ve also noticed that many farmers pay more attention to the care and feeding of their livestock than to themselves! We understand time and budget constraints. But we’ve got to take care of ourselves if we want to be of any use to others.
Personal Interest
Some people like the outdoors... some like the exercise... some just get bored easily... others like meeting new & interesting people... many like their work to reflect their values... (et cetera)
Core Values
Some of our Core Values (or “apple core values” as we like to say) include:
hard work
self-reliance
honesty
frugality
charity
honor
order
humor
empathy
integrity
humility
courage
We also appreciate the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling.
Rewards
The rewards of the MO Farm Tour are many. Here are just a few:
supplies Farm with cheap, reliable labor (and a good way to interview potential staff or partners)
helps Volunteer develop a useful set of skills and good network of friends and references
introduces new ideas and fresh approaches to everyone along the Tour
develops a community of people with shared values
makes otherwise mundane farm chores interesting while still getting them done! (-:
will make some of us very, very rich
(ok, so #6 is probably not true - but it sounds good!)