Farming Without Losing Your Hat

A Practical Guide to the Brutal Realities of the Best Job in the World

“As I got started in farming, there was a distinct lack of trustworthy, reliable, replicable information to guide me. … I resolved to do something about that.” — Paul Dorrance, author of Farming Without Losing Your Hat

“So read this book. Use it to build your own, original idea for what you can do. … And don’t buy into any silver bullet that tells you how to farm. That’s the entire adventure you’re about to embark on with Paul Dorrance on the pages ahead — you, and only you, can figure that out.” — Will Harris, founder of White Oak Pastures

If you’re looking for an honest, straightforward, no-holds-barred book about the challenges of building a successful farming business, then Farming Without Losing Your Hat is the book for you. 

Author Paul Dorrance shares from his own real-world experiences, taking a practical-only approach, focusing on the less-glamorous but essential parts of farming and ranching successfully today.

Specifically, you will learn how to:

• build a unique brand and company voice;
• grow a loyal audience to sell to;
• navigate the maze of regulations;
• walk through liabilities and tax implications;
• engage with customers on a real level;
• apply for loans and financing;
• and design a business plan from A-Z.

Additionally, space is provided at the end of each chapter for you to write down and capture your starting vision and goals. By the time you finish the final page, this book will have transcended into an heirloom book capturing where you were when you first dreamed of the farm and how you planned to make it a reality. Keep it forever in your farm’s library, and pass it along in your family for generations to come.

214 pages • Softcover • Copyright 2022

About the Author

Paul Dorrance is an author, speaker, consultant and regenerative agriculture advocate. He was raised close to the land, growing up on a small self-sufficient homestead in upstate New York. His journey back to farming started in 2013 when he started Pastured Providence Farmstead — a successful pasture-based livestock operation, marketing 100 percent grass-fed beef and lamb, as well as pastured non-GMO pork, poultry, and eggs directly to consumers in southern and central Ohio. Paul writes for Acres U.S.A. and speaks at agricultural conferences and gatherings around the country. Previously an active-duty Air Force officer, Paul still serves our nation as a pilot in the Air Force Reserves. He is the chairman of the American Farm Bureau’s Issue Advisory Committee on Organic and Direct Marketing and serves on the board of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association.

More from Paul Dorrance

Try Paul Dorrance's online course at Eco-Ag U Online, one of the many ways to engage with Acres U.S.A.