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    The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work
    The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work
    The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work

    Written by Ben Hartman

    Narrated by Robert David Grant

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    A practical, systems-based approach for a more sustainable farming operation



    To many people today, using the words “factory” and “farm” in the same sentence is nothing short of sacrilege. In many cases, though, the same sound business practices apply whether you are producing cars or carrots. Author Ben Hartman and other young farmers are increasingly finding that incorporating the best new ideas from business into their farming can drastically cut their wastes and increase their profits, making their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable. By explaining the lean system for identifying and eliminating waste and introducing efficiency in every aspect of the farm operation, The Lean Farm makes the case that small-scale farming can be an attractive career option for young people who are interested in growing food for their community. Working smarter, not harder, also prevents the kind of burnout that start-up farmers often encounter in the face of long, hard, backbreaking labor.



    Lean principles grew out of the Japanese automotive industry, but they are now being followed on progressive farms around the world. Using examples from his own family’s one-acre community-supported farm in Indiana, Hartman clearly instructs other small farmers in how to incorporate lean practices in each step of their production chain, from starting a farm and harvesting crops to training employees and selling goods. While the intended audience for this book is small-scale farmers who are part of the growing local food movement, Hartman’s prescriptions for high-value, low-cost production apply to farms and businesses of almost any size or scale that hope to harness the power of lean in their production processes.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChelsea Green Publishing
    Release dateMay 25, 2018
    ISBN9781603588379
    Author

    Ben Hartman

    Ben Hartman grew up on a corn and soybean farm in Indiana and graduated college with degrees in English and philosophy. Ben and his wife, Rachel Hershberger, own and operate Clay Bottom Farm in Goshen, Indiana, where they make their living growing and selling specialty crops on less than one acre. The farm has twice won Edible Michiana’s Reader’s Choice award. The Lean Farm, Ben’s first book, won the Shingo Institute’s prestigious Publication Award. In 2017 Ben was named one of Grist’s fifty emerging green leaders in the United States. Clay Bottom Farm has developed an online course in lean farming, which can be found at www.claybottomfarm.com.

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    Reviews for The Lean Farm

    4.5/5

    43 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book has years worth of useful information distilled down into easily digestible parts. It is a real asset for any small business owner or manager.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic information. I learnt a lot from this book. 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book and it’s principals! Relative to many aspects of life!
    • 5/5
      Practical and well explained LEAN in small scale farming. Instantly rewarding and interesting, and also food for though. Well written, direct language that made it easy and enjoyable for non-English listener/reader.