I spent some time working and living on a farm run by someone under 35. I'm not sure how much their personality and lack of managerial skills ultimately contri

I spent some time working and living on a farm run by someone under 35. I'm not sure how much their personality and lack of managerial skills ultimately contributed to their inability to turn a profit, as they certainly had cashflow, but it also occurred to me while I was working there that the kind of farm we had (10 - 20 acre, general organic produce) was a nice thought but without extensive community support (something they never bothered to foster) they aren't likely to survive. It costs a lot to maintain farm equipment and pay salary. Niche, high-efficiency, high-automation, vertical farms are something worth exploring, and I have read about the success of others doing things this way. It's something I continue to think about. One way to engender a thriving locally run community of farmers would be to establish autonomous chapters of a larger organization that provides consistent expectations among the communities they operate in. The farms would offer membership plans, which would be actively solicited and advertised. The membership plan would include discount access up to a certain weight in produce / meat / dairy each month, in exchange for a small fee and a few hours a month of unpaid labor, such as indoor/outdoor farming, planting, solicitation and selling goods at local markets. Importantly, the organization would be nonprofit and all proceeds would go back into the farms. Market research needs to be done to establish the optimal ratio of acreage to service radius, but I think it is an idea worth exploring.