What is farming diversification?

[Home Farm]

What do members on this forum understand the meaning of "farming diversification" to be, and what pursuits do you believe are permissible under its umbrella?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Supprized me that Free Range Eggs is seen as diversifying
But anything that ain't seen as the basics in farming
Set up a barn with a few escorts you would be rich in no time if the legalized it

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Any way of using the farm assets (land and kit) for uses not related to food production. Often makes farming look utterly pointless if done right.

 

[Still Farming]

Doing anything possible to scrape a living on a farm other than the generic stereotypical historic traditions.

 

[chaffcutter]

It seems to me that it really means learning a brand new set of skills in a different business entirely which just happens to be based on a farm.

 

[Rowland]

Supprized me that Free Range Eggs is seen as diversifying
But anything that ain't seen as the basics in farming
Set up a barn with a few escorts you would be rich in no time if the legalized it

Isn’t that called a ranch in parts of Nevada

 

[jellybean]

It seems to me that it really means learning a brand new set of skills in a different business entirely which just happens to be based on a farm.

Exactly this. 40 years ago when I started deer farming "diversification" was the buzz word. A cynic would be forgiven for thinking that when the Gov was encouraging us to diversify what they really had in mind was "get out of farming before we put an end to it"