Who is Joel Salatin?
Who is Joel Salatin?
Born in 1957, Joel F. Salatin is an American libertarian and one of the most well-known farmers in the USA. He is a lecturer and bestselling author popularizing natural farming and livestock raising. He is an advocate for healthy food and a sharp critic of government regulations, which he has been describing in his bestsellers translated into many languages around the world, including Polish.
His fame did not come from tens of thousands of acres of land like Ted Turner or Bill Gates, but from the fight for freedom and pride in being a farmer. He was to become an advisor to the White House on agriculture, specifically the right-hand man of conservative Congressman from Kentucky, Thomas Massie, whom President Trump (2025) considered nominating as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (USDA). However, when the heads of the industrial-agricultural complex realized that these two gentlemen could cause a revolution in American agriculture, Massie's candidacy fell through, and Salatin himself withdrew. "I have never been in line with bureaucracy," he remarked about his decision.
He describes himself as a Christian, libertarian, ecologically-minded, capitalist farmer-weirdo. He believes that much more can be done from the ground up! He travels around the country and the world giving lectures, writes books, and is active in the local food and regenerative agriculture movement.
He teaches what is healthy.
Joel Salatin runs a family business.Polyface Farm.The farm covers about550 acres(approximately 220 hectares), but cultivates many times more land by leasing additional grounds. Polyface operates on a regenerative, pasture-based model, integrating many species of animals that work in harmony with the soil and plant ecosystems. Salatin's flagship agricultural methods includerotational grazing, mobile enclosures, and layered production, wherethe various components of the farm (cattle, poultry, bedding, compost, ponds) interact and enhance soil fertility. Thus, Polyface Farm is a champion of humus production, providing the biosphere with proper and continuous moisture and predictability of soil conditions.
Through his principled approach, creativity, and – let’s not hide it – moral stance, the Salatin family farm has gained fame and reputation worldwide. Products from Polyface, being sold locally (directly to consumers, restaurants, and nearby sales points), are delivered almost straight from the field to the table. This not only shortens the supply chain but also provides excellent quality, proving that with a relatively modest area and limited expenses and investments, high profitability can be achieved.
As a direct recipient of imposed norms and regulations, Salatin criticizes the increasingly stringent agricultural regulations that he must implement on his farm. He states outright that the government of the United States makes it difficult for small farms to survive solely on farming. We know this from our own backyard as well. In his publications, he shows how to cope with this, which is why it's worth reaching for them.
The holistic agricultural-freedom model promoted and developed by Salatin also responds to the generational gap crisis in family farms, which is common in developed countries. He believes that generational continuity of farms is a condition for healing agriculture and food.
According to Salatin, the condition for successful succession – significantly more important than formal-legal reasons – is recognizing the reason for heirs' reluctance to take over farms from their ancestors. Salatin sees this in the unattractive form of farming. In one of his flagship books,Agriculture, a Profession of the Future,(Fields of Farmers), he writes: (…) The silver-haired dad places his hand on Jim's shoulder, looking his son in the eye. "Son, I feel like I'm slowing down. I can no longer run the farm. I want to step back. Maybe you could come home?" And what does he hear? (…) "Dad, I’d love to, but the money would be much less than what I’m earning now. Jill would like to travel more. I don’t think we would decide to do that." Polish farmers know this pain. Not having anyone to pass their beloved farm to, they watch their lives fade away.
Salatin, in the same publication, clearly demonstrates that the power of the farming profession does not lie in the size of the land, but in the love and respect for the earth. And "for this land to be loved, it needs lovers who understand its interests and needs." The final stage of this harmony between man and the farm is the profitability and viability of agriculture. The prosperity of the farmer – often associated with hard work and meager incomes – is proof that he has met consumer expectations. Healthy and satisfied consumers reward the farmer by paying him well for his work. Such a farmer cannot be a poor man; he cannot be a neglected, overworked guy in rubber boots and a straw hat.
The profession of the future
Almost all of his books are dedicated to solving the issue of succession. What does Salatin propose? On one hand, he suggests moving away from the conventional model (hard, weather-dependent work from dawn to dusk, expensive buildings and machinery, and a low income) and focusing on a regenerative model: a low-input, harmonious, and highly profitable version of farming, which should become a magnet attracting children or grandchildren to agriculture.
In case this temptation is not enough, Salatin shows how to simultaneously create an emergency system for generational change by recruiting successors from outside the family circle: from among young farmers or interns who gain knowledge about farming through internships at Polyface. Both succession models have built success and popularity. For several years, the farm has been run by the children of Joel and Teresa Salatin, while the grandchildren await their time. The family is supplemented by partners who emerged from internships and practices on the farm.
At the Salatin farm, operations are practical and economical; there are few machines, and often they are well-preserved devices from a previous era. Every additional purchase is carefully considered, almost with surgical precision. They do not rely on government subsidies or other forms of support. Similarly, they do not use synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides, allowing nature to perform tasks that the industrial-agricultural complex still uses GMOs, Roundup, chemicals, and complicated processing devices for. The closeness to nature and a certain conservatism yield high-quality products with nutritional, health, and taste benefits. Encouraged by this approach, eager for healthy food, nearby and distant neighbors, restaurateurs, local trade, and processors line up for it.
Instead of selling land and fleeing to cities, the generation of regenerative farmers is creating the profession of the future. We are convinced that Polish farmers, for whom most of these problems are a square of the circle, will find their own solution in a face-to-face meeting with Joel Salatin. Especially since his lectures and presentations are spectacles in which he combines humor, anecdotes, philosophy, agricultural practice, and a recipe for a fulfilled life.
Edyta Malinowska
Jan Fijor