We know how busy farmers are this time of year, so we feel especially lucky to have our guest on this show. He really needs no introduction, but we’ll give it a shot anyway.

Joel Salatin is known around most agricultural circles as the most famous farmer in the world and is the purveyor and owner of Polyface Farms in Swoope, Virginia. He calls himself a Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer, which is a mouthful, both in words and in meaning.

More practically, he’s a successful author and speaker, has written dozens of pieces for Acres USA magazine through the years, has spoken at our Eco-Ag conferences, and through all that, we’ve learned that he is not afraid to be funny, educational, or to step into controversy when he needs to. But his belief in honoring the land and the animals is something we respect the most, and why we are glad to call him a friend.

He spoke to us about the challenges in the eco-agriculture movement growing around the world, and answers some questions about how ecology, agriculture and the food supply can work together. He also talked about how to create a truly “sustainable” farm.

“Unless you are generating two salaries from two different generations, you do not have a sustainable farm,” Salatin told us.

Hosted by Ryan Slabaugh.

For those wanting to learn more, you can order books and DVDs by Joel Salatin from the Acres U.S.A. bookstore.

You can download and listen to previous episodes of Tractor Time here, or on iTunes.