Is your small farm or homestead secure for what’s coming?

Farming is one of the most dangerous businesses out there. There are so many things that can go wrong with your property that put people in danger. Predators against your animals, life, and property. What can be done to be safe on your homestead?

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Your small farm, homestead, orestate is your castle. It is necessary
for it to be physically secure andfinancially secure. We're going to talk today
about the physical security and some ofthe things that you can do to make
your farm safer and just a betterlifestyle experience. Farming is one of the

(00:21):
most dangerous professions. There is alot of people get hurt on farms,
and here's what you can do aboutit. I'm just a hit from Prosperity
Homestead. So we talk about startingyour homestead, getting your farm up and
running, and I mentioned very frequentlyphysical security. Now there's a couple of
ways people listen listening think about that. They think about physical security as far

(00:43):
as like having a firearm to protectthemselves from bear, coyotes, bobcats,
cougar anything that might come for theiranimals. So there's a legitimate concern on
a piece of property that when youhave small livestock, for example, chickens,
goats, pigs, that outside animalsin the wilderness because now you're in

(01:04):
a rural space may want to comeand predadate on your animals. And so
a lot of folks will have firearmsecurity, they'll have better fencing they'll have
electric fencing that keeps the animals inand keeps the bad animals out. They
might have a protective donkey or aprotective dog. Now, when we talk
about economic challenges, that same mindsetgoes from predators of animal origin to human

(01:29):
predators. There are a number ofpeople on the mailing list, and many
of listeners, like yourself, arenoticing the economic instability, civil disruptions that
are happening in the cities, andthey're very quick to say that if that
comes to my town, and yousee there's a lot of controversy about that
right now, but if that comesto my town, or that comes to
your homestead, would you have theskills, would you have the awareness,

(01:55):
and would you have the equipment necessaryto defend your homestead. Now we're not
talking about a ruby ridge or anythingwhere the government's got to come after you,
but some people do have that concern. The underlying factor is, though,
is if someone would come onto yourproperty, and this happens more than
you can imagine. If someone wereto come onto your property to steal your
animals or to steal your equipment,would you have proper lighting, would you

(02:16):
have security cameras, would you havea means of defense in case you're out
there and you get caught off guard. A lot of criminals today who are
coming to steal high value assets.So for example, there have been tractor
trailers who show up to steal atractor trailer load of cows. This is
a thing that happens. Meat processingplants get robbed. A lot of this

(02:38):
stuff is in the news. Ifyou look for it, you'll find it,
but it's not commonly talked about becauseit doesn't the way the mainstream media
sees it is. It doesn't impacta lot of people. It happened out
in some rural space. But gettingyour tractor stolen, getting your side by
side stolen, getting your truck stolen, these are things that if you were
to engage the endivid visual stealing.So you're out in the barn, you

(03:01):
got you left a truck running outfront because you're you're loading the truck up,
you're getting you know, you're goingto check the brake lights or something,
and then your truck pulls away,or you find somebody who's there who
shouldn't be there. How are yougoing to respond? So there's the threat
protection when it comes to a physicalhuman threat, there's trust passing, so

(03:23):
our properties need to be properly signthe proper signage. I was talking to
my insurance agent and we're getting insurancefor a piece of property that has a
trail system on it. I offercamping on the property I have, I
will have animals there. There's aabout a mile of hard road, there's
about five miles of trails. Whatare the things that we need to be

(03:45):
concerned about? And trust passing isone of the common concerns, especially during
hunting season. So you've taken timeand effort to build up the ecology of
your property. Maybe it's a huntingcabin that you've got set up, and
now other people are poaching on yourprivate land. So what do we need
to have? What we need tohave clear property boundaries. In the state

(04:06):
of Virginia, we need to haveno hunt purple on trees within the property
boundary that can be seen by somebodyentering the property. So what does that
mean? No hunt purple essentially statesno liability, no safety, and no
hunting. So somebody who crosses thatline is going to be at risk,

(04:30):
not the homeowner at risk, andthat's every state has their own jurisdiction on
that. You want to have asign that says post it no trestpassing and
has a point of contact because thereare legitimate reasons for hunters to enter your
property, especially if they're following woundedprey, but they need to notify the
homeowner first. So I'm talking tomy insurance guy and he says, first

(04:54):
off, nobody can hunt on theproperty unless I'm with them. Well that's
kind of meant see, because Iwas selling hunting licenses or I had a
couple of friends that we had adeal where they could go hunt and then
I'd show up to help them processbecause I need to learn how to process.
But I can't do that. Igotta be out there with them.
The insurance company said no ATV orrecreational vehicles. I said, well,

(05:16):
what does that mean? Because Ijust got a quad that my dad dropped
off. I'm looking to use itto drag logs. I understand the safety
of the machine and so I'm not, you know, trail riding or racing
around the property. But again theysay no ATVs, no recreational vehicles because

(05:36):
the ATV, for example, doesn'thave a rollover cage. If you have
a tractor on the property that doesn'thave a proper rollover or safety equipment attached
to it, and you turn thatthing over, it will kill you.
The same thing with an ATV,if you turn it over, that two
or three hundred pound machine will killyou if you're not properly equipped. So
if I'm gonna have ATVs on theproperty, I need to have the proper

(05:59):
insurance, I need to require safetyequipment nobody under sixteen can operate it.
And then also it has to beproperly maintained. Okay, So this is
what we're talking about safety and securityfor your homestead. It doesn't take much
for you to have an injury,or for you to be killed, or
for you to have a devastating theftto set you back on your home set.

(06:20):
So what we do is we planthis physical security so that we can
have those things taken care of.Another factor that the insurance company talked about
is no unaccompanied miners. So youhave a farm, it's multiple acreage.
If you have some kid back theredrinking alcohol and then they hurt themselves,
who is liable not the kid becausethey're a miner, it would be the

(06:44):
property owner. So again if therule upfront says no unaccompanied miners. You
have a guest that has a kidwandering around in the woods, they get
hurt. It's your responsibility because youneed to create a safe environment. We'll
talk about that shortly, but againit needs to be clear that if you
see a kid wander onto the property, they're not supposed to be there.

(07:05):
They need to leave. They needto leave a meat immediately. Now,
in this I asked the assurance company, what should I do under these situations?
So I find somebody on the property, he's not supposed to be there,
who is hunting, what's the law'srules and regulations associated with that?
If I find an unaccompanied minor thisride and a four wheeler around, what
should I do there? The answeris never shoot at them. The answer

(07:30):
is never yell at them. Theanswer is actually to get their name,
address and information. So that meansI need a way to write this stuff
down, I need to be ableto punch it in my phone. I
need to have visual evidence. Andthen if they do not cooperate with these
things, because again there are legitimatereasons for someone to be on your property
who wasn't authorized to be on yourproperty. So One of those reasons could

(07:51):
be they were lost, they havea medical emergency, they're following a wounded
or injured animal, They're from theNational Park Service or some other government agency.
You know. Could you could havea forest your person out on your
property not realize it. So againshooting them, you know, detaining them,
yelling at them. None of thatstuff is useful. It's again photographic

(08:16):
evidence. So have you strategically placedtrail cameras on your property to collect photographic
evidence of trespassing, theft, orany other issues that you might be aware
of. Do you have closed circuittelevision? Do you have a means of
knowing somebody's come onto your property evenif you're not near your gate. These
are important considerations and factors, Butmost importantly, the insurance company explained that

(08:41):
I need to criminally trespass anybody whois on the property without authorization who will
not provide contact information and details aboutwho they are. So they need to
provide me their name, telephone number, and address. Okay, because there's
a difference between somebody trespassing who livesout of state and somebody who's trespassing who

(09:03):
lives down the street. And thenif they refuse to provide this information.
I need to in advance have photographicevidence of their activities. I need to
explain to them, not explain,but just basically tell them I'm the property
owner and you and you're criminally trespassing, exit the property immediately. And if

(09:24):
they refuse to exit the property propertyimmediately, then I am to engage law
enforcement. Now, this doesn't makefor very good neighbors. You have a
neighbor wander onto your property because they'relost from their own property, they yell
at you because they're drunk, andthey give you a hard time, and
now you got the police out.There isn't any discretion in this because in

(09:46):
order to enforce a castle doctrine orto eliminate the possibilities of thinking somebody thinking
they have an easement, in orderto stay within the law's rules and regulations,
there are specific things that you cando. Now, if you don't
want to do what I just said, you call your insurance company, because

(10:07):
if someone comes on and this iswhere I look at it, somebody wanders
onto the property, they get hurtor killed, and we'll talk about some
of the many ways that can happen. Then a claim against your insurance will
might not pay out, and youcould be individually liable or as a farm
business business side liable for their stupidity. Can you see how that might be

(10:35):
a problem. So you might notget hurt, You might not have to
shoot somebody. You might not haveto, you know, yell at somebody.
You might not ever have anybody onyour property. But you have to
have a plan or at least aconcept of what can be done about trust
passers. Now again, it's notrecord a YouTube video and put it online
and try to make some sensation aboutit. It's not go talk to the

(10:58):
people's parrants. It's something you haveto work out among your neighbors in community.
And then ultimately, when you workit out among your neighbors in community,
you create that physical security because,for example, any of the properties
that I work on or manage,every neighbor knows who I am, So
if my truck's been out there forthree days, they know where I am

(11:20):
or where I might be on theproperty, and they will call somebody if
some other person's vehicles out there,or somebody's out there wandering around, or
somebody shows up on an ATV.They already know that these things are not
permitted on the property, and Iget a text message and then it's something
we can take care of, andI do the same thing for their property.
I always make sure that when Idrive up to my property or property

(11:43):
that I'm managing or working on,that if things look out of the ordinary,
I say something, I have contactinformation. If I'm going to be
out on the back part of theproperty and there's somebody else out there with
me, where am I going tobe? What am I going to do?
Now? The best way to getthe core of this is to attend
a basic survival course. Now there'sa Survival Essentials course that I recommend with

(12:05):
the Sustainable Homestead Institute Scott Vernon.We'll talk about some of these things because
when we start talking about what canhappen on a piece of property, and
I know this isn't a sexy YouTubevideo or a sexy podcast, but there
are a lot of things that couldkill, maim or hurt you. And
if you're not prepared, these thingscan be detrimental to your ability to have

(12:26):
a small farm, homestead or estate. So let's say you have some animals,
you have a protective donkey, forexample, you could get kicked,
you could get squashed. A lotof bad things can happen bears that kind
of thing. My dad, forexample, was feeding a horse one night
and he was out there for aboutan hour it usually takes some like thirty
minutes, and he had gotten kickedin the face by the horse and was

(12:48):
pretty much out. Now when wegot down there, he had stumbled out
of the places, his face wasall bloody and everything. But essentially,
knowing that he was down eating thehorses and having an idea of the typical
amount of time it takes, wewere able to react appropriately and then of
course get him medical attention because thehorse kicked him in the face. With

(13:11):
somebody's going to fall off a pieceof equipment. I had a case yesterday
where I'm working on a ride inlawnmower and I get out there and the
lawnmark keeps stalling out. It wasfortunately gasoline, But did I have gasoline
on site so I can continue thejob? I do need to take a
case of oil out there, becauseif it needed oil, I didn't have

(13:33):
oil on site. But do youhave the proper tools? Do you have
the proper maintenance? So often I'llsee somebody get out on a tractor and
then the tractor has a problem,and then they got to get off the
tractor and walk all the way backto the barn to get the tools,
or to go get a pickup truckto come back out with the tools that
they could have carried on the equipment. I've seen people not understand how to

(13:56):
use their equipment and potentially could gethurt in the equipment use. In the
case of camping on your land,you don't want to be woken up by
a trespasser. You don't want tobe woken up by a bear, you
don't want to be woken up bya massive change in the weather. So
again, that's why I recommend theessential survival skills to give you that awareness,

(14:18):
to give you that understanding of yourenvironment. I'll in fact put a
link in the description once we dothe show notes to recommend some classes for
you. But there's gonna be andI'll leave you with three key factors.
The situational awareness is very important,understanding what could go wrong and what your

(14:39):
response, not your reaction, butyour response would be to each thing's going
wrong. Number two, making sureyou have an everyday carry that is consistent
for the situation. So if youhave in the case of a couple of
properties I work with and I don'talways carry, but if you have bear
coyotes, things like that you doneed to carry. You need to have
access to FI or some kind ofbear spray or something like that in order

(15:03):
to protect yourself, but also toprotect your livestock. You need. Finally,
you need proper signage so that othersare aware that farms are dangerous and
so they're not on your property withoutyour permission. Now again you could you
could add to that technology such astrailcams, CCCTV, an intercom at the

(15:28):
gate, for example. You couldadd to that having a plan for visitors.
So, if you have a farmthat offers tours, what are the
areas in which it's guests are authorizedto be, what are the procedures for
receiving a guest and then making surethe guests have left and they haven't left

(15:48):
with your animals. There's a numberof factors. Now, if you've got
a small farm, homestead or anestate and it does interact with the public,
I can help you with the operationalplan. This necessary so that you
can comply with your insurance that youcan also comply with local law's rules and
regulations. When it comes to safety. I'm not encouraging you to invite out

(16:10):
safety inspectors and things like that,but there may be regulations where, for
example, if you're milking animals,the health department may come out and inspect
your equipment. So being mindful ofthat is going to make sure that you
don't surprise yourself when a health inspectorshows up and you're wondering who the hell
they are, Like, you cango meet that person and know when they
come out, or when your veterinariancomes out, or when the neighbor's cows

(16:32):
get loose. You can be moreaware of your situation. We can also
help you with the design plan thatmakes your property safer. There are factors
such as erosion, how you're runningthe power, how you're running water,
that the folks on the youtubes arecertainly not qualified to help you with,
and we can connect you with vendorswho can do that that are going to
do it in a safe way.But ultimately, are you thinking about your

(16:57):
physical security. There's multiple aspects ofphysical security that are important for your on
site but also when you leave theproperty, also for the protection of your
animals. Also for the protection ofyour equipment. If someone's stealing equipment from
you, and you're properly insured,and you've got good evidence, and you

(17:18):
followed the insurances recommendations and you didn'tleave the keys in the vehicle, then
you can just get an insurance claim. There's no need to engage the person
or to have a confrontation with firearm, or to defend yourself unless your life
or liberty or your family's at risk. These things are not They're kind of

(17:38):
boring. They're not as sensational aspeople make them out to be. But
a hot headed response because you didn'tprepare, because you didn't have a plan,
a hot headed response could get youkilled. With the way the economy's
going, with the way food pricesare going, there will be cases where
people will show up on your propertylooking for food. And they may show
up with your permission by coming foryour farmstand and buying products and services from

(18:03):
you. But they might decide thatthey're entitled to it, or they might
decide they're just going to come stealit, or they might decide that your
animals should be freed. That's anotherissue here too. There are protesters showing
up at farms. Would you havethe skill set and would you have the
awareness to minimize the risk associated withthese things. That's where we can help
you at Prosperity Homestead. Again,I'm just a hit with Prosperity Homestead and

(18:26):
this has been about your physical security. When your physical security is maintained,
you feel comfortable, more confident,you have a better lifestyle, less worry
and frustration, and of all thethings that can happen, being a little
paranoid about it and having a planis better than having to react. We're
here to help you transform your landinto highly valuable and productive resources, whether

(18:49):
it's a small farm or a homestead, and we do that through courses,
newsletters, and other materials that areavailable at www dot prosperity homestead dot org.
We have a network of trainers andfolks and experiential opportunities. They're available
here in Martinsville, Henry County,and this is Virginia and we would love

(19:11):
to see you. We'd love tohear your questions. We'd love to show
you practical examples of what we teachin the podcast or on the video programs.
Again, I want to thank youfor being a part of what we
do. Without you as part ofour community, I wouldn't do half the
stuff that I do. I reallyenjoy working with folks who are independently minded,

(19:32):
who are critical thinkers, and whowant freedom, and so you're in
the right place if you want thosethings. I'm looking forward to hearing from
you again. I'm just a hitwith Prosperity Homestead