What I Wish I'd Known Before I Moved to a Rural Farm

The Internet Isn't Always a Given

Picture this: you're sitting in your cozy farmhouse, laptop open, ready to video call your city friends about your new adventure. But wait—the screen just shows a spinning wheel of death.

The internet penetration rate in worldwide rural areas is around 48 percent, compared to 83 percent in urban areas. That's a harsh reality I discovered during my first week on the farm.

In the UK, more than four-fifths (83%) of urban premises were connected by a gigabit-capable broadband connection in 2024, compared to less than 45% for rural areas, with just 43% of rural areas having full fibre broadband connectivity. The digital divide isn't just about convenience—it affects everything from running a farm business to staying connected with family.

Shockingly, only 62% of households in rural locations enjoy daily internet access, making remote work or online banking a real challenge.

Your Nearest Doctor Might Be Further Than You Think

When I lived in the city, I never thought twice about scheduling a doctor's appointment. Rural life?

That's a different story. As of September 2024, 66.33% of Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) were located in rural areas.

This means finding a family doctor, dentist, or specialist can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. The statistics are sobering: about 65% of rural areas have a shortage of primary care physicians.

According to calculations by the Joint Economic Committee, 91% of all rural counties face a shortage of primary care physicians. What used to be a quick trip to the doctor's office might now involve driving an hour or more, and don't even get me started on finding a specialist.

Emergency situations become particularly stressful when you realize the nearest hospital is 45 minutes away on a good day.

Farm Income Is More Volatile Than a Roller Coaster

I thought farming was about planting seeds and watching them grow. Boy, was I naive about the financial reality.

Net farm income, a key measure of profitability, is forecast at $140 billion for 2024, marking a $6.5 billion decline (4.4%) from 2023, following a sharp 19.5% drop from 2022 to 2023. That's like riding a financial roller coaster without a safety harness.

The numbers tell a wild story of boom and bust. Illinois grain farms enrolled in Farm Business Farm Management had a record net income in 2022 of $506,000 per farm, but that fell to $72,000 per farm in 2023.

A reasonable estimate of 2024 income is about $30,000 per farm, associated with projected national market year average prices of $4.35 for corn and $10.10 for soybeans. These dramatic swings make budgeting feel like throwing darts in the dark.

The Farm Numbers Keep Shrinking

I discovered that I was joining a disappearing community. There were 1.88 million U.S.

farms in 2024, down 8 percent from the 2.04 million found in the 2017 Census of Agriculture. It's like being part of an exclusive club that nobody wants to join anymore.

After peaking at 6.8 million farms in 1935, the number of U.S. farms fell sharply until the early 1970s, with rapidly falling farm numbers reflecting growing productivity in agriculture and increased nonfarm employment opportunities.

While farming has become more efficient, it's also become more isolated. Rapid urbanization is causing 180,000 people to leave rural communities every day, compounding the challenges of attracting and retaining a younger agricultural workforce.

You really feel that isolation when your nearest neighbor is a mile away.

Water Isn't Always Flowing Where You Need It

Growing up with city water, I never thought about where H2O comes from. Rural farming taught me that water is precious, complicated, and sometimes scarce.

In many regions, water quality and scarcity are problems that impact livestock production and irrigation, with farming alone using 70% of the world's freshwater supply. Suddenly, every drop counts.

Managing water resources efficiently becomes a daily concern. Farmers face the issue of managing water resources efficiently, driving them to adopt new sustainable irrigation practices and explore alternative water sources such as rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse.

I learned to watch weather patterns like a hawk and plan irrigation schedules with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker. When your crops depend on it, you become a water conservation expert real quick.

Mental Health Support Is Harder to Find

The isolation and stress of rural farming can take a toll on your mental health, but finding help isn't as simple as googling "therapist near me." As of September 2024, 61.85% of Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas were located in rural areas. That's a staggering number when you consider how much farmers need support systems.

Research from Rural Health Research Centers shows that rural counties have fewer social workers, psychologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and counselors when compared to urban counties. The good news?

Due to the lack of mental health providers in rural communities, the use of telehealth to deliver mental health services is increasing. Technology is slowly bridging the gap, but you need reliable internet for that—which brings us back to problem number one.

Your Neighbors Become Your Lifeline

In the city, I barely knew my neighbors' names. On the farm, they become your emergency contact, your equipment-sharing buddy, and your sanity check all rolled into one.

When your tractor breaks down during harvest season, it's not AAA you call—it's Bob from three farms over who has the right tools and the know-how to fix it. Rural communities operate on a different social currency.

Information travels faster than gossip in a small town, and everyone knows everyone else's business. But this interconnectedness is also what makes rural life beautiful.

When disaster strikes, whether it's a barn fire or a medical emergency, the entire community rallies together. I've seen neighbors drop everything to help bring in someone else's harvest before a storm hits.

The Learning Curve Is Steeper Than a Mountain

I thought I was prepared because I'd read some farming books and watched YouTube videos. Reality hit harder than a runaway bull.

Everything from soil pH to equipment maintenance requires specialized knowledge that you can't just google your way through. You need hands-on experience, mentorship, and a willingness to make expensive mistakes.

Farming involves juggling multiple skill sets simultaneously. One day you're a veterinarian treating a sick cow, the next you're a mechanic fixing a broken plow, and by evening you're an accountant trying to figure out your cash flow.

The mechanical skills alone can be overwhelming—tractors, combines, irrigation systems, and barn equipment all require different expertise. I quickly learned that calling a repair service for every little thing would bankrupt me faster than a bad harvest.

Seasonal Depression Hits Different in Rural Areas

Winter on a farm isn't just about snow and cold—it's about isolation, reduced income, and limited daylight. When you're used to the constant buzz of city life, the quiet of a rural winter can feel oppressive.

The seasonal rhythm of farm life means your social calendar shrinks dramatically during certain months. Unlike city dwellers who can escape to restaurants, theaters, or shopping centers, rural residents often find themselves with fewer entertainment options during the long winter months.

Add to that the financial stress of living on seasonal income, and you have a recipe for cabin fever. I learned to plan winter activities and social connections well in advance, because spontaneous plans aren't really an option when your nearest friend lives 30 minutes away.

Government Programs Are More Important Than You Think

I never paid much attention to agricultural policy until I became a farmer myself. Direct government farm payments are forecasted to rise significantly to $42.4 billion in 2025, a major increase from the previous year, primarily due to the $31 billion of supplemental and disaster assistance for farmers that was approved in late 2024 through the American Relief Act.

These programs can literally mean the difference between staying in business or going bankrupt. Understanding crop insurance, disaster relief programs, and conservation incentives becomes crucial survival knowledge.

The expectation of Economic Assistance payments has significantly increased incomes and partially stabilized financial positions on many grain farms. I spent countless hours learning about paperwork, deadlines, and eligibility requirements for various programs.

It's like learning a new language, but one that could save your farm.

Technology Can Be Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy

Modern farming relies heavily on technology, from GPS-guided tractors to soil moisture sensors. But when you're dealing with rural internet speeds and limited tech support, that same technology can become a nightmare.

I learned to always have backup plans and analog alternatives for critical operations. Precision agriculture tools can increase efficiency and yields dramatically, but they require constant software updates, data management, and troubleshooting skills.

When your planter's computer crashes in the middle of planting season, you need to know how to fix it yourself or have a local tech-savvy neighbor on speed dial. The digital divide in rural areas means you can't always rely on cloud-based services or assume you'll have internet when you need it most.

Your Social Life Will Change Completely

Forget about happy hour drinks or weekend brunches with friends. Rural social life revolves around community events, church gatherings, and seasonal celebrations.

The local county fair becomes your main social event of the year, and you'll find yourself genuinely excited about things like tractor pulls and pie contests. Making friends in rural areas requires different skills than urban networking.

You connect with people through shared experiences—helping with harvest, attending school board meetings, or participating in local volunteer fire departments. Social events are often multi-generational, and you'll find yourself chatting with teenagers and grandparents at the same gathering.

The pace is slower, but the connections can be deeper and more meaningful than anything I experienced in the city.

The Rewards Are Worth Every Challenge

Despite all the challenges, there's something magical about rural farm life that makes every struggle worthwhile. Watching a sunset over your own fields, seeing crops you planted with your own hands grow and flourish, and being part of a community that values hard work and mutual support—these experiences are impossible to replicate in urban settings.

The satisfaction of self-sufficiency, the connection to the land, and the knowledge that you're producing food that feeds families across the country creates a sense of purpose that office jobs rarely provide. Yes, the internet is slow, the doctor is far away, and the income is unpredictable.

But when you're standing in your barn at dawn, coffee in hand, watching the sun rise over land that's yours—all those challenges fade into background noise. The question isn't whether rural farm life is difficult; it's whether you're ready to trade urban convenience for rural authenticity.

Did you expect farming to be this complex of a lifestyle change?

Get more from ClimateCosmos!

What do you think about this topic? Share your thoughts in the comments below — we would love to hear from you! Want more stories like this? Follow us and never miss out!