Farm4Fun w/ Noah Young - Shiloh Farm

Noah Young grew up the son of two school teachers. Farming was not something he ever thought of doing for a career, but growing up in central Nebraska, it’s tough to not be impacted by agriculture in some way. He grew up helping farmers and seeing how food was produced and the impact agriculture had on his community. From a young age he was intrigued by the fact that his neighbors were feeding the world but the majority of Americans knew nothing about it. The average farmer in the U.S. feeds over 155 people while making up less than 2% of the population.

So after receiving his degree in Agribusiness, Young began his journey into the unknown world of farming. When he started “Shiloh Farm” in April of 2020 his goal was to pursue a simpler life for his family. With no experience raising livestock, gardening, or raising chickens, he decided to start a homestead from the ground up. His mission was to learn as much as he could about agriculture while sharing his journey and experience with others. He wanted to give people the chance to see what farming was like up close. His opportunity to share his journey with others came much sooner than expected.

In July 2020, his goal of educating people came to fruition when he started using TikTok. With daily facts about chickens, ducks, vegetables, sheep, and anything agriculture related, he finally found the perfect platform to educate others about the joys of farming. This blossomed into a wonderful opportunity to share agriculture with over 125,000 followers. Whether it’s telling people that all chicken eggs start out white or that you’ve been opening pineapples wrong your whole life, these videos have been making people laugh and learn.

If there’s a bright spot to this Pandemic it’s that millions of people began growing gardens, buying chickens, and looking for ways to be more self reliant. If they did not have the opportunity to do that, they most certainly began supporting local farmers and ranchers. Looking for ways to support small family businesses as much as possible. That meant a lot of people were in his exact position. Wanting to be self sustainable but having no clue how to start! By sharing his experience with others he hopes to make a positive difference in the homestead community.

Future plans involve expanding the farm in hopes that they can have a greater impact on the community and produce food for their neighbors. Young is hoping to add a greenhouse, raised beds, and over 500 chickens in 2021. As well as the addition of sheep, goats, turkeys, and whatever rescue animals they can find!

While he is certainly excited to expand the homestead, his ultimate goal is to continue educating people on where their food comes from. There is such a big difference between farm fresh local produce and something you buy at the grocery store. Did you know the apple you buy at a supermarket is on average over 14 months old? His hope is that by sharing these facts he can grow a following so that more people can see that there is so much more to farming than what people see on T.V. At the end of the day if he can get 1 person to get chickens or to start a garden, it will all be worth it.

Noah Young is one of those people who believes sharing knowledge is not about giving people something, or getting something from them. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating a learning process.

Noah Young can be followed on his TikTok handle: @theshilohfarm