It’s an unfortunate reality in agriculture today: Not every hard-working, enthusiastic person who wants to farm is able to, often because of high start-up costs or lack of available land.

A trio of panelists at the 2019 Iowa Farm Bureau annual meeting last week in Des Moines explained how they started their farms “from scratch” through non-traditional farming. They stressed that it is possible if you’re willing to do your research, take ...