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I've gotten some nifty ideas from YouTube over the years, but nothing beats the creativity and ingenuity that drives homemade farm machinery. Check out this video for a look at what I mean: Some of those are brilliant!

Do you charge a delivery fee to your customers or any middlemen or retailers that you deal with? What about a shipping fee? Assuming you do charge those fees, are you upfront about it or do you just increase the base price to account for the added expenditure?

When someone runs the washing machine, the toilets start bubbling up. It's the weirdest thing. Does that mean our sewer line needs to be flushed? I can't think of what it could be.

How much should I charge to "rent" me, my tractor, and my rock picker? The other guy will provide the fuel and will mark his land. I originally thought I'd rent out my rock picker, but I'd honestly rather be the one using it to clear the field. I got it used, but it still cost a pretty penny...

My chicken wire hasn't been holding up well under all the snow. I'm weighing whether I should reinforce it with more poles, or if I should scrape the chicken wire and use different fencing material instead.

Why aren't yaks more popular as a farm animal? You can raise them for their meat, hides, fiber, and milk. They're also handy pack animals with good temperaments. So why aren't more farmers interested in raising them?

My goats have had ringworm twice. The first time that it happened, I isolated the infected goats and treated the problem. I also cleared out their bedding and put down new stuff. I sanitized their trough and water buckets. Everything seemed great. A few months went by and the ringworm...

You've got plenty of space and everything the animals need, so what's on your dream list? I would start an ostrich farm personally. I like the birds and the market isn't crowded yet. How about you?

I attended an online seminar presented by the local community college and the guest speaker went on and on about the marketability of garlic. Really? Is garlic a big cash crop?

How do you guys repackage or reuse your green waste during the course of business? I'm talking about falling pine needles or out of date plants or ugly fruits. What do you do with them, so they aren't a total loss? Are they part of your business plan?

We're running a dehumidifier 24-7 but our humidity won't drop below 75%. Is it possible to get a home with an unfinished basement down to 50% humidity or less? Other than the dehumidifier what would help us lower it? Opening the curtains? Closing the curtains? Cranking the heat up? Turning...

Our home is infested with fleas. Nothing has worked to get rid of them and I'm at my wits end! We've tried bug bombs which only seemed to make the fleas more aggressive. We hired an exterminator who came out and sprayed, but we still have fleas! A ton of fleas. This has never happened to us...

I hope it's not too early to start reflecting on the past year. Livestock wise, what went well for you this year and what didn't work out as you'd hoped? I fought off goat ringworm and it seemed to have cleared up for a few months. Unfortunately, it hit us again, so I moved the healthy goats...

What do you guys think will be the next big threat to timber stands in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest? Do you think we'll need to worry about climate change, another natural disaster, pest control, diseases, or something else. It feels like we've had a couple of trying years, so I'm trying...

Do these sudden changes in temperature that we're experiencing in the Midwest harm the livestock? It's been a while, but I remember that the weather used to change gradually. It would slowly grow colder. Now it seems more like an overnight change. I wonder if it's a shock to the system.

I've been eyeing these machines for a while and finally found a used model at a decent price. This implement is worth every penny! It makes clearing rocky land a snap. I was able to get the land ready to plant more cedar and pine saplings in record time. Now I have enough rock to make a few...

Do any of your livestock seem more bonded to you than the others? I have a goat named Gus that follows me around while I work. He often demands petting and watches for me in the morning. He sticks with me for most of the day when I'm out in the fields. Just wondering how many of us have a...

Snail mail is an apt description for how the postal service is running these days. I'm in the Midwest and It took a full week to get a simple letter that was sent from Los Angeles, California. It used to only take three days at most. I'm just curious if this is only happening to us because...

My wife and I have always used the USPS to handle our shipping because we thought it was important to support the post office. We've never regretted that decision until now when all of a sudden, we can't get our packages to our customers in a timely manner. We're living in the time of Amazon...

What time of year does most farm machinery go on sale? For instance, I've noticed that lawn mowers are typically priced the lowest in September. What about tractors, tillers, combines, and other machinery?