How To Become A Remote Farmer

We have some good news for those urban farmer types that don’t like dirty hands. Springwise reports about Farmhopping, a Bulgarian online platform that enables wannabe farmers to indulge their farming ambitions remotely, right from their lazy chair. The new online service aims to connect virtual farmers to ‘real’ farmers all around the world. The website is still under construction, but is planned to launch soon.

Farmhopping offers a simple game-like interface that allows virtual farmers to take key decisions on ‘their’ farm — when to milk the cows, when to buy and sell young animals, and how much to ask for wool and eggs. The virtual farmers learn about the farming process while playing around. At the same time the participating real-world farmers will reward the players for their online achievements with different offline privileges, including free stays at the farm and the opportunity to consume their own produce. Forget about urban farming, here’s remote farming!

Farmhopping is not the first remote farming initiative. I-Grow, a similar concept, started in Abbey Park in the UK and offers the same type of service on a smaller scale, offering city dwellers the opportunity to produce their food without getting dirty. Urban ‘greenies’ can manage and monitor their allotment online, by phone or through Abbey Park’s Farm Shop. Remote farmers will also receive their produce within 24 hours after harvesting, at home. Ain’t that fresh?

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