Just watched this new Curtis Stone video and it really hits hard if you farm, homestead, or plan to. He uses that ostrich farm situation in BC as a wake-up call and makes one big point: a lot of what government does to people happens through “voluntary compliance” — all the contracts, grants, registrations, and “standard paperwork” we agree to without really understanding the strings attached.
He walks through eight ways people try to protect their land and operations: being extremely cautious about taking government money or research grants, being careful working with big corporations that live and breathe compliance, paying attention to what you register and sign, building strong private, local relationships with your customers, finding alternative ways to fund projects, and not instantly folding just because someone with a badge shows up and sounds official.
Whether you agree with all of it or not, it’s a solid reminder that paperwork is power and most of us don’t read the fine print nearly as closely as we should.
This isn’t legal advice, obviously — but it is something every farmer, homesteader, and small producer should be thinking about right now.
👉 What do you think? Have you ever had regulators, inspectors, or agencies show up at your farm or business? If you could go back, what would you do differently?