Farming Newbies

[RoysFarm]

So my husband and I moved into a farmhouse in northern MN a few months ago. We've got about 15-20 acres of farmland that we could use and would love any suggestions or advice on how to use it! We currently don't own any farm equipment and don't have the money to buy anything, we were considering leasing out the land to another farmer for cattle or maybe just for hay, to bring in some extra income (then use that money to buy equipment eventually).

We're very interested in growing vegetables - any suggestions on something that grows well up here that would be easy enough for us newbies to learn would be much appreciated! We were thinking of selling at local farmer markets as well.

There might possibly be some kind of program for farmers starting out? Maybe some kind of loan to buy equipment? For next year we were planning on having a small garden for ourselves, the rest we were thinking of renting out.

Anyway, if anyone has any helpful suggestions we'd greatly appreciate it!

Thank ya!

 

[RichZ]

So my husband and I moved into a farmhouse in northern MN a few months ago. We've got about 15-20 acres of farmland that we could use and would love any suggestions or advice on how to use it! We currently don't own any farm equipment and don't have the money to buy anything, we were considering leasing out the land to another farmer for cattle or maybe just for hay, to bring in some extra income (then use that money to buy equipment eventually).

We're very interested in growing vegetables - any suggestions on something that grows well up here that would be easy enough for us newbies to learn would be much appreciated! We were thinking of selling at local farmer markets as well.

There might possibly be some kind of program for farmers starting out? Maybe some kind of loan to buy equipment? For next year we were planning on having a small garden for ourselves, the rest we were thinking of renting out.

Anyway, if anyone has any helpful suggestions we'd greatly appreciate it!

Thank ya!

Leasing the land to a farmer to make hay (if you have some decent relatively weed free pastures) is a good way to make quick money, and it usually qualifies you to get an agricultural exemption for your property taxes. It can help you save up money to buy equipment you need for your own farming ventures.

 

[Almost Eden]

Contact your local extension! Those folks have a ton of information that will apply to your area and if they don't know the answer, they'll be able to put you in contact with those who do. They're usually super helpful.