Getting Started?

jfrankl8

New member
Messages
2
Hi, Hopefully this is in the right place - I am new to the forum so I don't know. I am now seriously looking at purchasing somewhere between 40 and 100 acres to start a small homestead/farm. I have the money to do so with reserves left over but I need/want a plan to quickly get underway with small endeavors to start making money. Not necessarily a profit as that seems very much unlikely for the first few years, but at the very least to start offsetting costs as quickly as I can so that I am not just completely hemorrhaging money the whole time. I plan to stay fairly small so that I am not overwhelmed but I don't have much experience regardless. The best I have is some backyard attempts at growing herbs and spices and potatoes and some limited experience helping out on a small chicken farm owned by relatives when I was younger.

I am just looking to connect with knowledgeable people to get a better sense of what to look for in land, how to quickly get underway, and I am putting serious thought into renting out portions to more experienced individuals while I get things figured out.
 
jack

jack

Farm Hand
Messages
92
Like you say, making a profit in the first few years may not work, but I think purchasing anything more than 40 acres is ambitious of you. You can lease part of it as you gain more experience. You are definitely in the right place.
 
Kathy

Kathy

Farm Hand
Messages
45
It's a good idea to start small. Maybe you even want to consider purchasing fewer than 40 acres to start since you likely won't make a profit right away.

Do you have renters interested in farmland? That would certainly bring in some money while you work on building your business.
 

jfrankl8

New member
Messages
2
It's a good idea to start small. Maybe you even want to consider purchasing fewer than 40 acres to start since you likely won't make a profit right away.

Do you have renters interested in farmland? That would certainly bring in some money while you work on building your business.

I have been looking around and getting a gauge for what I want. I started at 20 acres but decided it was smaller than I want. Part of this is also just because I want breathing room and a bit of privacy/separation from others - plan to make the land a home. For the prices I am looking at 40 is my new minimum. Now not all this will be utilized for farming endeavors, so the actual acreage that would be used for that would be smaller if that makes it more manageable.

The larger range of up to a 100 is based more on the price and whats on the land. I like to hunt and hike and generally play outside so if I could do a portion for farming (leasing out sections to people with more experience),a portion for housing and workshops, and then just leave a portion as wooded area that would be great. Plus many of the larger plots have great timber on them would be a way to recoup initial development costs if I can sell the timber that needs to be cleared anyway.

I don't have anyone lined up because I am still early phase (identifying potential properties based on my initial thoughts and setting up a budget plan). Its sort a things that feeds into itself because I need more information on how to determine what is good land from the perspective of potentially interested farmers. For example there was a potential plot that was about 80 acres that had something like 30 that was cleared and had already been used as a hemp farm previously, then on one of the other sites I am on I found someone who was interesting in renting land for hemp farm. So there is some potential there.

I think mostly I am just looking for pointers on what are good starting areas. I have a very short list of what I think are potentially good options to start that wont be too overwhelming ( though I appreciate the feedback)
  • Timber for wooded plots (even if is just an initial thing during land clearing)
  • Lease a few acres (7-10) for a solar array
  • Some livestock
    • Chickens: 15-20 for both eggs and chicks, 2-3 roosters and the rest hens. (Limited experience)
    • Goats: 2-3. (No experience)
    • Pigs: ? (No experience)
  • Crops (not sure what land area I would need or the difficulty involved)
    • Hay: seems like a good potential to just make money off of
    • Hemp: also seems good
    • Corn: I think part of this would be just because I can have a small mill and use corn for a lot of subsistence stuff on top of just eating it. Can sell excess
    • Potatoes: Same idea
 
jack

jack

Farm Hand
Messages
92
I think you have it figured out already, but for that acreage, I would also consider livestock like cattle and sheep that are suitable for a ranch. You could also raise ostriches, bison and emus. I wish you the best as you plan all this out.
 
 
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