Farm planning

[Andy Carson]

I have just bought some land and wanted to get some advice from you all on how to go about setting up a farm. There are 20 acres of good, rich soil on flat land, of which I want to farm about half. I think that growing row crops would be profitable and would fit well with the use of draft horses (who really inspired this idea). I also think that row crops would be a good way to utilize my location within an hour of a major eastern city where I can sell (or hire someone to sell) directly to consumers. I have been working a 6 year old Belgian/Percheron mare for a couple years now and feel like I’m ready to make the next step into “real” productive work. At any rate, I have a couple questions… I had initially thought that I might be able to work my mare singly to do much of the work on this small farm, but am not so sure this is practical. It seems hard to find equipment for singles and I worry the plowing might not be deep enough with only one horse. She is an EXTREMELY hard worker, but I’ll probably end up getting another horse before spring… Any thoughts??? Also, I would appreciate any ideas on row crop that any of you have found valuable and especially any crop that lends itself to especially to horse farming. I want to grow at least 6 different crops so that if one crop fails (or isn’t popular), all is not lost.

[Andy Carson]

I am wanting something to do every day, but this would be semi-part time. Maybe I ought to grow some field crops and some veggies, to reduce the total amount of labor. I could cut it back to 5 acres if it got to be too much work. Maybe I should think about which veggies require the least TLC but can still be sold in large amounts to the public. Maybe something like Pumpkins or squash? I have grown these in the garden and they were very easy and they certainly sell for alot around Halloween time. I thought about growing a field of oats to feed to the horses, but by the time I buy all the equipment needed to harvest, thresh, and store them, they don’t really pay for themselves… Indian corn and corn stalks sell for more than they ought to (in my mind) around Halloween time and they would be easy to raise. Maybe also a couple fields of something that would be higher value but require more intensive care, like garlic or shallots. I have also thought that carrots could be a good crop, I’ve had lots of luck with them in the garden and draft animals with their low impaction, might be very suitable for these. I have seen alot of sunflowers sold for birdseed and these seem like they might be sellable. Maybe gourds too. These are the main crops I have been thinking about, but I thought I would see if anyone on this board had any ideas.

[Carl Russell]

Pretty much anything you grow will be marketable, it is just as BF suggests, if you grow less than you can easily handle, you can always do more the next year. If you try to do more than you can do, you will be overwhelmed. My own personal philosophy is to start small and grow into it.

As far as the single horse is concerned, there is no reason why you can’t farm 5-10 acres with one horse. The problem is not the animal, but as you wrote, finding appropriate equipment. You really shouldn’t have to plow very deep anyway, 4-6″ tops.

Good luck, Carl

[Does’ Leap]

The only thing I might add is that you spend some time figuring out how you are going to sell what you produce. I disagree with Carl that everything you grow will be marketable – especially at that scale if you are thinking veggies. Even a tenth of that would be an effort to sell and much more of an effort to sell profitably. I would start looking into Farmer’s Markets in your area and apply ASAP. Markets in the northeast are getting tighter and harder to get in to. We have had several interns leave our farm, start their own, and struggle with selling their cheese. It is easy to get submerged in the producing part and forget about (or not have time to think about!) selling it until you have the product ready.

BF mentions processing grains into flour. Great idea. Maybe also a hot cereal mix. Here again, there are steps to adding that value that need to be worked out. Also, think realistically about where you are going to sell and for how much. Even flour and cereal, although value-added, are commodities and will be compared with what’s in the supermarket, thus producing a ceiling on what you can sell them for.

As Carl mentions, start small and slow. Grow your clientele and market. Once you have people hooked, you can then maybe raise your prices to a level where you won’t be operating at a loss. Think about adding value to your veggies as well – pesto, braided garlic, pickles, jams, etc. There is a woman at my market who grows a quarter acre of veggies and makes $700+/week selling pickles, relishes etc.

Good luck.

George

[Carl Russell]

My comment about marketability was not intended to mean that marketing would be easy, in fact it is certainly the part of the equation that many people take for granted.

I was just trying to to say that even if there were markets for whatever you want to grow, it is important to have a realistic understanding of how much work is involved in growing it.

Even hot items require time and effort to market, but if the production time is not managed appropriately there will be so much to do that the quality of produce will suffer, the reward will be diminished, and the profit will be undermined.

If you do a small patch by hand and horse, and develop the skills and methods, then you can gradually increase the production to meet the market.

It is a long slow development, and requires outside income to help cover living expenses, but I believe it is more successful in the long run. I have seen so many flashes in the pan. Folks who had a vision that was at a scale that attracted a lot of attention quickly, but didn’t have the staying power.

Carl

[goodcompanion]

A single acre is a lot of vegetables. Perhaps one acre in a planting of a wide assortment of stuff and another acre or two of pumpkins or squash would be enough to get your feet wet?

Plowing one acre with a walking plow involves you walking behind the horse for probably ten or twelve miles depending on the width of your share. You could also hire out the plowing and then easily get by maintaining the patch with your single.

For small-scale vegetables, the single is relatively practical. The main tool is the walking cultivator. For seeding you could use a push seeder or rig up a gang of two push seeders that were attached to shafts or something like that. If you do potatoes a hiller would be nice, and though a normal one would be hard to work with a single, maybe a walking plow with a middlebreaker-type share would hill decently? Point being, I guess, that if you can get clear of the really heavy work of plowing you will probably find a single of horse is plenty of power, and the equipment needed a relatively short list.

I agree wholeheartedly with statements above that the marketing is the big challenge. What strategies work for other market gardeners in your area? Are roadside stands common? Strong showing of vegetable vendors at farmers’ markets? CSAs? Is there some kind of farm-chef network? Do you have wholesalers/distributors that you might sell to? I have found that if you grow it they will NOT automatically come, work in the garden itself is half the battle, maybe less. Also remember that if you wholesale to a bunch of stores and/or restaurants that managing the books is also a lot of work.

The fall garden strategy you seem to be hinting at has some appeal–you could grow stuff just for halloween and focus your entire marketing effort for the year on that one thing, make a corn maze and a big event on your farm, hayrides, cider, the works, hire a bunch of help to pull it off, then be done with it. It has worked for others. I don’t love the idea myself because I really want farming to be about feeding people, not throwaway pumpkins, plus I think halloween is all dumbed-down and stupid since they took out the chanting and livestock-sacrifice parts, but I guess you have to choose a strategy that will work for you regardless.

[Andy Carson]

Thanks again for all the advice. Lots of questions and things to think about. The road side stands around here (western PA) mostly sell sweet corn, and sometimes corn/tomatoes. Rarely anything else, exactly as BF would have predicted. The farmers markets, on the other hand, are richly supplied with a large variety of vegetables, which seem to sell alright. It’s hard to judge based solely on what I see people putting in thier bags, but other crops seem to sell there. I don’t see much kitsch like pumpkins and indian corn at farmers markets, but I do see them at lots of local farms around halloween time. I haven’t seen freshly milled flour at any of these places, but did see it at a local fair where I bought some coarse ground corn meal. It was great. Obviously, not seeing this product means there is opportunity but it could also mean that it doesn’t sell for some reason. I think it’s best to start with a very small patches of all these products and see what sells for me in my situation. I think that where you sell is a very important part of what you can sell. I do wish that I could pawn off this marketing stuff onto someone who is better at selling than me. Maybe I need a partner…

[goodcompanion]

Unfortunately we don’t live in a world where a farmer can drive a wagonload of produce to town, sell it, and leave it at that. But there are upsides.

What you are selling, in addition to your goods, is a story. People are predisposed to love narrative. If you love what you do you will probably enjoy telling your story. If people in your community feel emotionally compelled by what you are doing and how you are doing it, your story becomes part of their story thus helping secure your business for the long term.

The problem (setting aside the notion of falsehood) is balance between time spent telling the story and time spent actually physically creating that story.

As a grain grower myself, I think there is a lot of potential for grains and grain products of all kinds. You may find as I have found that that niche is not very thoroughly filled by farmers around you. But on the other hand your competition, the supermarket, is so very very cheap. And the opportunity to really stand out on quality is not so evident as with, say, tomatoes, or cheese. People are unlikely to say, “My god, that is the best cornmeal I have ever tasted in my life.” So it really comes back, I think, to story.

[Scyther]

Very good ideas have been given. If you will be working alone mostly, 10 acres of produce would be a tremendous work load in the peak of the season. Maybe crops that are one time planting/harvesting would work better in this case. Grain crops, as mentioned already but also dry beans, pop corn or the already brought up potatos and fall squash. Crops like dry beans and pop corn could be held and sold, hopefully retail over a longer time period without worrying about spoilage as with fresh produce. This could be helpful while breaking into a new market. Just a thought. You didn’t mention where your located? Finding equiptment for single horse use is easier to find in some areas. When I lived in Pa. if you talked to the people involved in selling horse equiptment and tell them what you need it could usually be rounded up fairly quickly. Again, just a thought. Good luck with farm. Keep at it and it’ll come around.

[Andy Carson]

After some thought this is the plan I have… Some things might be more sellable, but as marketing is such an important part of this adventure, I do believe I am shooting myself in the foot if I grow things I do not personally like. I will hire a local farmer to plow about 3 acres of land. My land is in alfalfa now, and from the looks of it has been alfalfa for a while. I believe the initial beaking into the sod is a big task for one horse. As far as crops, I am going to divide this 3 acres into 6 1/2 acre plots to grow (1) hard red wheat, (2) blue corn, (3) butternut squash, (4) black oil sunflowers, (5) chickpeas, and (6) root vegetables (split carrots, beets, and shallots). I’ll get a mill and see what happens. I contacted a couple local markets, but they weren’t really helpful as I do not plan to become officially organic. Maybe I ought to, but the whole idea of a farm inspector turns me off. Thanks again for all your ideas and suggestions, it’s great to have more experienced people to bounce ideas off of. I thought I would include a picture of my girl, just in case anyone is curious. I hope the photo comes out right.

[gwpoky]

Hello,

I am not sure if it is interest, but have you thought about adding pastured chickens to your system? They have sold well for us and are seasonal also a great source of nitrogen. If you are looking into it you should check out Joel Salatin’s book “Pastured Poultry Profits” it is a good read also his book “You Can Farm” my come in handy. We wish you the best, it takes time to get things going, but it is worth it as time goes on.

George

[Andy Carson]

Thanks, I think some chickens would be useful and could eat some of the crops that don’t sell, or at least don’t sell as I start out. I am really glad I posted this question, everyone has had really great suggestions. Thank you all

[Andy Carson]

What is the minimum row spacing that you all have had success with? I have seen 36 inches and 40 inches recommended for row crops that will need cultivation, but would like to get away with 30 inchs if possible… 30 inches was pretty easy a few cones for practice, but I wonder about doing an acre of it, I thought I would see what others use…

[Gabe Ayers]

If you are planning on going organic or with natural fertility the row crops need more room and the plant population per acre may be lower than conventional spacing and seeding rates.

We usually work with a 40-42″ spacing. It gives extra room for hilling plants up and ample room to work the horses later in the season when the plants get bigger for that last cultivation.

But it may depend on what stage of rotation your garden is in. Early in the rotation one may plant closer as the cultivation or mechanical weed control is less than a piece of ground that has been worked in open cultivation for more than two or three years.

How were you planning to do your cultivation or mechanical week control. What type of equipment are you going to use?

~

just a farm post, nothing to do with HHFF

>>>

[Andy Carson]

Yes, I am planning on using natural fertilizers and the ground will just be broke this spring. It is now in alfalfa/grass and has been for a while. I’m not really that diappointed that the plant population using natural fertilizers is likely to be lower as I was having a tough time figuring out how I was going to fit in all the plants recommended for conventional growers and still get a horse down the row… I plan on using a single horse walk behind garden cultivator, the kind with S-tines and wide shovels. Maybe it’s somewhat primative, but I kinda like walking behind my horse and I think it will be flexible for different crops and spacings. It can’t be much more primative than spreading manure with a slip scoop and a harrow. I did that last weekend and had fun, although I took a lot of ribbing for it.

[Author]

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