How many acres?

[dlskidmore]

@Farnorthfarmer 38079 wrote:

he makes the point that it isn’t how much land you have it it is how much land you can manage and properly fertilize so for me that would be two acres to start lmao.

Yeah, I wish land came like computers that I could just add on an acreage upgrade to my existing house as I needed it. Unfortunately hubby doesn’t want to move with a plan to move again for a later upgrade, so I have to figure out what we’ll be able to grow into.

[Eli]

I own 234 acres I rent 150 to a dairy around the corner 10 is in hay for the horses 2 is pasture the rest is buildings and woods. I make about 20 % of my income from rent. I used to farm 500 acres (owned and rented) and milk 200 cows. I sold them 4 years ago because I needed to up date manure storage, barn and milking parlor. We are in an inviornmentaly sensitive area (creek and high water table) and I didn’t want to borrow $800,000 and comit 20 years to a new mortgage. I wish I would have stayed with the original 40 cows but I was young and all I heard was get big or get out so I got big and then got out. I always tell my wife I will farm this land again only this time in doing it with horse’s. But I don’t want to milk cows I worked 18 years without a vacation I’m not doing that again. I read and read and have some ideas of what I want to do but it’s hard to give up my job. But if my Wife gets insurance at work I just may try something. Eli

[Billy Foster]

These are my opinions based on MY experiences so they can be judged in that light. I have a fulltime job in town and the farm is just now holding its own. We have 30 acres of woods, 12 acres of owned pasture and another 10 of borrowed pasture. We have a decent sized garden for the family. Our focus is market lambs and pasture poultry.
Thoughts:
If you are planning on raising livestock on grass then you are going to want a lot of grass. Yes some woods for firewood is important but the majority should be pasture. If you are planning on being in a climate with a winter you will need more than you think since you will want to stockpile forage for the dormant season.
How many animals and what are you thinking of grazing? Are you planning a farm gate direct marketing plan or selling live weight to a broker.
Do not plan on clearing land, it is a slow, labor intensive or expensive process (unless you are young and looking for something to do).
Look for land with agriculture in the area, there are a lot of recourses available in agricultural communities that are not available in other areas.
You mentioned it will be a while before the pastures are fenced…GOOD. Work with temporary fences for a while until you determine were the fences should be for a good flow. we are on the 3rd year at our place and we are just getting the fences figured out.
Do what you are doing now and ask questions and listen. IF you are able to build a productive farm in the years to come you will look back and be able to say that the methods you have developed are the same as the advice that you had heard so many times. Another way of saying this is don’t try to reinvent the wheel if a bunch of people that are doing what you would like to be doing say something you should listen they know what they are talking about.
BIGGEST MOST IMPORTANT POINT: decide what you think you can do and cut it in half. A dairy farmer friend told me this when we first bought our place and he was right. I am always working, have a wife that is 100% behind me, I am a fit 45yo that grew up on a farm, and I struggle to keep up.
As I said just my opinions

Billy

[Billy Foster]

These are my opinions based on MY experiences so they can be judged in that light. I have a fulltime job in town and the farm is just now holding its own. We have 30 acres of woods, 12 acres of owned pasture and another 10 of borrowed pasture. We have a decent sized garden for the family. Our focus is market lambs and pasture poultry.
Thoughts:
If you are planning on raising livestock on grass then you are going to want a lot of grass. Yes some woods for firewood is important but the majority should be pasture. If you are planning on being in a climate with a winter you will need more than you think since you will want to stockpile forage for the dormant season.
How many animals and what are you thinking of grazing? Are you planning a farm gate direct marketing plan or selling live weight to a broker.
Do not plan on clearing land, it is a slow, labor intensive or expensive process (unless you are young and looking for something to do).
Look for land with agriculture in the area, there are a lot of resourses available in agricultural communities that are not available in other areas.
You mentioned it will be a while before the pastures are fenced…GOOD. Work with temporary fences for a while until you determine were the fences should be for a good flow. we are on the 3rd year at our place and we are just getting the fences figured out.
Do what you are doing now and ask questions and listen. IF you are able to build a productive farm in the years to come you will look back and be able to say that the methods you have developed are the same as the advice that you had heard so many times. Another way of saying this is don’t try to reinvent the wheel if a bunch of people that are doing what you would like to be doing say something you should listen they know what they are talking about.
BIGGEST MOST IMPORTANT POINT: decide what you think you can do and cut it in half. A dairy farmer friend told me this when we first bought our place and he was right. I am always working, have a wife that is 100% behind me, I am a fit 45yo that grew up on a farm, and I struggle to keep up.
As I said just my opinions

Billy

[Billy Foster]

Double posted and the delete is not working, Maybe it is double important 🙂

[Marshall]

I own 80 acres. 60 tillable, 12 in filter strips, and the rest buildings, pasture and ditches. I rent out 33 acres. That makes the land payment, taxes and a little left over to buy hay or whatever. Depending on rotation I plant around 14 acres of soys, 5 acres of corn and 5 acres of oats. I have six polled herford feeders, three haflingers that are way underworked, two cats that don’t eat enough mice, two kids that help a lot and a wife who is understanding. I am hoping in another 7 or 8 years to finish tiling and have the place paid for then I will farm full time. Right now I work out full time and farm around that. The farm pays its own way and anything extra is put back into improvments. When I am able to farm full time then hopefully with that and the wifes paycheck we will be able to make it.

[Author]

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