What would it take to restore this farm

crwilson · #1 11/27/12, 03:54 PM

thanks for the replies

FarmboyBill · #2 11/27/12, 05:01 PM

Are you buying it, renting it, or just plain getting it?

IF you are renting/biuying, How are you going to develope the place and make payments with only your paycheck, which I imagine is way less than $15 an hr?

How many acres are you talking about? How would you be able to repopulate the cattle, buy seed and fert, gas and oil, harrow, mower, rake bailer, drill, fertilizer spreader, manure spreader, maybe another tractor, hay rack, hay rake, possibly hay conditioner

FarmboyBill · #3 11/27/12, 05:02 PM

O, and by the way, Its a DISC, NOT a discker

solidwoods · #4 11/27/12, 06:59 PM

crwilson.
Big puzzle question without all the pieces.

What size, state, bldgs, restore the farm to what?
What do you want to do that fits what the property has to offer?
Farming or making a living most any way is a business model.
To try to calculate if a business model will work or not you have to be able to write out all the pieces (including real numbers).
Write the plan the best you can now with the info you have, include the good and bad components, get another interested/invested adult to agree and your off and running.
jim
(didn't say off and running to where though but at least you will be in it together)

rambler · #5 11/27/12, 07:14 PM

General location,
size in acres,
are they suitable for rowcrops (nice sized, deep enough soil, climate agreeable with corn/ soybeans, good drainage),

would be the basic need to know questions to help you at all.

Also, how are the finances, farm land is _very_ high priced right now, if it is large enough & you need to buy it do you need a steady & quick return on the farmland, or is that covered that you can treat this as a hobby? (Come down to if it's a 10 acre farm or a 160 acre farm any more.....)

I know what I would do, but pointless to write that all down and waste my time if not of my plan would work at all.

Oh, are you going to be a die-hard organic person, or will commercial fetilizer and maybe herbicides be allowed?

Oats & barley was a rather poor choice to grow on an old hay field, but not your doing, we can do a lot better.

--->Paul

Michael W. Smith · #6 11/27/12, 11:28 PM

I'm not quite sure what you looking to "restore". I would assume the hay fields to hay production, the pasture to pasture production, etc.

If you are looking at raising beef cows, you may want to look into intensive paddock grazing. What this entails is fencing off small sections of pasture - in fact, based on the number of animals and how high the pasture is - that the animals are able to eat down to a certain level in a 12 or 24 hour time, and you then move them into a new area and repeat the process. The goal is that by the time you have reached your last paddock, your first paddock has had suffient time to recover and grow.

As for both the pasture and hay fields, you may be surprised at what a little lime will do. The seeds are already planted from years past on what will grow. With some lime, chances are these local plants will start growing and thrive.

Understand that farming isn't a high paying job. You will have to keep your day job and if things work out - you MIGHT break even.

am1too · #7 11/27/12, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crwilson

what would it take to restore this farm?

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Hey everyone looking for some info on what it would take to restore this farm. It was a good managed dairy farm about 20 years ago and has been beef ever since. since switching to beef it has never been limed or fertalized with anything except a bit of manure that would accumulate in the barn in winter so not much as the animals were outside most of the time.
The fields that were for hay stayed hay and the pastures stayed pastures for the last 20 years and only some of them have been plowed for the first time this past year.

so the condition of the pastures are pretty hard and mostly mossy with very sparse grass except in spring they look ok, way to many cattle were grazzed on them and left in the same pasture for 2 months at a time and were fed hay and commercial feed to meet there needs. They also have a lot of golden rod and thisstle in the pastures and rushes in the damp areas

The hay fields are very thin and i think it is mostly wild grass types taking over.
The fields that were plowed this past year had oats and barley planted obviously the harvest was very small and fed to the cattle.

This area is also affected by acidic rain very strong wild blueberry production in the region

I might possibly get this farm not likely but its possible so I would like a strong game plan if it becomes mine.
There are currently only 6 steers on the property. as all the other cattle have been boarded away for the past two years.

Equipment available is old 70 hp john deere a disker, harrows, and 3 bottom plow. all other equipment was sold and cut for scarp when someone in the family was told they could have the junk equipment and decided for themselves it all was so goodbye bailer mower etc.
One good haybarn 20 years old still in great shape and one old dairy barn will probably come down in the next couple of winters.

I Work a job unloading trucks for about 6 hours a day 5 am till 11 am so have lots of time.
and energy left my wife is also willing to help and will be leaving her job soon
I would love to get this farm and make it successful any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think my game plan would be to get soil tests done and plant green manure crops for the first year and just overseed a pasture or two and a hayfield to keep a few cattle while i recondition the other land.

Lots of money and calendar time, not to mention work.

Whisperwindkat · #8 11/28/12, 05:56 AM

I assume that you are talking about restoring the soil health and fertility. Like others have said that will depend on many factors like location, current soil health, finances and time. However, I will tell you what we started with and where we are now to give you a general idea of what you are looking at. When we moved onto this land in 2001, it had been overgrazed and then left fallow for several years. Dandelion, moss and switchgrass were about the only things growing. The ground was hard as a rock with little topsoil, very compact, and would crack with the least little dry spell. We started with one pasture on our 10 acres. We burned it, harrowed it and spread well composted manure on it, then harrowed again, planted a green crop of rye grass and in the spring spread more well composted manure a little more thinly than the first time. We planted bahia grass and kept it mowed well all summer. In the fall we again harrowed lightly, spread composted manure and overseeded with rye. We let no animals on this pasture for the first year. It took us a couple of years as this was the worst pasture of all of them with a steep grade to it. We have done the same with all of the pastures and now have pretty lush pastures that have a good healthy topsoil. We still aren't where we want to be completely in the big pasture. So in essence it took a lot to restore and a good amount of time since our budget has been very limited. Had we had a bigger budget we probably could have shortened the time. We didn't have a tractor when we first moved here and had to hire out tractor work, including bushhogging. I wore out two riding lawnmowers (used). It can be done quicker with the use of chemicals to get rid of the weeds, but it will cost you money wise. Time was what we had instead of money so it has been a slow steady work in progress, but we now only have to hay livestock 3 months of the year instead of year round. Blessings, Kat

rambler · #9 11/28/12, 08:25 AM

Not getting any feedback from the original poster, bummer.

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This is certainly not a hands-on approach, but it allows one to tackle the other jobs a new proerty needs, and offers a tad bit of income, instead of all the start-up costs of trying to farm your own land the first years. Get your feet under you.

--->Paul

Well, I just see we did get some feedback, a real slap in the face. I'll pull the 5 paragraphs I wasted writing if that's how it is, never cared for folks that pull their questions and don't do any followup.

No wonder this place has been pretty quiet of late, if that's how people trying to help get treated.

Pfffft.

geo in mi · #10 11/28/12, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rambler

Not getting any feedback from the original poster, bummer.

My soil it too high in ph, but for those of you in low-ph soils, lime is the first thing to fix, as all the other fertilizer or manure gets bound up in the soil, not doing you much good. Lime takes time to work, so putting it on sooner is better. It's alos better to work it into the top few inches of soil, and it can last about 5 years. Pell lime is quicker acting, but costs more and does not last nearly as long. I understand it often takes a couple applications over a couple years to really get the ph to move to where you want it, then maintain it with smaller applications every 4-5 years.

If it works in your location, the quickest, easiest way to bring these fields around is to work out a lease to a crop farmer. Offer a lower rent, and let them work up the ground, kill the weeds, get the lime and fertility built back up.

On my farm I'm putting $230 an acre into fertilizer every 2 years and I don't need any lime. None of this is cheap.

If there are farmers around you, they will get the ground built up for you, and pay you a bit of money along the way. Just remember, you will not be getting top dollar for small odd fields, and your pay will be in better soil, not big land rents. You also need to pick a farmer carefully and get it in writing that the land is to be built up, you'd need a 3 year agreement to get there. If you want him to leave your soil in good condition when he's done with it, you need to allow for that in the rental rates and be sure to see the reciepts that in fact the fertilizers were applied.

You can even have him plant down the hay fields for you as part of the lease - realize it is very spendy to establish a hay field so again, your rent income will be lower....

This is certainly not a hands-on approach, but it allows one to tackle the other jobs a new proerty needs, and offers a tad bit of income, instead of all the start-up costs of trying to farm your own land the first years. Get your feet under you.

--->Paul

Paul, you must have more generous farmers where you live than here in Michigan. Most of the ones around here put just enough fertilizer for the current year's crop--usually corn--a little bit of Roundup(generic, of course), and then after harvest, they even bale the stalks and carry them off!
Even an alfalfa crop carries away more than is put into the soil when the bales are taken away--especially in fields that are already depleted--and I don't know of any farmers who would take on the owner's job for him.

I think the OP (yes, wherever he may be) is on the right track in his original posting--get the soil tested, then gradually start the rebuilding process. Fix up the John Deere, lime the fields, plow it under, then start with sweet clover or big red, which don't need too much innoculation or liming--then let it grow for two years--then clip it as needed for weed control--then eventually plow it under and start pasture mixes. Yes, it will take a ton a money, because the former owners took it with them in the previous years. I would plow and reseed, rather than overseed, though. It's doable, but I don't think he will turn a profit for awhile....

geo

ronbre · #11 11/28/12, 10:10 AM

have you considered permaculture..check out this forum
Permies: a big crowd of permaculture goofballs

it might be a good plan

Cash · #12 11/28/12, 09:02 PM

You mention wild blueberries and acid rain; are you in upper New England -- Maine perhaps? You'll need plenty of lime and lots of time to get those fields back into prime shape. It can be done, but probably not on your earnings from unloading trucks five hours a day, especially if your wife is quitting her job to work the farm. What other assets would the farm provide to generate income -- firewood, organic blueberries, a market garden? Do you have alternate (free) sources of fertility, such as grass clippings from a lawn service, leaves, manure, whatever?

If you cut hay, it's often best to feed it to your own animals rather than sell it. That way at least some of the fertility the hay represents stays on the farm.