Make a living with 40 acres. FIRST POST!

deereandford · #1 01/31/14, 08:56 PM

My first post here. I have 40 acres (30 pasture and 10 woods) in central missouri. Any thoughts on what I can do to net around 20-30k annually off the property. I have experience with cattle and some with poultry. The pasture is currently in row crops. Let's just assume I have unlimited time to devote to this. I own the land outright and have very little expenses. Thanks for your input.

Maura · #2 01/31/14, 09:42 PM

Your county must have an extension service or something similar. Find out what type of land you have and how much rainfall you get. From there, you can discover what grows best on that land and how much labor is involved. Does the soil need amending?

Are you going to use pesticides and herbicides? If not, what has already been used on the property?

Alice In TX/MO · #3 01/31/14, 10:04 PM

Unless you plan on growing a very extensive truck garden, you can't make that much money on that little acreage.

big rockpile · #4 01/31/14, 11:01 PM

Berry and Truck Farming + Goats + Rabbits and Chickens. And maybe a Sawmill.

big rockpile

FarmboyBill · #5 02/01/14, 01:36 AM

Other than Bio Deversified, concentrated hot house/green house crops, AND A market FOR them, Nope. Cant be done. Legally

deereandford · #6 02/01/14, 02:19 AM

Thanks for the input. Can you tell me what you mean by truck farming? Maybe I was a little over zealous with my 30k statement.

Tricky Grama · #7 02/01/14, 06:33 AM

Welcome & good luck!

Patty

Callieslamb · #8 02/01/14, 07:54 AM

Have you asked the people that planted row crops on it now, why they chose row crops? How much are they making off of that? There has to be a reason they decided on them. If I had that much land up here, I'd be tempted to try row crops. But we are set up for row crops in this area. Meaning, you contract them out to buyers before you even plant. It's what we do up here if we aren't doing orchards.

So much depends on the location. If you are in an agricultural area, people won't pay $8 a dozen for eggs like they will in Chicago. If you'll be close to a larger city, you might be able to sell at decent prices. I'm not sure if you can make $30K but you might be surprised how well you could do. Adn then again, selling at a Farmer's Market takes time away from the work that needs to be done to get you to the Farmer's Market. Here, I can drive 2 miles in any direction and pass 4-5 farm stands with cukes and red peppers 3/$1 all summer long. I don't know if they make a profit or enough to buy a hamburger at the end of the day. What about where you are? Any other farm stands around? Pastured poultry can do well. I priced getting a fresh turkey and found it would cost me $75 here. What might you sell them for there? Are you willing to do 'value added' products? Sell jams or pies? One of the orchard here built a retail shop, and sells pies, muffins, cinnamon rolls, etc, set up some small tables and people gather and drink their coffee. It's a small town of 600 people BUT, no one else offers 'chatting room'. Their lot is always full until noon. The pies are homemade from local products. They are delicious! They also offer a wide variety of vegetables and fruits in small and large quantities (like shelled English peas).

Welcome to the forum. I hope you do well. Southern MO is my home.

geo in mi · #9 02/01/14, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deereandford

My first post here. I have 40 acres (30 pasture and 10 woods) in central missouri. Any thoughts on what I can do to net around 20-30k annually off the property. I have experience with cattle and some with poultry. The pasture is currently in row crops. Let's just assume I have unlimited time to devote to this. I own the land outright and have very little expenses. Thanks for your input.

Welcome to the forum. Start your own flea market. 100 spaces, at $20/day each weekend ought to do it. A concession stand with coney dogs, fries, and Cokes ought to fill in the rest.

As for farming? Keep your day job........

geo

hawknest · #10 02/01/14, 08:05 AM

Sorry that's not going to happen unless you grow dope. Row crops - tomatoes, cukes, beans, corn just doesnt pay that much. I've lost money on raising cattle, but made it on sheep and bison. But that's up in the great white North, not down in Mo. Up here eggs are $5/dz and a half sheep goes for $300 and bison over $1000. If you had a market for same - you might be able to do $10k/yr

bigjon · #11 02/01/14, 09:17 AM

5 acre flea market.5acre garden.20acres for critters.last 10acres for house and barns.

milkman · #12 02/01/14, 09:35 AM

The only way I see possible would be ,maybe blueberries, strawberries and veggies. Forget the livestock making money, grow them and just enough for yourself to eat. People want to go the livestock route because it's less labor. Livestock are a money pit.

Alice In TX/MO · #13 02/01/14, 09:38 AM

Truck farm = market garden = growing what the locals want to eat and will pay for

From wikipedia-
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre (0.4hA) to a few acres, or sometimes in greenhouses distinguishes it from other types of farming. Such a farm on a larger scale is sometimes called a truck farm.
A market garden is a business that provides a wide range and steady supply of fresh produce through the local growing season. Unlike large, industrial farms, which practice monoculture and mechanization, many different crops and varieties are grown, unlike in large, industrialized with more manual labor and gardening techniques. The small output requires selling through such local fresh produce outlets as on-farm stands, farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture subscriptions, restaurants and independent produce stores.

TxMex · #14 02/01/14, 02:10 PM

Bees

K.B. · #15 02/01/14, 02:12 PM

Rather than look for one particular activity that will net 20-30$K, perhaps look for many small ventures that can net a few $K each.

#16 02/01/14, 02:34 PM

Maybe a few chicken or turkey houses .

Alice In TX/MO · #17 02/01/14, 05:18 PM

So much of this depends on your location, whether you are near a major metropolitan area with enough folks to buy your products, how far you have to drive, etc.

Also, do you have the personality for marketing?

Do you have a day job? Are you willing to work at least six days a week on the farm, build whatever structures you need yourself to keep the overhead down, do your own veterinary work, do your own tree or grape vine grafting, milking, soap making, do your own everything, rather than hiring it done?

Are you willing to take five to ten years to get the business established?

Here's a story about a local Texas winery to give you an idea of what it takes:
http://m.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2...012712_164952/

Here's a Kickstarter project that I'm participating in. Vermont pastured pork butcher shop. Family business growing:
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/butchershop/

MaxBlast · #18 02/01/14, 05:39 PM

I agree location to a city to sell your product is the key... There has to be a demand.

Also.. being a Bee Keeper and taking them around to farmers fields is a possibility. Others do that and charge the farmer, then sell the honey too.

As for those who claim one can Not Make $30K a year with that little land...... one has to have a different angle to do it...

I was introduced to a couple in Pensacola who only had their acre size backyard to garden in ! He set up a garden plot and one Hydroponic Greenhouse, using Goldfish in tanks to supply the fertilizer .. and sold his produce to grocery stores and at a Saturday's Farmers Market downtown. He make $100,000/year he said. He could sell all he could produce too, if he could produce more.

He built it all himself, being creative.. for $15,000 !

deereandford · #19 02/01/14, 08:09 PM

This is all great info and I appreciate it. I am about 25 minutes from a city with a population around 115,000. My soil is in good shape as it was part of a major dairy farm years ago. However I have been sharecropping it in soybean/wheat production the last 5 years. No till of course. We had a small garden last year that did very well but never sold any of the produce to the public.

Maura · #20 02/02/14, 12:50 PM

Drive into the city and stop at the first restaurant you come to that serves fresh vegetables. This would be your first customer. What do they want? Can you provide it? Start with a garden for your family and a garden for this customer. Can you do it? Can you grow a variety of lettuces, kale, and spinach for one restaurant? Can you do it nine months out of the year? We've kept greens going in the winter with nothing more than a cover over it (they make covers for this purpose).