Your perfect farm would be?

[momt5]

momt5


Do you have any experience in business? yes, we have had several businesses over the years.
Have you ever run or started a business? yes, very successfully
Have you any formal training in economics and/or marketing? no
Can you mentally and professionally separate your own special interest from your business interest to make a profit? yes
Are you man and women, women and women or man and man? husband & wife married 26 years, 5 children
How old are both of you? 46, 49.

SL

[IluvABbeef]

Seems like that would depend on if you want to be a good steward of the land!

Or not.

[IluvABbeef]

Re:

Most people these days are keeping cattle out of streams and ponds. Plan on a well system to provide clean water to your animals. Ponds are for fishing, crop irrigation, wildlife and swimming.

IMO:
That is not only a perfect example of letting your personal interest interfere with you business decision, it is pure propaganda to serve that personal interest and will cause you to spend thousands of $$$$$$$$$$$$$ if you buy into it.

But, the government does have a program where the government will pay half the cost if you are inclined to want the government as a business partner. I personally refuse to suck any government teat.
SL.

I respect your opinions, but really? There are times to take care of such sensitive areas when it actually is in the best interests of the business to have such areas. Maybe in your way of thinking it takes away land that could otherwise be used for hay or grazing, which is true, but if you stop and think about it that riparian area can still be used as part of the whole system, like with utilizing these areas for grazing when the rest of the pastures are no longer productive, like in a drought. It's not propaganda, and it's nothing to do with the government, it's about being more conservational and and sustainable and managing the farm so that it works WITH mother nature, not against it. You're not working with mother nature if you don't keep cattle out of streams and ponds and keep riparian areas the way they should've been before people put their livestock in and beat the living heII out of it. We have such an area on our farm and it is the worst place for any livestock to be in, not to mention the most unproductive. So why not fence it off and let it go back to the way it was? It's not going to cost much to let Mother Nature do the work for you, really.

Maybe I'm not making any sense, but that's JMO.

[1wlimo]

Well said IluvABbeef

then there is the better water quality for watering animals, and no animals getting stuck.

I would have an orchard for the poultry, there would be some shade trees near every pasture, but I would like to see as much of the farm from my house as possible, then I could look out at the cows when on the deck

[Sir Loin]

Re:

husband & wife married 26 years, 5 children

That does not answer my question under today’s standers.
Perhaps I should have asked: What is the born gender, and is it still the same, of the 2 parties involved?

Believe me I have no interest in you sex life, I am simply trying to establish available man power.
I rate:
2 men as 2 man power
1 woman and 1 man as 1.5
And 2 women as 1 manpower
So: What is the born gender of the 2 parties involved?
How old are the “ 5 children “ ?

The reason I am trying to determine your available man power is to determine if you will need to have hired help which will add to your “cost” of operation, as you sated you “ we would like to raise up to 50 heads per year“.

IMO, an operation of that size will need at least a manpower rating of at least 2, and most likely 3 or more depending on your topography and facilities for handling cattle.

SL

[angie]

Believe me I have no interest in you sex life, I am simply trying to establish available man power.
I rate:
2 men as 2 man power
1 woman and 1 man as 1.5

Your question is weird and intrusive regardless of intent ~ if I were the poster I would not answer as it seems nonsense.

Please tell me that 1 woman + 1 man = 1.5 person means to you that the presence of the woman diminishes the ability of the man.

[TexasBred]

Your question is weird and intrusive regardless of intent ~ if I were the poster I would not answer as it seems nonsense.

Please tell me that 1 woman + 1 man = 1.5 person means to you that the presence of the woman diminishes the ability of the man.

Angie....seems some village may be missing their idiot.

[CottageFarm]

SL said:
"I rate:
2 men as 2 man power
1 woman and 1 man as 1.5
And 2 women as 1 manpower"

Well, that oughta break the BullshitOmeter for the rest of the year......
That entire paragraph contains some of the stupidest comments I've read in years.

[CottageFarm]

If you could begin a small cattle farm from scratch on 100 acres what would your farm look like?

My husband and I are considering purchasing a farm in the next 2-3 years and we would like to raise up to 50 heads per year. So, we are beginning our research with the criteria the land must have in order to purchase it. So far we have: running water (creek etc), 30+ acres pasture, 20 acres plow fields, balance with timber. We are in Georgia and will probably stay within 2 hours of Atlanta.

What would you look for? It's paid for. Everything else is manageable after that.

Thanks,
Lisa

[john250]

Believe me I have no interest in you sex life, I am simply trying to establish available man power.
I rate:
2 men as 2 man power
1 woman and 1 man as 1.5

Your question is weird and intrusive regardless of intent ~ if I were the poster I would not answer as it seems nonsense.

Please tell me that 1 woman + 1 man = 1.5 person means to you that the presence of the woman diminishes the ability of the man.

1+1=more than 2, if it is a good match. Women are better with animals, on average. And with their hands at jobs like picking crops. Many farm wives keep the books and are running very sophisticated systems equivalent to a CPA. Its all valuable. If she occasionally cooks its all good. Or maybe she praises your cooking.

Now, as far as the business premise. I agree with Jo about the organic consumers and I'll add that organic consumers are looking for trendie, to make a splash with their dinner guests with comments indicating how much money they're making that they can serve a meal like this one on your plate. It may take a while, but all trendie stuff fades. Successful farms gross a lot of money, from one acre to 100,000 acres. You have to produce a lot of whatever you grow. Selling expensive food is great, but you still have to sell a LOT of it. I would NOT use any income projections based on more than the commercial non-organic price for the commodity.
Really successful small farms have a big entertainment component. The operators have a gift for showmanship. And they get to charge "BallPark" prices for things.
Example: a "petting zoo" with corn dispensers (re-purposed bubble gum machines). Put in a quarter and get 10 grains of corn to feed the goat.
Good luck whatever you decide to do. Those payments come around often, if you take debt. Unless you have a big stash of $ you are gonna be "out there" for lots of payments.

[Isomade]

Re:

husband & wife married 26 years, 5 children

That does not answer my question under today’s standers.
Perhaps I should have asked: What is the born gender, and is it still the same, of the 2 parties involved?

Believe me I have no interest in you sex life, I am simply trying to establish available man power.
I rate:
2 men as 2 man power
1 woman and 1 man as 1.5
And 2 women as 1 manpower
So: What is the born gender of the 2 parties involved?
How old are the “ 5 children “ ?

The reason I am trying to determine your available man power is to determine if you will need to have hired help which will add to your “cost” of operation, as you sated you “ we would like to raise up to 50 heads per year“.

IMO, an operation of that size will need at least a manpower rating of at least 2, and most likely 3 or more depending on your topography and facilities for handling cattle.

SL

a 50 head operation does not require more than one person. I have a full time business and still take care of my cattle by myself after work and on weekends. I have help most of the time on vaccination worming days but last spring I ran 85 head thru including banding, tagging, and shots by myself in one day.

[TexasBred]

a 50 head operation does not require more than one person. I have a full time business and still take care of my cattle by myself after work and on weekends. I have help most of the time on vaccination worming days but last spring I ran 85 head thru including banding, tagging, and shots by myself in one day.

Give me a shout next time. I work for beer.

[Isomade]

a 50 head operation does not require more than one person. I have a full time business and still take care of my cattle by myself after work and on weekends. I have help most of the time on vaccination worming days but last spring I ran 85 head thru including banding, tagging, and shots by myself in one day.

Give me a shout next time. I work for beer.

In that case I have an extra house on the place for a full time worker.

[Sir Loin]

angie

Re:

Your question is weird and intrusive regardless of intent ~ if I were the poster I would not answer as it seems nonsense.

If you are calling my inquiry “nonsense, then you must also be calling “labor costs” nonsense as if they didn’t even exist.
FYI: Manpower, or the lack thereof, is not only a cost factor in any business, it can and does get people injured and even killed on a regular basis.

Re:

Please tell me that 1 woman + 1 man = 1.5 person means to you that the presence of the woman diminishes the ability of the man.

I don’t know how you are getting “diminishes the ability of the man” out of what I said!
Just because 1 of the 2 individuals is a woman, it does NOT “diminishes the ability of the 1 man”, the man remains at 1 manpower.

If you are referring to the fact that I rate a woman less then a man, you need to take a look at the real world where this business is going to run to make a profit.
It is a know fact that women have less strength, stamina and loose more time from work due to personal needs, such as child care, monthly problems, and household responsibilities etc etc.

Nothing I am saying is meant to be derogator to women, I am simply stating the facts as they apply to business.
Sorry if I offended you.
SL

[Jogeephus]

a 50 head operation does not require more than one person. I have a full time business and still take care of my cattle by myself after work and on weekends. I have help most of the time on vaccination worming days but last spring I ran 85 head thru including banding, tagging, and shots by myself in one day.

Yes, this is true but as I said in another thread, you are a dam genius and I seriously doubt you ever rode the short bus.

John, that petting zoo idea is a good one. I thought about doing that myself but demographics wasn't in my favor. Being close to Atlanta could be a windfall for an idea such as this. With the right advetising you could turn the farm into a money making destination of sorts for those who want to escape the madness. About three hours from Atlanta there is a farm and dairy that recruits those who want to "get back to nature" as free employees. They are provided a bunk house to live in and they work for nothing but room and board and the owner sells his organic, grassfed, vegan friendly, hand woven wares to those in metro areas. Surprisingly, there is a waiting list of people wanting to come and work for them and they can only stay a few months then they have to leave.

With the federal government cracking down on tanning beds I've given some consideration to mounting mirrows around my garden and allowing people to come out and hoe and weed my garden. I figure they could watch themselves in the mirrors like they do in a gym while they work on their tan and tone their muscles. If I could get a waiting list started I think I'd be kind hearted enough to let those impatient ones pay me to be bumped up the list. I think then I will have mastered marketing and would then have enough confidence to write my novel.