New to farming...IDEA

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jorswift

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Hello All,
I am new to farming so what. I have worked as a farm hand before as a kid before I got into my career. So here is my idea.
I am a hunter, love the outdoors and have always wanted to farm. My neighbor has about 65 acres he is going to be selling in the future. Some of it tillable some woods, and pasture. He used to have a cattle farm on it before. My idea is to; buy the land with a USDA FSA loan and start a small cattle farm of some sort so I can A.)make extra income B.) secure future hunting ground C.) build my wife a new home. So I ask you, what is the return on the different types of cattle? I know a few cattle farmers that I am going to try and sit down with and speak to. I dont want to take away anyones business, I just want to make a few extra bucks on the side to pay the loan, be able to hunt, and make the misses happy. I work full time as a federal employee, so I will have plenty of time to farm!
Please shoot me some opinions, ideas, concerns, etc. Thanks all.
 
You won't cash flow the purchase with earnings from the farm. If you can pay for the property with your spare off-farm earnings, then you can afford it. Rent out the tillable ground for a few extra bucks to pay the taxes & upkeep of the property. Depending on how much pasture you have, either rent it out or buy a few feeder calves to put on it.
Have fun hunting, because you likely won't have enough money to go on vacations after paying all the bills.
 
jorswift":2uz4d0mq said:
Hello All,
I am new to farming so what. I have worked as a farm hand before as a kid before I got into my career. So here is my idea.
I am a hunter, love the outdoors and have always wanted to farm. My neighbor has about 65 acres he is going to be selling in the future. Some of it tillable some woods, and pasture. He used to have a cattle farm on it before. My idea is to; buy the land with a USDA FSA loan and start a small cattle farm of some sort so I can A.)make extra income B.) secure future hunting ground C.) build my wife a new home. So I ask you, what is the return on the different types of cattle? I know a few cattle farmers that I am going to try and sit down with and speak to. I dont want to take away anyones business, I just want to make a few extra bucks on the side to pay the loan, be able to hunt, and make the misses happy. I work full time as a federal employee, so I will have plenty of time to farm!
Please shoot me some opinions, ideas, concerns, etc. Thanks all.
Click to expand...

All well and good... the answer to your question is little to none....but with a federal job, you should have the means to live the lifestyle....that all you should expect.
 
I think he meant he was employed by the federal government. I work for the federal, state, county and city governments and I don't have time off.
 
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Sorry for the poke. I have to make some sense and humor from being furloughed! I am not going to get rich by working for the government, just good benefits and leave. All jokes to the side, how did you all get into farming? Where you all raised in the way of life, or start as a hobby? I think that is what I want to do, is start small, 3-1 as a hobby maybe. But with my job, my wife back in school and 3 kids, income is tight. Thanks again.
 
$$ tight now? Wait till ya get into farming--you ain't seen tight yet.
65 acres--make it at least pay the taxes-- and if an ag exemption is offered in your state/county--file for it immediately. (You may need some documentation that it was previously on ag.)
65 ac, depending on condition, partition fences etc, will carry a small herd--figure 2 ac/cow-depending on condition of cattle and forage available. If you are in area that subject to drought, figure on hay having to be bought or produced on part of that 65 ac.
If you don't have the time/$$ to stock and maintain it yourself, rent most of it out as pasture or cropland--get some return on it somehow to offset your loan note.
 
I' am with D.B. on cattle not making the land payment. If you get lucky cows might pay your taxes and keep the place mowed down. Buy a few pairs and see what happens. Remember one thing cows can and will die on you. Good Luck, and I hope it's a good hunting spot.
 
Wouldn't count on a place that size ever producing much, if any real income - maybe even forever be a financial drain. But there's something to be said for the lifestyle; gets your kids out of town, maybe actually give you the opportunity to teach them some responsibility and instill a work ethic in 'em that their skateboarding/video-gaming cohorts won't have. That's how I looked at it when we bought the place we're on now.
We're actually making a little money - but it's taken 20 years to get to that point, and if I'd had to pay for the land with proceeds from the farm... well I don't know if we'd have gotten that done in 200 yrs - forget about making enough to also pay for building that new house...
 

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