can you really make a living off of a small farm?

[Jacquie Button]

also does any one raise pigs or live stock in the woods (sheep/goats)? where i live half our land is full of trees which could be used to house live stock in? (of course with a fence and a shelter for them.)

I was watching Andrew Zimmerman I think it was Bizarre Foods and he went to an Organic pig farm that raised them in the woods. I can try and find the breed.

 

[lazy gardener]

Pigs and goats could both be used to help clear that land! Do you like having the wooded property, or would you like more acreage in field/garden/pasture? More importantly, do you have wet land that would not be tillable?

You and your parents might even consider using that wooded land as seed money to start up your business. If you shop smart, you can get decent money out of selling the stumpage from the land. However, be prepared for them to leave a big mess behind.

 

[lcwmt]

thank you, i love the idea of being able to provide a whole array of different products to some one, (animals being raised free from suffering) will have to keep track of prices sales etc, i live in the middle of farming country (sask canada) so farming is a big part of my province and community/family

One possible income stream (this side of the border <G>) is selling young animals to youth for 4H projects. we have friends who do this every year. Does Canada have programs similar to 4H???

 

[ocap]

Here is my 2 cents.

Watch all the youtubes on Joel Salatin, then if you like what you see get a job as an intern with someone like him (if you can't work for him). You might find interns to interview. They might have a small farm and are making a living with the education they got from Mr. Salatin.

 

[tastyacres]

We live in a small town of 4500 people.... And our town is a huge tourist attraction so farming here is a huge success.... But funny thing is there are no farmers so we are the first to take the step.... And the whole town is thrilled.

It turns out our main buyers are going to be restaurants.... So we talked to them and then on what they needed is what we will produce.

For meat we are going to do, sheep, pigs, chickens, and turkeys.

Dairy, cows and goats milk.

And our biggest demand is eggs.

Another thing to take into consideration is you will only have pasture available 6-months of the year so you will need to have a place big enough to store hay for all the animals to survive on.

Keeping records is a must.

On the matter of keeping goats and pigs in the woods..... I did this (not pigs but goats) with goats and my friend with pigs.... He just had to supply some hay (goats should have a hay 24/7) and it worked great.

Our 9acresis mostly wooded which I like because with all the snow we get, the woods have the least amount of snow and I can at least still let the goats out.

You have a great opportunity! I wish you the best and please keep us updated on your journey!

On being a bit behind I wouldn't worry about it.... Take your time!

I also deal with anxiety and depression. But just keep pushing thru!

 

[tastyacres]

Also if you could maybe go and help out on some farms to get your feet wet it may help give you an idea of what your getting into.

I worked with 2-friends on a friend's farm and that is how I found my love for farming! It really helped me!

 

[Jayecookie]

Remember you can grow as much as you want but if you don't have a market or people to sell to you will never make it. In your area find out what people want. Organic, Grass fed or which meat they like the most. At first don't go to big and try to do to much at first. If its mostly animals you want to raise which i can see thats probably what you want to do. Give a free chicken to a family, be nice and try to get feed back from them. "hey how did you like the chicken?" this will show that you actually care and most likely will start buying from you, you will also get some reviews to share and they will tell their friends. It is possibly to support yourself with a farm, but be smart about it. Don't be a tractor when you don't need one. Spend as little as you can start slow don't go in debt.

 

[rjohns39]

also does any one raise pigs or live stock in the woods (sheep/goats)? where i live half our land is full of trees which could be used to house live stock in? (of course with a fence and a shelter for them.)

Joel does and so do a lot of people that follow his models. I'll be raising mule foot hogs in the woods, next year I hope. Hogs will clean out all of the nasty invasive weeds and such in the woods. Here's a youtube of it. Sheri also maintains a talent website to match people with farmers for apprenticeships.

 

[BYCforlife]

I am hoping to go into electrical engineering, save up as much money as I possibly can, and then buy a farm as soon as possible. I love farming, and I love working.

 

[ChicketySplit]

I don't anymore, but years ago I raised Durocs, Mule-foot, and Russian hogs. For shelter, I made 3-sided huts out of pallets stuffed with straw, each with a metal roof and straw bedding. It was cheap and effective. I had good strong fencing (I used my mule to skid out trees to build the fencing) around a few acres of woods so the hogs could forage, but not escape and raise havoc & mayhem on the neighbors' properties. One sow can have a litter of a dozen or so shoats twice a year, so I prepared for that by having the larger pens. I kept the males & females separately, and built some large mating pens so I could control the breeding. I grew my herd to about 60 & that was about the most I felt one person could manage. We had lots of acorns & hickory nuts to supplement their winter feed and they loved them! I also would load a bunch of pigs & hogs up in late fall to help clean up the 2-acre fenced garden. They did a great job!