johnnycakes
Footballguy
If it’s like it is here in MA, you’d better have deep pockets and lots of patience for dealing with all the red tape involved in going legit.
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So I just bought a farm... (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter tuffnutt
- Start date
Ron Swanson
Footballguy
And because it's still Federally illegal, prepare for negative Federal Income Tax ramifications.
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Insoxicated
El Floppo
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
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Insoxicated
El Floppo
Footballguy
pantherclub
Footballguy
UncleZen
Footballguy
As a kid, I grew up in the country on a few acres and we had a 1 acre garden. I hated it and after I moved off as an adult, I swore I would never eat another vegetable. Around the time that I turned 40, I realized how much I miss living that way and talk frequently about moving back to that way of life.
Kafka
Footballguy
Mister CIA
Footballguy
Don't forget to take your lady to Wichita every once and a while so she can get her big city fix.
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
Very cool!!
Ill be be following along.
Ill be be following along.
NutterButter
Footballguy
DocHolliday
Footballguy
Good for you for following your dream. I grew up on a farm and couldn't wait to leave. Maybe the hobby farm will be enjoyable. Just don't jump into too much too fast because farms can become a lot of work quickly. They can also create schedule issues since animals need food and water everyday. Chickens seem easy but they should be let out during the day and put back into a coup before dark.
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
i want to do something similar, minus the farm part. i just want acreage. i would definitely like to putter about in a big garden. hell, i grow peaches, apples, bananas, cucumbers and tomatoes in the heart of SOCAL.
i'd like to not be able to see my neighbor's house. i've lived in the city all my life, more or less, and am pretty over people. i want a couple dogs, some chickens, and a lot of land.
i'd like to not be able to see my neighbor's house. i've lived in the city all my life, more or less, and am pretty over people. i want a couple dogs, some chickens, and a lot of land.
I also grew up on a small, kind of wannabe, farm. I also couldn’t wait to leave. Non stop work regardless of weather, never went on any kind of vacation, even a weekend, because animals had to be cared for. Had to get up at 5 am every day before school to milk 2 cows, damn ankle/tail chains frequently came off and sprayed cow #### all over you but you couldn’t shower or you’d miss the bus. Cleaning stalls every weekend, feeding every day, maintaining fencing, loading hay into barn, spending summers walking through spent farmer fields gathering rotten vegetables to feed pigs. It all sucked hard. The one thing it taught me was I was never going to do that kind of work.
We had 3 horses, 2 milk cows, couple beef cows, and several pigs. Dad wanted chickens too but everyone threw a fit about the additional work so he backed off on that.
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
I have lived in urban areas since 1996 and NYC for almost two decades. Grew up in a village of 200. This whole concept sounds so appealing.
Then I started watching a YouTube family called Gold Shaw Farm. They were 30-something’s from D.C. with small children who decided to migrate to VT. Took them about 1.5 years after they bought the property (150ish acres?) to transition full-time, IIRC they both telecommute. They’re going for full on, off the grid sustainability. Farm life is hard work!
Really enjoy their channel but they’ve taught me as appealing and charming as it might seem, it’s def not for me.
GL OP, I think this will be great for your family.
Then I started watching a YouTube family called Gold Shaw Farm. They were 30-something’s from D.C. with small children who decided to migrate to VT. Took them about 1.5 years after they bought the property (150ish acres?) to transition full-time, IIRC they both telecommute. They’re going for full on, off the grid sustainability. Farm life is hard work!
Really enjoy their channel but they’ve taught me as appealing and charming as it might seem, it’s def not for me.
GL OP, I think this will be great for your family.
tuffnutt
Footballguy
Ran into a former student/athlete of mine last night. He actually runs some cows on a piece of land down the road from us. His day job is at a camp for under privileged kids where he takes care of about 30 horses for trail rides. Anyway he has offered to help maintain my fences (back fence through timber is falling down, and help show me the ropes when we do get some cows if I let him bow hunt on our land. Free labor for hunting rights? sounds like a no brainer to me.
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Brunell4MVP
Footballguy
So my parents own a 400 acre farm in the South that they grew up near. Been in our family for 150 years. They recently moved back after 40 years of big city/suburban living. They have several local people that farm parts of the land (peanuts, soybeans, hay, watermelons). They've got about 100 cows. They've got a couple of fishing ponds. My Dad doesn't hunt anymore, but there's tons of deer, turkey, etc that he loves to watch. They built a gorgeous house with about 4500 sq ft and windows everywhere.
The good: They really enjoy the farm. It keeps them busy and active. My Dad is always working the finances. My Mom stays ridiculously busy with the house, yard, taking care of fences, etc. I love that they keep active and healthy. Because it's all paid off, they can use their money to travel to visit cool places (recently Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Hawaii, San Fran). We get to go visit the farm for 3-5 days at a time - plenty to get away but too much time there would put me to zzz.
The bad: They are miles from other people and miles from bad hospitals. Good hospitals are 2 hours away. Doctors are a 30 minute drive. And the people in the deep south are good people at heart, but they are not very well educated. They are surrounded by people with don't have many world experiences. The help they need (vets, carpenters, painters) to upkeep the place doesn't exist. The people that work hard and have skills (typically from Mexico and other countries) can get more jobs 45 mins away, so they won't come out that far. And the people that live near them are so lazy and incompetent (think trailer trash) that they essentially have no help running the place.
The pitfalls are pretty simple. You can't neglect anything or stuff falls apart. Whether it's the animals, or the fields, or the house, or the pond, or the fences, or the fishing gear, or the well, or the guns, etc, etc, etc, You have to constantly tend to everything because nature and the elements eat away at things more than city slickers can ever imagine. Multiply the work you do around your house by 100 and that's what running a farm is.
Best of luck! I'm sure it will be a cool experience.
The good: They really enjoy the farm. It keeps them busy and active. My Dad is always working the finances. My Mom stays ridiculously busy with the house, yard, taking care of fences, etc. I love that they keep active and healthy. Because it's all paid off, they can use their money to travel to visit cool places (recently Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Hawaii, San Fran). We get to go visit the farm for 3-5 days at a time - plenty to get away but too much time there would put me to zzz.
The bad: They are miles from other people and miles from bad hospitals. Good hospitals are 2 hours away. Doctors are a 30 minute drive. And the people in the deep south are good people at heart, but they are not very well educated. They are surrounded by people with don't have many world experiences. The help they need (vets, carpenters, painters) to upkeep the place doesn't exist. The people that work hard and have skills (typically from Mexico and other countries) can get more jobs 45 mins away, so they won't come out that far. And the people that live near them are so lazy and incompetent (think trailer trash) that they essentially have no help running the place.
The pitfalls are pretty simple. You can't neglect anything or stuff falls apart. Whether it's the animals, or the fields, or the house, or the pond, or the fences, or the fishing gear, or the well, or the guns, etc, etc, etc, You have to constantly tend to everything because nature and the elements eat away at things more than city slickers can ever imagine. Multiply the work you do around your house by 100 and that's what running a farm is.
Best of luck! I'm sure it will be a cool experience.
pantherclub
Footballguy
My family has a dairy farm in rural nc. 100+ years old. Lots of land. Lots of upkeep and more work then you can mentally imagine. If that's your thing as you get older then god bless but man I don't want to work that hard any more.
DocHolliday
Footballguy
I mentioned that I grew up on a farm. It was a dairy farm and the work never ended. My father sold the dairy cows about ten years ago and raised beef cows until he sold them 1.5 years ago. He is talking about selling the farm. His grandfather built the farm and it would be nice to keep it in the family but I don't want it. My siblings don't want it either. Making a living farming is difficult and farming as a hobby has no appeal.
tuffnutt
Footballguy
So haying is done and we go 47 big round bales off it. Did a little fishing this evening and took a few pics. We have a lot of work to do getting some of fence and corrals up to snuff and much of back of property is overgrown but I think its a beautiful piece of land and cant wait to build our new home and enjoy the new life on the farm.
https://imgur.com/a/CLF2N3r
https://imgur.com/a/CLF2N3r
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
TheFanatic
Footballguy
This is me too. I don't want to have to rely on it for a living or work the land that much. But yeah, a garden would be cool. Not seeing the neighbors is fantastic. I back up to woods. When I look out back 9 months of the year, all I see is trees. When the leaves fall, I see the houses on the other side of the woods, but I'm not outside as much then. I never knew how amazing it is not to see the neighbors. I could look out the back window for an hour every morning if I had the time. I want that.
Johnny Rock
Footballguy
And it’s nice to just take a piss outside naked while letting the dogs out in the morning...so I’m told.
tuffnutt
Footballguy
Tuffnutt ranch has officially gotten its first animals... my daughters wanted kittens so we got 2 for the barn on one condition... I get to name them. They agreed so yesterday we welcomed “the nature boy ric flair” and the American dream Dusty Rhodes” the girls were less than amused but a deal is a deal!
JetMaxx
Footballguy
tuffnutt
Footballguy
derek245583
Footballguy
.
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
Get a couple of goats. My buddy lives on 10 acres. Not really a farm but he does grow his own produce for his family. Also he has some chicken for natural eggs (not to eat) 2 cows and 2 goats. Those dam goats are fun to be around. When I pull up they come running to the gate like dogs. Then when you are in they follow you around and love to be petted. The goats supply milk, he raised the cows to slaughter once a year but that was 5 years ago and he views them as pets and won`t kill them now.
tuffnutt
Footballguy
We have been thinking about goats. Not sure what we do yet. We are probably a year or more away from livestock. We have a lot of fence to repair first.
Ron Swanson
Footballguy
You in San Angelo by any chance?JetMaxx said:
grateful zed
Footballguy
JetMaxx
Footballguy
I can’t speak to the specifics of the business side as “we”, primarily my wife, help to care for a herd owned by someone that ironically manages a grass fed cattle farm. Worming, foot care, and addressing the myriad of things that can happen to goats are all part of it. I can’t imagine the margin is all that great compared to beef. If you need specifics I can look into it more deeply.
JetMaxx
Footballguy
Beef Ravioli
Footballguy
Buddy Ball 2K3
Footballguy
tuffnutt
Footballguy
Not much, Just got 2nd cutting of hay off our fields. Made a deal with local guy to come and cut it and in return for taking all of cut, he is going to come back in early spring and fertilize my field. He is also going to spray and try to kill the good amount of Johnson Grass that's in it. apparently Johnson Grass is not good for cattle. who knew LOL. After that we are going to work out a deal where he buys on shares.
Been spending most of my time on a remodel of Farm house on property basically a gut job, turned a 2 bedroom 1 bath house into a 3 bed 2 bath. Started working on corrals this past weekend and will continue on that and barn cleanup throughout the fall. When I get that all done I''ll post some pics.
Got a guy who is bow hunting deer on back of property in exchange for fence work in the spring. So if all goes to plan I will be putting some cows and maybe a horse or two out late spring next year. Which leads me to a question if anyone has input...
I have done a lot of research up till this point and I think I have it narrowed down to 4 breeds of cattle to run 1) Black Angus 2) Red Angus 3) Gelbvieh 4) Hereford. or of course maybe a cross of those. Anyone have first hand knowledge on any of these breeds? seems most around here run black angus or at least a cross of it. thanks for any input and following our adventure!
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ChiefD
Footballguy
Are you planning on selling the cattle? Or is this for your family's consumption? I have a good friend of mine selling his herd of Aubrac cattle, which are delicious by the way. He is local (KC area).
tuffnutt
Footballguy
I think the ultimate plan to be sort of a Cow-Calf operation. I'd like about 10 head and a bull. (not sure we can support more without a pretty hefty feed bill) Sell calves at sale barn each year after weening and hold one back for family. I will look into Aubrac cattle, have not heard of them before. How big is his heard?
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ChiefD
Footballguy
Not sure. I'm buying some beef from him right now, so I'll let you know what he has left.
tuffnutt
Footballguy
Poke_4_Life
Footballguy
I've been around cattle all my life but never been a cattle person. I don't understand how angus got to be the gold standard for beef. Other breeds are just as tasty. I think it was a good marketing plan.
ChiefD
Footballguy
tuffnutt
Footballguy
Thats what i've been ready as well. Just good marketing. I've also been told that black sells better (any black cow) at the sale barn so I'm leaning that way. going to cost me the same to feed them whether they are black, brown, or whatever.
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tuffnutt
Footballguy
Remember good fences make good neighbors.
For that small of a herd I wouldn't buy a bull. You can rent on for the breeding season or have the cows artificially inseminated.
Then you don't have to have a separated pen for him and the added cost of feeding and caring for him. Unless you don't care if your getting calves throughout the year.
It's easier if the cows calve during the same time. 9 month gestation.
Some bulls can be mean, most are ok. Had a neighbor who was killed by one, turned is back and the bull ran into him throwing him against a bale ring head first.
I always thought angus had a wilder streak.
Maybe the guy that baled the hay can help you or some other farmer. Your county extension has information and so would a veterinary.
For that small of a herd I wouldn't buy a bull. You can rent on for the breeding season or have the cows artificially inseminated.
Then you don't have to have a separated pen for him and the added cost of feeding and caring for him. Unless you don't care if your getting calves throughout the year.
It's easier if the cows calve during the same time. 9 month gestation.
Some bulls can be mean, most are ok. Had a neighbor who was killed by one, turned is back and the bull ran into him throwing him against a bale ring head first.
I always thought angus had a wilder streak.
Maybe the guy that baled the hay can help you or some other farmer. Your county extension has information and so would a veterinary.
tuffnutt
Footballguy
Great info here! thanks Zeamax. have looked into AI some, but people were saying you still would want a a cleanup bull for any cows that were still open. Big decisions to be made in next year!
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