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matthewh
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 57 sanford, nc
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2004-10-30          99516


Hello all. Love this forum. I just bought a house on about 3 acres of old farm land. The land has been recently plowed. My question is: How do I try and turn over a little money with this land with out to much overhead. I live in the house, and hate to just have a field. I've never farmed, but I'm handy as a farm hand. Also I have a john deere M and a mitsu satoh with implements. Any advice please.
Thanks all.
Matt




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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2004-10-30          99518


I know of several folks in our aeria who make a decent second income by raising vegetables on a few acres then selling them in the local farmers markets during season. My wife makes it a point to be there when they open as fresh vegies, home made pies, etc. seem to sell out real fast. It's a lot of hard work, but probably the best return on the dollar invested, compared to any livestock enterprise, such as Emus, Alpacas, etc.. I'm sure quite a large startup investment is needed and like any kind of livestock the market can go your way or aganst you and either make or break your venture. Others may have better ideas too, but in any case good luck in your new enterprise. Frank. ....


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harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000
Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY
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2004-10-31          99541


Nothing quite beats watching someone grow stuff and offer the extras for sale.

We buy lots of fresh veggies all summer this way.

You may not make a living from it but it will pay for your expenses of growing. And you always have the freshest of veggies in the summer, with no or little waste. ....


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BrendonN
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 89 Central Kansas
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2004-10-31          99544


One thing you might check into is if there are farm stands in your area that are "missing" something. If you could grow something they are not and sell it to them wholesale, it would remove the work of having to retail your product yourself (manning a stand all day, etc). Might not get quite top dollar, but for many folks it may be worth it not having to deal with the retail side of things. I am planning to try Indian corn this way next year. Mini pumpkins and gourds are popular too. ....


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Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2004-10-31          99546


If you are figuring on selling them yourself to make the most of your investment you would need to be in the right place. You would need to have enough stock to make it worth while for the customers to come back or enough for the word to spread and be able to have enough stock to grow with. The farmers markets in many towns would be a good outlet to sell at but again means more time invested. A good relationship with an existing stand to broaden their market might be a good avenue with the least investment in your time without having the retail to worry worry about. The organic markets are one of the fastest growing markets for farmers and organic products do bring a good price. ....


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matthewh
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 57 sanford, nc
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2004-10-31          99564


It seems like the knee jerk reaction is produce. What about ornamentals, trees (to sell as saplings) or even planting pine to eventually harvest straw 2x year. Does anyone know if these are lucrative?

I'm looking to do more than break even.
Matt

Back to produce. I live in a good location and could hire someone to man a stand. However, It would take a couple of seasons for me to get the hang of it, and I truly question the profitability once you consider the time spent to condition the land, purchase seeds, plant, maintain, maintain, maintain, maintain, maintain, harvest, and sell. I could be flat out wrong though. I enjoy hobbies, but was thinking along the lines of a little less time intensive.

Matt ....


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denwood
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 542 Quarryville PA
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2004-10-31          99567


I own a garden center so I have some experience in what you are asking. One thing I can say is growing and selling are 2 totally different things. Most anyone can grow something but just try to sell something when demand for it is low. Things also go in cycles. What is short one year is excess the next. Many things require special expensive equipment and the only way to justify is to go large scale. I.E. baling pine needles or digging trees. You have a small piece so you may want to look at a low imput product that is easy to unload or has shelf life. If you go with produce, look for local produce auctions. It is an easy way to sell with almost no imput and in large quantities of whatever product is ready. You may take a hit on price if there is a glut or low quality, but usually people do well around me. Christmas trees are a product with shelf life and a moderate input level. If they don't sell one year, they are a little bigger the next. Not a lot of special equipment for choose and cut. ....


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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2004-11-01          99612


I would caution you on thinking that you are going to make big bucks with a road side stand, or that you have to invest next to nothing to make this money. Likewise, it may take several or a bunch of years to grown Christmas trees.

I don't know your area, climate nor soil conditions. If you are in a farming community what are they growing. Is your community full of roadside stands or is there a large operation close to you? How about traffic on your road?


Possibility #1-Something for no work at all.
Three acres is not allot of land. I get about $125.00 per acre renting land to a farmer. Generally even a smalltime farmer is going to want atleast a 5-10 acre field minimum to make it worth his while unless he is just next door. He may want a hay field, etc. Some farmers rent land on the share basis(ie land owner gets 1/3rd and farmer get 2/3rds or a similar ratio).
Possibility#2-Berryfarm
I don't know if your region is a good candidate for this. Raspberry, blueberries or strawberries may be something unique. You can pick these or have the customers come and pick them.
Possibility#3-vineyard
You could try growing grapes and bottle you own brand of wine. One of my best friend's son is going to try this. You need just the correct climate and soil. This is a longshot!
Possibility#4-Nursery products
Can you get small trees, shrubs and plants cheap to grow and prune into a slightly larger size and resell. This is also a very competitive area if you have a nursery close or big chain store forget it.
Possibility#5-Veggie market
Most areas always have room for the basics like sweet corn, tomotatos, peppers and a few pumpkins. A roadside stand may be your best bet. Remember to keep you corn stalks and sell them for the holidays. In the South some other veggies may also be popular. If you do the math, at $3.00/dozen you gotta grown a lot of sweetcorn!
Possibility#6 Christmas tree farm
Plant a bunch of small trees, trim them several times a year and wait about 15 years.

I would enjoy the scenery and let the land grow idle. ....


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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2004-11-26          101111


With farm land increasing being gobbled up, here in SE Mich. it is common to lease your land to another farmer for growing such things as soybeans and wheat. Around here the "lease price" is usually one-half the gross proceeds from a crop. A friend of mine with 40 acres has made anywhere from $300 in a bad year to $1200 in a good. ....


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kubotachick
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 116 illinois/wisconsin
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2004-11-26          101112


I'm in the landscape business, and i would recomend growing...but not for ornamentals, do christmas trees. Its kind of a set it and forget it thing. It will consume your field and also its not as high maintanance as an ornamental field (vector wise). If you do ornamentals, it would almost be a better idea to invest in a spade and to the digging yourself rather than make other people buy...
....


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matthewh
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 57 sanford, nc
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2004-11-26          101132


Now we are talking!!!!!!! My parents own an antique store, and they just paid $80 for an 8 foot tree. If the tree puts on a foot per year, and I can begin harvesting in 5 years, and save some trees of course to get bigger, that might be the way to go. I could grow a good crop on 3 acres. I could line them up so mowing would be no problem. I guess I need to start researching this. Only question, why are'nt more people doing it????????

I also thought of growing ornamentals, but frankly I don't like them. I also considered magnolias, they are low maintenance and smell great when they bloom :) However, christmas trees seem much more profitable than magnolias.

Thanks, Matt.
Ps-I did consider leasing, but it just does'nt seem worth it when it is only a few acres. I really probably could'nt expect much return, and another person would be controlling that portion of my property, and would have access. Not that I could'nt deal with that, I'd just love to avoid it, and doing something myself opens up a learning opportunity and experience.

....


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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-11-27          101144


Christmas trees aren't exactly maintenance free. A lot of folks around us grow them and they always seem to have crews out mowing and shaping them. Less maintenance than other crops/trees, but still a fair amount of work. The market for taller trees is rather small, probably most that sell are in the 6-7 foot range. Some of the growers around here are selling them as U-Cuts because the money isn't there to have them cut, wrapped and shipped wholesale. I guess they sell a dozen or so a day that way. We have a couple of acres of Noble firs that were planted as a Christmas tree farm long before we bought the property. They're now about 30 feet tall and we sell about one a year to somebody. This year we're selling the greens to Christmas wreath manufacturers for about 10 cents a lb. Should make us $500-1000 bucks. About 10-15 of them are dying each year now. Apparently Nobles send down a deep tap root, and when it reaches saturated soil they drown. As they die out we're replacing them with Douglas Firs and Cedars for timber production. ....


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kubotachick
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 116 illinois/wisconsin
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2004-11-27          101152


Think about it though, aphids, gypsy moths, and the like, thats ornamentals. The only thing you've really got on evergreens in the occasional borer and the bagworms, which are easily fixed. And the shaping isn't really necessary if when the tree is young you shape it right to start with. (lateral pruning) ....


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WillieH
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 543 New England
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2004-12-07          101818


Matt -
Ok, you have the land, enough to offer yourself some income, AND you have some toys. You are way ahead of the game already my friend. Around here (New England area), land is being gobbled up, and the backyard vegetable gardener wants to have their yard - not necessarily with a weedy garden plopped in the middle of it. Or they do not have sufficient space for a veg. garden.

What we have been doing for many years, is making available 'patches' of gardening space within a large garden plot for people to rent out for their very own garden. You own the land, you own the equipment to plow or till it for them (prep work) and then they do the rest, while you sit back and reap the benefits of rental income.
Maybe some free veggies too, TRUST ME...it works!

- WIllie H. ....


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mangoland
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 18 Maui, HI
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2004-12-14          102270


There is also the CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) movement. This is almost like a u-pick vegie garden, where the individual customers sign up for an allotment of produce per week during the growing season. The exact items are not specified, just round amounts (so many lbs. greens, so many roots, etc) so if one crop doesn't work, another is substituted. But this would be a pretty diverse planting and would require a real interest on your part. ....


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grassgod
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 566 ct
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2005-01-05          103576


Mathewh - what does your parents antique store have to do with the tree? Also - aorund here tree's average $30 - $40 wether you buy it already cut or cut it yourself. I prefer to cut it myself for better freshness. ....


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matthewh
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 57 sanford, nc
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2005-01-05          103593


grasgod, they paid 80 for a tree from a local grower. It was about 9 feet tall.

Willie H, what do the plots go for and for what size and access parameters??????
thanks, thats a creative idea!
Matt ....


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