Buying land and becoming a farmer

[maryjohn]

Don't get me wrong Maryjohn, but todays engineers no nothing, well perhaps a few! I have 2 professions for farming. One for winemaking 3 years and normal farming 2 years. And all I do now, I have learned from old farners and people that never followed the masses.
What ya learn today in schools is beeing a dumbass and follow what the industrie tells you! They destroy the farming business!

I know that education is everything, but educate yourself!

Cheers

Tolpan

you got me, i'm not an engineer. always figured they were smart guys.

instead of engineer maybe substitute the profession of your choice that requires a specialized education.

in this climate I would go for an MBA and a degree involving microbiology. try to make connections so you have a network. basically what everyone else has to do, and the best reason to go to school.

I would never want to grow plants professionally, as it would cease to be a relaxing game. someone has to do it though.

 

[grapeman]

Been a table grape farmer my entire working life (40 years). Although the lifestyle of the farmer (working outside) is better for me then an office cubicle, it is a job none the less. Your boss will be the bank. Can't make money? Lose the land.

But if and when they ever legalize mj, professional farmers will quickly fill the void and the learning curve required for you to catch up to these competitors (years) will make it difficult for you to stay in business. The American farmer is the world's best.

 

[PermaBuzz]

"The American farmer is the world's best. "

I disagree. they are the most mechanized, not the best.
Since the so-called green revolution after WWII, american
farming has become increasingly industrialized and sterilized.
Production has vastly increased but the quality and variety
has plummeted. These days, only 3 crops are grown much in the USA:
corn, wheat, soybeans. Why? because they are most suited for
factory farming. Right now, one of their biggest goals is make these same crops able
to handle high doses of herbicide/pesticide spraying without killing the crop plant.

 

[maryjohn]

Remove subsidies for corn and put them into spec crops so broccoli costs less than a cheeseburger.

Problem partially solved.

 

[dubwise]

I had wanted to get in to farming recently, for farmers markets and small grocery stores...and had a chance to get into tomato production for a large tomato buyer, but after reading up on some possible upcoming legistlation and meeting a few small farmers, there is no way I'd want to get into this commercially. The amount of taxes (in my state) that have been pushed onto the farmers is insane. It's as if they want to import everything and they want to kill the will to thrive. Not trying to rain on the parade of the aspiring farmer, but be sure to read up on the taxes that you may be forced in to paying.

 

[Kelly.]

...

 

[poina]

How to make $1,000,000 in farming?

Start with $5,000,000.

 

[*mr.mike*]

Where I live, I would have to get a license to sell, which is more than $1000 per year, then I would have to either rent a stall at the market, or find a location to sell... and I know that 20% is going right out the door.

I would grow tobacco, as I live at the same latitude and climate as Massachusetts, where plenty of tobacco was successfully grown in the past, but I know that it takes a good three years of storage and climate controlled curing to get anything worth smoking...

I actually can and do grow enough to feed myself (not my whole famiy, though), and I do grow a greenhouse of chili peppers during the year, and get at least $10 per pound, per variety.

I actually had to learn a second language and pass a state farmer exam to get my permission... it's a lot more than just going to Agway and scratching dirt, that's for sure!

 

[Nor'Easter]

It would be the best job ever to grow weed for commercial purposes if it was legal.

1. Tobacco (for cigars)
2. Coffee
3. Grapes/Wine


Iit would mean lving away from town in the country which is what i want to do.

Any legal farmers on IC?

I have grown some crops to help with the food bill for about 20 years, but not commercially. Tobacco is grown mainly in the South in the US, although some is grown in the Connecticut River Valley as well. When you mention cigars, Cuba comes to mind, so I don't know if you need a specialized climate for fine cigars or not.

Coffee, to my knowledge, is grown in equatorial regions only, maybe up to 20 degrees N & S.

Grapes for wine? Well California and the Mediterrean comes to mind, but they are making wine in places like Mass and England now, who knows if it is any good....
but it seems like you have varied scattered interests and need to focus more on where you would be willing to move and what that environment can sustain climate-wise and fiscally. good luck!

 

[grapeman]

If you don't know how to grow grapes already, or anything else for that matter, chances are you will fail.

Stick with your boring 9 to 5. Farming isn't as glamorous as one might think. You may think you don't have a boss, but you always do. the fucking bank.

I can't tell you over the years how many people envy me my work. they all want to be farmers in one respect or another. if you aren't already farming and you didn't just receive your AIG bonus of 35 million, then forget it.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

I live in the tropics mostly and grow coconuts.......we harvest every 3 months or so and I ususlly get around 3 tons of dried copra out of approximately 9000 coconuts......Coconut farming is relatively easy but labour intensive only during harvest time when we have to get the mature ones down from the trees, transport them to the processing area, de-husk, dry and shell the meat out, then pack them in sacks and sell them to the copra dealer who then gets it all pressed into oil....

 

[JACKBAYBEH]

Hey Gypsy, what do you do with all those husks??

I live in the burbs of a fairly large city and have been a backyard gardener for years. This whole concept of urban agriculture really appeals to me. I've thought seriously about aquiring some cheap vacant property in the low rent district on the west side of town. Would like to emulate what this guy Will Allen is doing up in Wisconsin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGbnG0nH3n4

 

[Delta9-THC]

Grapes for wine? Well California and the Mediterrean comes to mind, but they are making wine in places like Mass and England now, who knows if it is any good....
QUOTE]

Just to say they have been making wine in england for years, I have heard its good, but not being a stinking wino I couldnt tell you : )

and although the french have monopolised the market on cheap plonk , there are many countries you wouldnt expect where wine is succesfully grown / harvested/processed.
the new world wines are becoming very popular.

 

[Delta9-THC]

also Gypsy ,
as someone above said, those husks ??? couldnt you make them into coir ? or its just not profitable to ship, process ??

 

[JACKBAYBEH]

Hell, we have vineyards here in KY and southern IN has even more than we do. Winemakers are everywhere now it seems. Berry wine is getting more popular around here too. Alot of people growing blackberry and red raspberry for wine production.

 

[Mr Celsius]

It would be the best job ever to grow weed for commercial purposes if it was legal.


But for now legal crops will do. I would like to buy some land and grow legals and aply my superb agricultural skills

In order of preference i would like to grow:

1. Tobacco (for cigars)
2. Coffee
3. Grapes/Wine


Iit would mean lving away from town in the country which is what i want to do.

Any legal farmers on IC?

Its my hope that if someone wishes to become a farmer, they look into sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable agriculture is the only way we will improve the quality of the lives of the farmer and the people eating the food by producing that is safer, possibly healthier, has less of an impact of the environment (if any) and being more profitable for the farmer with the costs being the same for the purchaser.

I would recommend reading Agroecology books, John Jeavons "how to grow more food" and a myriad of other books out there. Look into Permaculture as well.

Unfortunately, the crops you're describing aren't sustainable to grow on their own. Sustainability is about grow a wide variety of products that have a synergistic effect on your land and environment. The more you can attract natural predators to your food, the less work you have to do (this being a common easy example).

Becoming certified organic will take you 3 years and you have to use organic seed, keep a log of EVERYTHING to become certified. If you're distributing to a local market, more often then not you don't need to be certified to sell your products; most of the customers will ask and legally you can't tell them that it is organic, but you can say you grew it in an organic manner and if they have any concerns to come by your farm to see your practices at hand.

A number of the farms I visited while in school for ag were making 100k + profit a year off of their farms. They were often distro'ing to upscale restaurants and moving most of the produce via farmers markets, but that's whats most profitable. They were mostly growing cut greens, various brassicas and nightshades. One farm I visited only did organic potatoes and made a ton of money at it... however they were doing about 50+ acres I believe.

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

Grow pigs. Homegrown bacon

also, $$$. Get some heritage breeds and find some land with oak + walnut trees. Extremely high quality pork!

 

[Mr Celsius]

I live in the tropics mostly and grow coconuts.......we harvest every 3 months or so and I ususlly get around 3 tons of dried copra out of approximately 9000 coconuts......Coconut farming is relatively easy but labour intensive only during harvest time when we have to get the mature ones down from the trees, transport them to the processing area, de-husk, dry and shell the meat out, then pack them in sacks and sell them to the copra dealer who then gets it all pressed into oil....

Do you use the coir for your grows? If so does it naturally have a high PPM and require flushing?

Also I'm hoping your coconuts aren't planted in once lush eco-diverse rain-forest. To much of the worlds rain-forests are being turned into coconut and palm....

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

The coconut plantation was there long before I arrived......and the rain-forest is mostly up and around the mountains, the flat coastal plains are host to many rice paddies, coconut plantations and small farms of every sort mostly worked by sharecroppers and their families...

....I do end up with alot of coir, but since this place is so remote it would be expensive to export it......coir is a major by-product of coconut farming.....along with the shell and alot of the coir is burned to heat the coconut dryer..... the shell's they make into a local form of charcoal used primarily for heating stoves to cook with......

 

[Cabri]

I bet it Rains a Lot and is Hot An sticky everyday.I went for a holiday to that part of the world once and stacked my Moped badly. You are a great man Gypsy. thank you.
Make the world happy and for a mighty good cause too.