Late onset agriculture

amassi said:
Thinking bougie niche items to sell to hippies/townies
- flowers and honey
- restorative ranched non gmo beef
-chickens
- eggs
- maybe a small pumpkin patch to sell holiday magic
- apple orchard where people will pay to come pick my fruit
- hops for local breweries

^some of this is in jest but these are all profitable ventures within 25 miles of me

I get enough passive income from other investments and my wife’s income to not need to work but I can’t not work. My wife thinks I should be a fishing guide but I’m not a great conversationalist and there’s too many fishing guides around here anyway.

I really just want to move to some property and find a way to offset some of those costs. Having some food security would be an added bonus


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I know a couple people I grew up with who have done this. One started growing produce and selling it locally and she seems to be doing well selling to a couple restaurants and at the farmers market. You can always start it as a part time gig and transition to full time once you find what works for your area.
 
wind gypsy said:
I've seen lots of boutique organic produce farm stuff that sells their product in non-traditional markets at low scale on the youtubes when researching gardening or soil health stuff for my own projects. Seems to be an ever increasing demand for this type of direct sale stuff but I'd have not a clue on what all goes into making the #'s work. Agree that it sounds awesome in theory!
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Those videos are what got me thinking
Then this fall we spent a few hundred bucks going Apple and pumpkin picking. And it was SUPER CROWDED
So the support is there, even in a wishy washy economy. Suburban Carhartt Cathy is willing to throw money at fall magic and I’d like to take it from her.


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amassi said:
Agreed- huge weakness for me (social media) but I have a 16 y/o daughter that is a social media savant and would be excited to partake


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My wifes family hates it when I tell their kids to learn how social media works but whether you like it or not its a great tool for advertising.
 
Bufflers!!!

This was a different time, but Dan O'Brien went from cattle ranching on 600ish acres in SD to this https://wildideabuffalo.com/

Ever since a family trip to the black hills earlier this year and my wife getting me his book, Buffalo for the Broken Heart, I've been wishing I was in a position to go for it. I'm looking at a career transition and need to get outside.
 
California but absolutely willing to move.
We are out of here June 2025 once my daughter graduates highschool.
I can leave before that and would if the right opportunity


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Sidenote, watch the video on their website of them harvesting and butchering a buffalo. It's crazy that they're successful in just leaving the animals 100% alone all year and then just go out and shoot them on the spot.
 
amassi said:
California but absolutely willing to move.
We are out of here June 2025 once my daughter graduates highschool.
I can leave before that and would if the right opportunity


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If your willing to move, yes, there still are possibilities out there, you just have to understand it's very small town USA. I think you need to start small, work a job to help supplement for a few years and pile it all back into the farm.

I am dreaming of this right now. Farmed for the first 30ish years of my life and my wife doesn't like it, but really trying to figure out how to move back into it north of 40. Just not willing to take on a pile of debt.
 
amassi said:
Anyone ever quit the 9-5 workforce and start or return to some sort of ranching or farming?

I’m approaching 40 and realized that Im only happy when working/laboring with my hands tending to and building things but never happy “at work” would it be insane to consider a change to some sort of land based economy.
Let’s say any income would not be important so long as operating expenses were covered.

Anyone done it?


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I have a small cattle operation, but only as a side gig. I did not inherit any part of it, land, equipment, etc. My goal is to have the cattle pay for themselves and maybe cover property taxes. I enjoy it, but have been doing it almost ten years and have yet to turn a profit. In reality, those that make a living at Farming or Ranching are doing it with cash flow, and profit is not really part of the equation. It would be a great way of life if you can make it, but nowadays I don’t think a fella could start from scratch and make a go of it unless he was already independently wealthy.

There is a joke in my work community but I’ll modify it for farming/ranching.

Wanna know how to make a million dollars ranching? Start with 2 million. You’ll turn that into 1 million pretty quick.

John
 
i would look for relativity cheapish land close to a good sized metro area. Selling at farmer's markets/higher end restaurants/CSA shares needs a good supply of city people with disposable income. I know there are a number of smaller farms around central kentucky that do OK.

If you want a feel good movie about a couple that did kind of what you are talking about, check out the biggest little farm. It is the kind of farm that any of us would build if we had access to a few million in venture capital...
 
Outside of my career in agribusiness, my wife and I have a small horse hay farm and grow about an acre of sweet corn for the local community. We truly enjoy it and it’s good for the kids to grow up in/around. It would be profitable if I didn’t keep spending it all on new equipment. Green paint disease:p

Thank goodness for schedule F tax deductions!

IMG_1562.jpeg
 
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amassi said:
Those videos are what got me thinking
Then this fall we spent a few hundred bucks going Apple and pumpkin picking. And it was SUPER CROWDED
So the support is there, even in a wishy washy economy. Suburban Carhartt Cathy is willing to throw money at fall magic and I’d like to take it from her.
Click to expand...

Yep. Went with the family to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch before halloween.. Food trucks, bar, mini pony rides, apple sling shots, hay wagon rides, corn maze, bounce house, petting zoo - all which take overpriced tickets. They must have been absolutely raking in the dough over about a month in the fall with all the suburban families. Key is it was located "in the country" just outside of some wealthy suburbs.
 
Working towards just this. Fortunate to have done pretty well in “real” career so as to be able to afford some property. But, we’re not doing it as a start of some new career, doing it as an investment and to preserve some space against neighbors so long as I can live rurally. Right now we’re just leasing out the grazing to folks who know what they’re doing and watching / learning from them where I can. Long term might do our own little stocker operation, cow/calf is a major step after that and I’m not sure it’d be a leap we could take. Suggest to look at HBU potential w/ land purchases (spin off small non-essential sub parcels for housing, etc), look for alternative revenue streams (rentals, hunting leases etc), grant funding for land improvement and tax advantages associated w/ running a small livestock or farm operation. Good luck!
 
wind gypsy said:
Yep. Went with the family to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch before halloween.. Food trucks, bar, mini pony rides, apple sling shots, hay wagon rides, corn maze, bounce house, petting zoo - all which take overpriced tickets. They must have been absolutely raking in the dough over about a month in the fall with all the suburban families. Key is it was located "in the country" just outside of some wealthy suburbs.
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It’s insane
I told my daughter I used to get paid to pick fruit and now I’m paying someone to do it that’s what you call progress. She didn’t get it


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NCTrees said:
Working towards just this. Fortunate to have done pretty well in “real” career so as to be able to afford some property. But, we’re not doing it as a start of some new career, doing it as an investment and to preserve some space against neighbors so long as I can live rurally. Right now we’re just leasing out the grazing to folks who know what they’re doing and watching / learning from them where I can. Long term might do our own little stocker operation, cow/calf is a major step after that and I’m not sure it’d be a leap we could take. Suggest to look at HBU potential w/ land purchases (spin off small non-essential sub parcels for housing, etc), look for alternative revenue streams (rentals, hunting leases etc), grant funding for land improvement and tax advantages associated w/ running a small livestock or farm operation. Good luck!
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Bingo
Same boat different river


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SouthPaw said:
I have zero feedback on this course or its contents, but their story seems right up your alley and perhaps just reaching out to talk may net you some good nuggets.

fivemarys.com

M5 ACADEMY — FIVE MARYS RANCH

fivemarys.com fivemarys.com
fivemarys.com

ABOUT US — FIVE MARYS RANCH

fivemarys.com fivemarys.com

Its worth a stop in to their restaurant/property if you're ever up around Fort Jones.
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Can’t speak to their training program but from the outside looking in, seems they have a pretty solid deal going on over there. Suspect a lot of the info could be gleaned by signing up for workshops with your local RCD. Either way spending a weekend around Etna / Ft. Jones could be enlightening. Restaurants, farm to table stuff, ranch wedding venues, rural hospitality etc. Grab dinner at Denny Bar if you go.
 
Farming and ranching both require huge capital investment. I grew up in big farm country and now live in big ranch country. Most in agriculture are asset rich and cash poor. Farming is waaaaaay more profitable than ranching, and it's not even close.

That said big wins in both categories. You are on the correct path trying to find a small niche market. The farmers back home that have survived. Are huge. Ranchers out here are the same way. Thousands of acres of farm ground or hundreds of cows.

We're I looking to do something like you it would be hay and wygue beef. Most people that do what you are talking about do it as a hobby in addition to their full time job.

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So I owned 200 acres in Northern California. We tried a few different ranching deals including cattle, goats, and chickens. The best way to make money on the cattle was leasing the hills for graze. We could sustain 35 cow/calf if they supplemented hay. Goats were a net loss. Chickens were net neutral pretty much.

I wanted to do trees (almond or pistachio). Water and enough money to get it established was the killer there. Otherwise in 5-8 years I would have been a millionaire. I did some dry land wheat and grass to feed my wives horses on top of the hay they ate. Without water you are screwed in California. The climate is too hit and miss. Not to mention the property tax and other costs of living I figured out what the best solution was.

I downsized and capitalized on a hot market. Bought the place in 2012 for $925,000. Sold it in 2021 for $1,850,000 to a weed farmer. Bye bye California!
 
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