How do very small farms earn a living?

Question

I've often loved the idea of just quitting everything and buying a little piece of land (say 5-10 acres) with a house and maybe and outbuilding or two - and trying to make a modest income from that - but have no idea what small farms do to make money. That's certainly not enough land to say have a dairy farm - or (I'd think) to grow enough of a crop to make much of a profit. I've thought of maybe a small greenhouse type thing - but have no idea who you would sell your product to. Does anyone know anything about this - or have any websites or books to suggest? Thanks very much!

Answer 1

It can be done. It is a lot of hard work, and one member of the family will need a job to sustain the family, pay taxes and medical insurance. You will have to live in a manner that farmers existed prior to the advent of electricity; up with the sun, to bed when it gets dark. You will need to get used to using a lot less electricity, knowledge to fix things, or barter to get things fixed. You will need to learn when to plant, what to plant.

Small farm families survive by finding niche markets. You will want to raise certified organic foods and find a restaurant or grocery that will carry your produce. Free range eggs, raw milk and organic produce fetch a premium price, but you will not be driving a lexus, you may be riding in an ox-drawn cart.

If you are serious, get a subscription to the Mother Earth News. You can do an internship at an organic farm in Loveland Colorado and see how it is done, then decide for yourself. http://www.stewardshipcommunity.org/index.html There may be a sustainable farm like this near you to visit. Use your favorite search engine and find out.

Answer 2

I grew up on a small farm of 32 acres. You need much more than 5-10 acres to be able to live off of. If you are selling traditional crops such as corn and soybeans you would probably need at least 400-500 acres to make a living. With traditional crops you are lucky to make $100 an acre if you have a good crop year. So with traditional crops you'd make about $500 - $1,000 a year. And that's not enough to live on.

I'd recommend you do the farming as a side business at least to start. I'd recommend something that has a higher profit margin per acre such as vegetables, fruits, grapes, or flowers for landscaping. For flowers you would most likely need to get a nursery license.

If you want to make money, I recommend you find out when all of the local and statewide farmer's markets are and maybe talk to a couple of the local grocery stores to see if they would buy vegetables or fruit from you.

You might also consider growing potatoes and running a stand at some local festivals for curly fries. I've seen many people make $10,000 in one weekend at the Covered Bridge Festival. Or you could get a small winery license and start a small winery.

Don't quit your daytime job until the farm shows enough sustainable profitability that you can somewhat comfortably quit. Even then I'm not sure I'd quit.

You also might consider investing in a greenhouse. Just remember you'll have to pay taxes on the green house. Taxes on them tends to vary from state to state so ask a CPA what the taxes would be. Also remember another good rule with farming. If you buy something for your business like a tractor, make sure to depreciate it off on your taxes.

Answer 3

I make my living growing produce and pasured poultry on less than 4 acres. Neither of us have off farm jobs so it can be done.

We grow a lot of high end crops such as strawberries, melons, raspberries, heirloom tomatoes, etc.. We sell direct to the public via farmers markets, CSA, a farm store and occassionally to high end restaurants.

We work up to 18 hours a day and rarely get a day off during the growing season.

We grow organically but are no longer certified due to the USDA weakening the regs too much

Check out http://www.growingformarket.com this is a magazine by and for small farmers. It has incredibly great information
http://www.acresusa.com is another excellent publication.

http://www.newfarm.org is a wonderful website for anyone interested in organic ag on any scale from an acre market garden to 10K acre grain farms

My blog, http://boulerbelt.blogspot.com has a lot of entries about farm life as well as ton of small farm links

[e-mail]
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
is the best listserv on the net for small farmers and is very active, even during the growing season

this should get you well started in your search for information

Answer 4

They supplement their poor crops by planting marijuana or poppies depending on where they live. Small farmers in Peru grow coca instead of food crops and earn a lot more money for their efforts

Answer 5

First consider your experience. If you really know what you are doing you may be able to turn a small profit growing ornamental plants with 10 acres. I'd say small farmers (5-10 acres) are only supplimenting their incomes, and feeding their family cheaply. In our local area, we have farmer's markets. For $5.00 per season, a farmer can sell their wares at the market each Saturday morning. Last year in 3 visits, I sold $400.00 worth of perennials that I got by dividing my own garden. I also found work for my teenage boys by offering a planting service to my buyers.
I have quite a lot of experience in the landscape industry in Ga, I have found a backer, and I am in the process of writing a business plan using less than $10,000. For help in writing a bus. plan, I went to the Small Bus. Admin. There is a lot of info there. http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses/index.html

My intention for a 2nd income is to build 1 greenhouse, and plant the rest of the land (apprx. 3 acres) with ornamentals. For market information, I searched online for nursery associations. I found a lot of relavant information (even for other states) from the Ga Green Industry site http://www.ggia.org then click on professional. They say you need 20,000 sq ft of greenhouse grow space to make $40,000 a year, if you know what you are doing. Also look up the Southern Nursery Association.
For a lot of info on greenhouses, look at http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/guide.shtml

We moved to the country 3 years ago. We are living in extreme poverty, because I am partially disabled and simply can't find a job here. My husband makes 2/3 of what he would make in the city. This area has seasonal tourism due to our fame in producing certain crops. Many of the old farms have been kept going by dividing off some of their lands, putting in mobile homes, and becoming landlords. Our area's workforce is 59% no college education, because of so much farming. This means cheap workers are available when you need temporary help. For that kind of info, look at the Dept. Of Labor website in your state.
Let me tell you that I got my growing start through my husbands landscaping business. I got free plants from clients whose perennials were overgrown. I divided them, potted and grew them, then sold them to other clients when the opportunity arose. I learned about plants, and bought perennials when they were on sale at season's end. At times I've had yard sales, and put up signs near my gardens saying "If you want a plant tell me, I will dig some divisions up for you. Ask for price". The cool thing about perennials is that they make babies for you to sell, and you get to enjoy how they look in the mean time.
Good luck. It brings me great joy. In fact, when I'm gardening I feel less pain. At least, until the next day!

Answer 6

The farmers make money to support their farms by working real jobs.

Answer 7

By keeping their food cost down and working second jobs. ~

Answer 8

They Grow POT!