Very small / hobby farming

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random

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I'm trying to decide if it's worth pursuing trying to earn a little extra money with what would probably best be described as scaled-up gardening. I've got maybe an acre total that I can use (without clearing more space, I have 11 total).

I tried growing about 1/4 acre this year mostly as an experiment, to see what sort of yields I can get. I did a lot of peppers, since they grow really well in my area, but expanding my results to an acre puts me making maybe $2000/year gross based on the yields I had. Doesn't seem to be worth it.

I'm wondering if anyone has had any success supplementing their income with this small of a space, and what crops and/or techniques did you use?
 
I'm not an expert on farming yields and income, but this is just another idea. In Orange County, you can be in the farm program with a minimum of 10 acres in (1 acre around the house cannot be in) and an average of $1000 made over 3 years. Taxes on those 10 acres is significantly decreased. So you can lease the 10 acres to a tenant farmer to make some dough and also get the tax benefit.

You can still personally farm your acre.
 
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I'm not a farmer, and barely a mediocre gardener...

But, if I had the land and wanted income, I would consider leasing the land to someone else to farm (per @Sevenshot above). Less effort on my part and a more reliable income.

Up here (Asheville area), specialty farming (organic, for example) would be a good selling point to prospective lessees. Also, I would canvass the local restaurants and see if I could pre-sell crops that they would commit to buying, thus saving the hassle of trying to locate buyers in the brief span of ripeness when the pressure of harvet is on.
 
The NC library system has, I think, all three of these available. Anyway, I've gotten all three from the library, but it's possible I got one or two from my university library system.
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-new-organic-grower-3rd-edition/
https://www.newsociety.com/Books/M/The-Market-Gardener
https://theurbanfarmer.co/book/

One way to increase per acre income is to incorporate pastured poultry. Here's the classic book, which I am pretty sure is also available from NC Cardinal.
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/pastured-poultry-profit/

Obviously, the money lies in sales at farmer's markets or whatnot, where you can get customers who are willing to pay. I sell a few odds and ends at work, but not veggies. Frankly, you need access to well-to-do folks to get the kind of money that makes small-scale farming pay--and you need to be "organic" to get that market, in my experience.
 
If you're going to sell at a farmers market, you need to sell something no one else has.
Have you checked out your local farmers market?
 
If your looking to get rich farming easy don’t try it. You must enjoy it and have a passion for it and willing to invest alot of time for it to keep going and there will be some years you do ok and others you lose what you made from previous years with weather and things out of your control. Only diffrence between gambling and farming is you save the air fair going to Vegas. Yes you can make some money but its getting harder and harder and requires tight management, but truthfully if your just in it for the money you would be better off leasing that area to a hunter and not have near the work in it. If you have the passion and time organic will pay the most but it takes the most work with proper management and marketing.
 
I've considered trying to sell some of ours. If I were to try it I would try to work out something with a local store or restaurant before hand. If you can find one that likes to local source, and provide something they can't get currently, you might do OK. Or if you could get some locals to do a CSA type weekly box.
 
Windini said:
I'm not a farmer, and barely a mediocre gardener...

But, if I had the land and wanted income, I would consider leasing the land to someone else to farm (per @Sevenshot above). Less effort on my part and a more reliable income.

Up here (Asheville area), specialty farming (organic, for example) would be a good selling point to prospective lessees. Also, I would canvass the local restaurants and see if I could pre-sell crops that they would commit to buying, thus saving the hassle of trying to locate buyers in the brief span of ripeness when the pressure of harvet is on.
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I know nothing about farming but this is a great idea. Where I just moved from the was a large area of acreage behind my house. The women who owned it leased it out to a local farmer. I'm not sure how much money they made but for the 12 years I lived there the same farmer was planting there.
 
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Windini said:
I'm not a farmer, and barely a mediocre gardener...

But, if I had the land and wanted income, I would consider leasing the land to someone else to farm (per @Sevenshot above). Less effort on my part and a more reliable income.

Up here (Asheville area), specialty farming (organic, for example) would be a good selling point to prospective lessees. Also, I would canvass the local restaurants and see if I could pre-sell crops that they would commit to buying, thus saving the hassle of trying to locate buyers in the brief span of ripeness when the pressure of harvet is on.
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Lease it to someone who will spray poison and grow GMO frankencorn........no thanks. The big push in small ag based business is to partner with a restaurant and/or CSAs as was mentioned before. People will pay BIG bucks for 'clean' food.

Saw a documentary where 2 bankers from CLT left to move to Eastern NC and start a small farm. They rotated their livestock on fields where the animals complemented each other - I think it was Cow/Pig/Chicken on open pasture. They were selling organic pasture-fed pork for $10/lb.

https://smallfarmnation.com/multi-species-rotational-grazing-maximize-food-income-part-1/
 
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Ikarus1 said:
Lease it to someone who will spray poison and grow GMO frankencorn........no thanks. The big push in small ag based business is to partner with a restaurant and/or CSAs as was mentioned before. People will pay BIG bucks for 'clean' food.

Saw a documentary where 2 bankers from CLT left to move to Eastern NC and start a small farm. They rotated their livestock on fields where the animals complemented each other - I think it was Cow/Pig/Chicken on open pasture. They were selling organic pasture-fed pork for $10/lb.

https://smallfarmnation.com/multi-species-rotational-grazing-maximize-food-income-part-1/
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This is ABSOLUTELY true. Be within driving distance to a large millennial population, and do small, CLEAN focus on food. I promise you will make money. I seriously considered doing a 100% organic focus on greens and such. In fact, I did a small internship (2 weeks) on a guy who has such a farm north of hillsborough, with the idea of maybe doing it myself. It is VERY labor intensive, but it was also very profitable. He did mostly salad greens, but did other stuff as well. Only 2 acres farmed. He is an ex chemist and an absolute fanatic about spreadsheeting everything. 100% organic and in high demand for Durham restaurants.
 
tanstaafl72555 said:
This is ABSOLUTELY true. Be within driving distance to a large millennial population, and do small, CLEAN focus on food. I promise you will make money. I seriously considered doing a 100% organic focus on greens and such. In fact, I did a small internship (2 weeks) on a guy who has such a farm north of hillsborough, with the idea of maybe doing it myself. It is VERY labor intensive, but it was also very profitable. He did mostly salad greens, but did other stuff as well. Only 2 acres farmed. He is an ex chemist and an absolute fanatic about spreadsheeting everything. 100% organic and in high demand for Durham restaurants.
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Here's what I have observed living in a rural part of Cabarrus and Stanly most of my adult life - there are 2 kinds of farmers. Ones that inherited the family business, possibly never left and/or got another job, and aren't in love with it. All they've ever known types. Those are usually the ones that dutifully keep up the appearance (or not..) of a farm, lease and eventually sell their way out of it or their kids do that. Then there are ones that are in love with it, love their job, arent' trying to get rich and realize that the work is hard and the payoff can be more than money. Sometimes you start out one way and end up the other.

But I ain't looking to work for 'the man' the rest of my life. I'm a pretty damn good gardener when I don't have to go to work and make someone else money ;)

When my family left the farm life in the '40s' for modern civilization, you could make a dollar or two in a textile mill, or start your own company. They started their own businesses. I see this just as a melding of the two mindsets.
 
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Ikarus1 said:
Here's what I have observed living in a rural part of Cabarrus and Stanly most of my adult life - there are 2 kinds of farmers. Ones that inherited the family business, possibly never left and/or got another job, and aren't in love with it. All they've ever known types. Those are usually the ones that dutifully keep up the appearance (or not..) of a farm, lease and eventually sell their way out of it or their kids do that. Then there are ones that are in love with it, love their job, arent' trying to get rich and realize that the work is hard and the payoff can be more than money. Sometimes you start out one way and end up the other.

But I ain't looking to work for 'the man' the rest of my life. I'm a pretty damn good gardener when I don't have to go to work and make someone else money ;)

When my family left the farm life in the '40s' for modern civilization, you could make a dollar or two in a textile mill, or start your own company. They started their own businesses. I see this just as a melding of the two mindsets.
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His rec to me is start with a good patch of greens, and go by a few local restaurants and GIVE them a good portion. Tell the purchaser/chef you want to find someone who might be interested in a steady supply (of course that means you would have to do tunnel growing), and see if they bite. He did that while he was working for GSK (he grew up on a farm in Illinois), and now turns well over $150 a year from that little 2 acre plot. I was very impressed, but he has a natural proclivity for organization, planning, and meticulous record keeping.
 
To those saying to rent the land, I may have been unclear. I have 2 acres cleared. To plant any more would require clearing wooded land. I'm not sure that's worth it for the numbers that I saw suggested.
MacEntyre said:
traditional farming should get you $2000 per acre. Permaculture and similar techniques can multiply that by 5 or more!
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There's a big difference between crops though, which is part of my question
Cowboy said:
https://www.ncagr.gov/hemp/index.htm
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That's one I was looking at. It seems CBD hemp can bring in several thousand per acre, but there's a lot of hoops and other practical difficulties.
Jp8819 said:
If your looking to get rich farming easy don’t try it....
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Just looking for a little extra cash from doing something in a larger scale than I would do otherwise. Never thought I'd get rich off it.

Thank you to all for the responses - a lot to think about!
 
random said:
To those saying to rent the land, I may have been unclear. I have 2 acres cleared. To plant any more would require clearing wooded land. I'm not sure that's worth it for the numbers that I saw suggested.

There's a big difference between crops though, which is part of my question

That's one I was looking at. It seems CBD hemp can bring in several thousand per acre, but there's a lot of hoops and other practical difficulties.

Just looking for a little extra cash from doing something in a larger scale than I would do otherwise. Never thought I'd get rich off it.

Thank you to all for the responses - a lot to think about!
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I had a training last week that said they were getting 40k per acre. I'm not sure if that was per harvest or year.
 
random said:
To those saying to rent the land, I may have been unclear. I have 2 acres cleared. To plant any more would require clearing wooded land. I'm not sure that's worth it for the numbers that I saw suggested.

There's a big difference between crops though, which is part of my question

That's one I was looking at. It seems CBD hemp can bring in several thousand per acre, but there's a lot of hoops and other practical difficulties.

Just looking for a little extra cash from doing something in a larger scale than I would do otherwise. Never thought I'd get rich off it.

Thank you to all for the responses - a lot to think about!
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Cattle doesn't require as much clearing. I'm not an expert that's just what the farmer does on the land I lease. Good luck!
 
If I just sold my Figs instead of trading I could make 5-6 hundred bucks a year off my 1 Fig tree. I'm sure I could find some higher end restaurants that would buy them also, but that would require going out & selling.
 
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I talked to a guy that owns a greenhouse and sold produce at the carrboro farmers market a few years ago. He said in a spot that’s about 30’x30’ he would make 5k a year just from selling okra. Both he and his wife quit good paying full time jobs to run the greenhouse and sell at different markets. I was working for an exes grandfather at the carrboro farmers market and he would let us take the stuff we grew and sell it with his stuff, keeping our profits. We made several hundred dollars selling Swiss chard, and only had eight plants. The money can be there you just need to have a good way to sell, whether it’s to restaurants or at local markets.
 
btw, to the ones that are planning on growing hemp in NC, may wanna wait til ol Wax Lips Cooper sh!ts or gets off the 'pot' with the banning of federally-legal hemp
https://wlos.com/news/local/polk-county-hemp-grower-regrets-going-into-business


As far as clearing wooded land, I just had 4 acres cleared of basically garbage, overgrown pasture, and heavy underbrush. Even a herd of 100 goats would have taken much longer than a forestry mulcher took ;)

Unless you have seriously valueable hardwoods, I wouldn't hesitate to clear woodland for ag reasons. Pines grow like weeds in NC, and if you have sweetgums you may as well give up because they will take over everything.
 
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Pigs? I've raised some for pork. Pretty easy. Chickens are too. Both don't need tons of space. I'm currently raising two Angus steers on four acres of grass.. they will go in the freezer. I've messed with Holstein steers before. Good news is they are cheap to get into. Bad news is they don't sell for much.

Joel Salatin may be someone interesting to look up. He should be out of Virginia.
 
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Scott88 said:
Pigs? I've raised some for pork. Pretty easy. Chickens are too. Both don't need tons of space. I'm currently raising two Angus steers on four acres of grass.. they will go in the freezer. I've messed with Holstein steers before. Good news is they are cheap to get into. Bad news is they don't sell for much.

Joel Salatin may be someone interesting to look up. He should be out of Virginia.
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I'm looking at the miniature cattle, specifically Dexters and Jerseys. They simply are easier to manage, and the Jersey milk is the same no matter what size the heifer.
https://www.thecattlesite.com/breeds/beef/13/dexter/
 
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Jp8819 said:
The jersey attiude can be fun thing with the bulls. They seem to have little man attitude the ones I have been around.
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I got something for that:

81TFl46GksL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
If your thinking of raising some kind of meat look into quail. They start laying between 6-8 weeks and ready for table in no time. Also easier and faster to prep than chickens.
 
Cowboy said:
I had a training last week that said they were getting 40k per acre. I'm not sure if that was per harvest or year.
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Turns out there's a LOT to do to grow hemp, including allowing pretty much at-will property searches by LE. Since this is my home, not a dedicated property, I'm not completely comfortable with that.

A lot of tax implications as well, you have to apply for a conditional farming certificate from DOR, lots of paperwork - all things required to do that.

It's looking like this isn't going to be a viable idea. Again, thanks for the input.
 
Ikarus1 said:
btw, to the ones that are planning on growing hemp in NC, may wanna wait til ol Wax Lips Cooper sh!ts or gets off the 'pot' with the banning of federally-legal hemp
https://wlos.com/news/local/polk-county-hemp-grower-regrets-going-into-business
Click to expand...

Wow, I just got info from my county extension saying the law was recently updated - 2019 farm bill - which specifically addressed smokable hemp. I wasn't considering that anyways, didn't even know it was an option, but that's a pretty fast turnabout.
 
random said:
Turns out there's a LOT to do to grow hemp, including allowing pretty much at-will property searches by LE. Since this is my home, not a dedicated property, I'm not completely comfortable with that.

A lot of tax implications as well, you have to apply for a conditional farming certificate from DOR, lots of paperwork - all things required to do that.

It's looking like this isn't going to be a viable idea. Again, thanks for the input.
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Its very pricey to plant per acre as well from what I understand. More so than tobacco.
 
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You don't need acreage to grow hemp. Just free solar electricity and a basement full of LEDs. Oh, and no friends or family.
 
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