Any smallholder farmers on here?
 

A bit of a long shot being a haven for tech heads, but I'll give it a go anyway ;)

I was just wondering if there were any smallholding farmers on here and what their experiences were. I have recently inherited a long disused farm and am interested to get something up and running again. It’s quite a small farm, circa 15 acres. I have no previous experience of farming, so am quite ignorant in everything to do with farming really. Any experiences from others that have similar sized farms would be great.

I’m not looking to make fortunes out of this, just enough to live off of without hitting the breadline. Is there any help through grants etc? The farm is in the Republic of Ireland

Pigs have curly cocks as well as curly tails...........HTH :)

Advice from smallfarmholders not smallcockholders please ;)

I used to have a small farm, loved it! :cool:

http://www.salixonline.co.uk/toys/oaktreefarmmid.JPG

My cousin works for an accountants that only does farm and estate accounts, she says nearly every single one makes a loss or barely breaks even but obviously they have allowances for running cars and farm houses etc

Machinery is all expensive as well!

But I do know a family of farmers who own around £1,000,000 of new cars and sub contract the farm work out to other people because there is hardly any money to be made unless you have a lot of land tp keep operating costs low.

Scoobynutta555 in 2 years time........;)

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7838/edky5.png

If you have nothing constructive to add to this thread (as usual) then go troll elsewhere.

Pretty looking pig ya have there.........:)

I do the accounts for a large farm, approx 500 acres. It's a right complicated carry on.
Have a word with DEFRA and ask for some literature, it will give you some help regarding whats available, grant wise etc.
Good luck :) :)

It's all gone arable here (500 ish acres too)
Used to have Pigs, sheep, dairy cattle, beef cattle, Chickens, goats as well as fields stocked with all sorts of wheat, barley, oats, beans, sugar beet. Rapeseed.....

Pretty much all gone now, just the chickens and the wheat barley and oats left.
Farm is lifeless :(

To be honest mate I'd sell it pocket the cash. :D

Andy

Surely if the farm has been long disused that would be a good clue as to how much money you could make from it?


We're just good at keeping our books. ;)


Doesn't really help at all as we cut the tails off in the first 24 hours after birth. :p

As I said I'm not about making pockets of cash from a farm, even I know enough about farming to know that. I only want to grow my own produce to eat and maybe sell what's left over. I will be using some of the land for other uses.

I shall not be selling the land as it's a place I'll be locating to in the next year or so as the quality of life is so much better. It's a place I visit frequently as it is and 've stayed there for long periods. It is a stunning location.

BEW, I believe farms are one of the few business that can lose money year in year out (I believe over a 7 year period) and still trade.this means investment (in capital) in the farm carries on and income tax is minimised. This may be an element with accounts and (good) accountants.

Scoobynutta555 look at River Cottage :: Index is extremely useful IMHO

Geeerrrrroooofffff my land............ :mad:

Get some turbans for the staff and grow opium, see those profits soar;)

Has the farm got any ponds? If so have they got any carp in them? Ireland is good for carp fishing so depends on what there is locally to you in terms of lakes/ponds but have a go at getting punters in for day ticket course fishing. Makes money out of a resource you already have with little expenditure. Not a source of sole income obviously but every little helps in farming I guess.

That's a very useful site Gymbal. I watched his programmes when they were on and have a book about the series too.

The financial side of things are quite good over there for running a business. For instance corp tax is something like 12.5%.

I more than likely will have a full time job out there unrelated to farming, and will be doing a B&B type thing as well so the farming side of things will be more of a hobby than a business.

There is no lake on the property, but there is a largeish stream that runs through the land.

I was also thinking of setting up a wind turbine or very small scale hydro system to produce power.

The cost of purchasing food, clothing and consumables out there is more expensive than here. However there is no council tax to pay (nor water rates because of my stream) so it's not a large financial gamble as it appears on face. I've got an interview with a local newspaper that coincidently uses the same press equipment that I use.

Come on, fess up - you're doing it for the sheep! ;)

John Seymour (RIP) was the Guru (he also lived in Ireland) for small holding. his book "New Complete Self-sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers by John Seymour, Will Sutherland, and E.F. Schumacher (Hardcover - 3 April 2003) "
is fascinating, it also includes water and wind power. A must read/buy.
Good luck!

Have just ordered that book and the homebuilders bible. Both should be an interesting read.

Gymbal, have you an interest in this area?

The homebuilders bible is ok, but the rates used within the book to demonstrate various cost models are difficult to achieve in the real world, so it's best used as guidance rather than a strict estimating tool....:thumb:

scoobynutta555, I'm no expert, just a hobbyist (and I have a day job to fund it!), but I do have some land and progress is slow. Orchards,vegetables and trout this year. Next year solar hot water (oil prices are shocking). Water and proper fencing in the fields,then livestock. Probably sheep /chickens. Horse if I have to (daughter). Cows are big.
Wind power would be nice (for self sufficiency) but economics are not favourable at this time.
All in all long term planning.
Good luck! pm if you wish...

Even B&Q do wind turbines and solar panels now........ 1500 for the wind turbine! Clicky

DCI, 1KW=11p /hour assuming always windy (and most people get 40-60% i beleive) would be 1KW =568 days (at 100%) so 3 ish years . So nearly there. They say 33 -55dBA. Though i want to hear them in action. And not attached to my house (vibration)
Solar electricity generation is a disaster (in the UK). Solar hot water especially with underfloor heating is quickly viable (over here). Heat pumps are supposed to be awesome if you have the land or better yet running water. Big initial cost then heating or cooling.