how do you make y'alls farming money?

[Blaundee]

We rarely MAKE money, but we SAVE money because we grow a lot of our own food, and we're getting to where we'll be growing ALL of it before long. We do make money when we have enough rain to grow wheat, that we harvet either for the grain or the cow hay, then sell that- but you have to have the land, tractors, combines, tires, diesel, etc, and after putting out all that money it may not rain and then you'll have that cash down the drain.

I'm not saying you can't make money, I'm just saying WE don't. But, we haven't tried really hard to make money at it- if I managed and marketed the chickens differently, then I'd be able to make some money off of them. Also, we have recently gotten started in sheep, and I expect that they will make us some money because a lot of people around here like to eat sheep.

 

[Blaundee]

Oh, I forgot- find a farmer's market near you and see what there is a shortage of, then grow that. We are working on starting a Farmer's Market nearby, our main issue is the area is a lot of spread out ranches and everyone is far from each other, which makes it hard to coordinate a market lol So that's our big project for this year, to get a market going.

 

[Blaundee]

Wow!!! That seems harder then i thought!! I thought it was grow,sell,buy and thats it! Thank you for everything you said,i definetly have a diffrent view on it! thanks joel_bc!

I think it would be smart to know you have a market before growing the crop. I was talking to a fellow farmer who knew of a couple who had 30 acres of vegetables and no market. They went under.

I run a small certified organic vegetable CSA.
My husband is a conventional grain farmer.

We also have chickens for eggs (approximately 30 dozen weekly), meat chickens once per year, maple syrup operation, a couple hives, soapmaking. Each of them adds about $1000-2000/year to the rest of the operation.

Is that $1000 PROFIT, over cost & labor, that you make from the eggs and meat chickens? If so, would you mind detailing how you get that?

 

[Joel_BC]

Like I said up above (post #2), we grow the big gardens and the fruit trees for the food - both that which we eat fresh, and the food we can, dry, or freeze to preserve for later. This takes time, but saves us money.

I think it's important to remember that homesteading is not all about food growing. I find it mostly to be about providing a satisfying life from your own efforts - which definitely includes the food raising. (And, if you're in the right situation, it can mean being able to turn a profit from raising and selling food.) But anyhow, there may be water systems to put in place or at least maintain, buildings to construct, and repair, expand, or upgrade... and equipment to build or maintain for efficient accomplishment of everyday or seasonal tasks.

Skills, combined with basic tools, enable you to do these things. I discussed my experience with this in this thread:
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11497

Once you're set up, you can save yourself thousands of dollars each year.

 

[me&thegals]

Wow!!! That seems harder then i thought!! I thought it was grow,sell,buy and thats it! Thank you for everything you said,i definetly have a diffrent view on it! thanks joel_bc!

I think it would be smart to know you have a market before growing the crop. I was talking to a fellow farmer who knew of a couple who had 30 acres of vegetables and no market. They went under.

I run a small certified organic vegetable CSA.
My husband is a conventional grain farmer.

We also have chickens for eggs (approximately 30 dozen weekly), meat chickens once per year, maple syrup operation, a couple hives, soapmaking. Each of them adds about $1000-2000/year to the rest of the operation.

Is that $1000 PROFIT, over cost & labor, that you make from the eggs and meat chickens? If so, would you mind detailing how you get that?

Nope, including labor. I want my time (labor) to be paid at a reasonable rate, and that is what I consider my profit. I don't have shareholders, so I don't need to get paid much beyond my actual costs and my labor costs. Eggs, meat chickens, syrup/honey are the least profitable things we do. Some of these things are easy for our kids to help out with (cheaply)--like taking care of the chickens. And some are during our downtime (making wood, maple syrup).

It is hard, though, to sort out our labor for our own family's food, and for everyone else. Rather than trying to figure that out, we just get all our food "free" and apply all costs/profits to that which we sell.

And, yes, as Joel_BC notes, it is an extremely satisfying lifestyle, although a lot of hard work.

 

[GardenWeasel]

I am in rural NW TN moved here 4 years ago from northern IL. I have about 35 chickens and maybe break even selling eggs if I cost the eggs we eat by IL prices. Eggs up north near a big city went for $3.99 a dozen for free range, here they are just farm eggs and I met resistance going up to 2 bucks. I have tried selling rainbow cherry tomatoes a big hit up north- once again there is no market here for them little things. Also tried sunflowers with no interest. We grow and preserve a great deal of our own food and as much as we can for the chickens, as much for our own health as for economics. I have to add that I am no spring chicken and my energy sometimes doesn't equal my ambitions. Research is key and youth and strength are mighty important. Just my heads up.

 

[mrscoyote]

Our farm math kinda works like others. I bought a bred doe for $200. She had twin bucklings we were able to sell for $100 each. So she has paid for herself. Sounds good till you add the cost of her upkeep. Same with the turkeys, chickens and ducks. The big payoff for us is the good food.