How many acres is enough?

[ninny]

We are planing in five years to buy some land. We will be out of debt and ready to go. I am trying to figure out how much land to look for. I am planing on the land for the SS lifestyle and to make a little money. I narrowed down what my key money makers are to poultry and berries. For my family a large garden, orchard, and a couple goats for milk. We would like to set a few acres aside for woods. About how much should we be looking for?

 

[pinkfox]

for me the question becomes how much are you willing to maintain?!

my grandparents had a "large scale" farm on only 3 acres, rabbits, a cow, goats, pigs an orchard, berries, veggies, grain, ect...in the UK land is prime and you make the most of every inch...
to someone else 100 acres may not be "enough"


id say given you want a few acres to leave as woodland id look at 7+ acres...you could easily elave 1/2 of it wooded and have a few acres to put in an orchard, goat pen, berry patch ect without being too overwhelming...

but if you can afford more...id say go for it...
you can always leave most of it "wild" and just do upkeep on the amount of space your comfortable working... and then youve always got room to expand later...

 

[BrandedX]

Personally, I'm setting a 5acre minimum when I start the shopping process. I doubt I could really make effective use of more than 10.

I'd say:

1/2 to 1 full acre for my home and various outbuildings along with herb/kitchen gardens squeezed inbetween
Another 1/2 acre for Animal housing and feed storage
2-3 acres of pasture/grain fields
2-3 acres for cash crop
1-2 acres of orchard and mixed timber trees

If possible I'd like to perhaps also have a good sized 'lazy river' encircling a good sized fowl pond. I like the idea of lazily circling around on an inner tube as my channel catfish and bream swim around below me. I'd give up some of the veggie parcel for that!

 

[Beekissed]

How many can you afford and will you be heating with wood?

 

[Denim Deb]

A lot depends too on where you're going to be living. What's the average rainfall? How dependent is the area on melting snow for good crops? How hot/cold does it get? What's the soil like? Are you planning on heating your house w/wood, and how much wood will you need for the year?

These are just some of the questions you'd need to consider.

 

[FarmerJamie]

It doesn't apply in all situations, I know, every situation can be very very different. Some good questions have been supplied already.

but how likely is the area to be consumed by "sprawl", meaning location, location, location. Zoning, yearly taxes, etc. Is the land in a protected watershed. Things like that to consider, too.

Gone are the days of just staking ownership on a piece of land and just "doing your thing". Lots of bureaucrats need something to keep themselves busy.

Best wishes to you.

 

[FarmerChick]

if you want more of an SS situation don't go under 10 acres.

room to grow also

 

[BarredBuff]

I'd look for 12 to 15 acres.

3 Acres for Garden/Berry/Grain Production
3 Acres for Livestock housing and pasture
1 Acre for Orchard
1 Acre for House/Herb Garden
7 Acres of Woodlands.

 

[TheMartianChick]

Denim Deb has the right idea. In some areas of the country, you would need 2 acres just to support a couple of goats because there isn't much to forage on. There is no correct answer until you settle on a region and do your due diligence. Check with the local extension program for the area that you are considering. They will be able to give you a better idea about what the land can actually support in a specific area.

 

[hwillm1977]

According to our new 'rural development plan' you cannot have a farm on less than 49 acres... not commercially with animals anyway... DEFINITELY check the regulations of where you want to buy the land. We have rules about having barns 900 feet from property lines, only a certain number of livestock/acre (like 1 cow, 4 goats, 4 sheep or 10 chickens count as a 'unit', one 'unit' per acre is all that's allowed unless you have more than 49 acres.