Mary is an organic coconut farmer. In her articles, she shares ideas on land management and how to increase the profit from a small farm. Many people think farmers have enviable lives. If you’re a farmer, however, you may think. You work non-stop for very little money. Sometimes you feel like a prisoner to your buyers, and occasionally you wonder how much longer you can keep going. The weather seems to be against you, and you small farm ideas to make money like you are working for. Though small farmers believe their lives are far from ideal, I can’t think of any farmer who would switch to a life in the city. So how do you get the best of both worlds? How can you maximize profit from your land, small farm or homestead?
Tap into Your Community
On the radio this morning I heard a story about the growing number of young people choosing to become farmers. The farmers in the story sounded a lot like me — in their late 20s to mids, committed to organic practices, holding college degrees, and from middle-class non-farming backgrounds. Some raise animals or tend orchards. Others, like me, grow vegetables. The story was uplifting, a nice antidote to the constant reports of industrial ag gone wrong, of pink slime and herbicide-resistant super-weeds. Can you afford rent, healthcare? Can you pay your labor a living wage? If the reporter had asked me these questions, I would have said no. My farm is located in the foothills of Northern California, 40 miles east of Sacramento on 10 acres my partner, Ryan, and I lease from a land trust. In the heat of summer, my fields cover the bronzed landscape like a green quilt spread over sand. Ten acres of certified organic vegetables trace the contours of a small valley floor. Tomatoes glow crimson. Flowers bloom: zinnias, lavender, daisies.
How to Make Money Farming
Watermelons grow fat, littering the ground like beach balls. A businessman once advised me never to admit my business was struggling. No one wants to climb aboard a sinking ship, know what I mean? At the time, I agreed. I believed if a business was failing it was because the entrepreneur was not skilled enough, not savvy enough, not hardworking enough. Whenever a customer asked how things were going, I replied, Great. One afternoon, a fellow farmer came over for a visit. He asked how we were doing, and this time I told the truth.
Selling Baked Goods at Farmers Markets
The following is a guest post by Michael at Your Money Geek , a site where he discusses various financial topics with a dash of geekiness. I dare you to stump him with some sort of Star Wars trivia! You see, Michael is a hobby farmer and I thought it would be great for him to share the ins and outs of what it takes to make money with a hobby farm. Fun fact: When we were in Michigan, we were days away from buying a property with 10 acres including about four of them that grew blueberries, blackberries, and so forth. We only decided otherwise when the inspection came back with some major water issues i. So with that said, let me turn it over to Michael to tell us all how to make money with a hobby farm…. A Hobby Farm is a part-time business where the operator grows produce or raises animals for profit. Sometimes you may hear the hobby farm referred to as a market garden or gentleman farm. No matter what term you use, there is no denying that part-time farming for profit offers compelling advantages over other side hustles that are worth your attention. Note: Before you click away thinking you do not have the land or space to have a hobby farm, please realize that you do not need massive land holdings or even to own any property to be a hobby farmer. Keep reading to find out how.
Hold Events
As the return on investment will be better. The customer would be pay as they enter and they can stay there all day. The weather seems to be against you and you may feel like you are working for nothing. At our market the cakes and cookies flew out of the tent each week! Publish articles online Besides farming you could also write articles about your farming activities. Enjoy your stay :.
How to Make Money From a Small Farm or Plot of Land
He now has a few wind turbines Korean owned and is raking in faem small fortune for doing. Got a tractor? Note: Depending on which text editor you’re pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site. Strawberries, blueberries, even just a U-Pick farm where customers can pick some of everything can work. Be sure to check your laws before selling food items to the public. A few simple kennels is all you need. You can do this onsite, at your local community college outreach, or even online! Why not start a few extra and sell annual garden transplants to other local gardeners. If you have the amenities why not turn your farm into idea vacation destination? Fiber Processing is a very valuable service. Do you start your own seeds? Why not sell hand turned wood items? Many times the farther you process an item, the more money you can get for it.
Services You Can Offer to Make Money On Your Land
To be able to make money farming and quit your day job and live the good homestead life while supporting yourself and your family along the way. With hard work, good planning, and ideaz within your means you can earn easily earn enough money to create that life you want- a life where all of your income comes from your farm and you can quit working for others!
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The biggest thing to remember when you think about making money farming is to use. Use every part of a crop. Every part of an animal. Create multiple income streams so that not all of your eggs are in one basket. No matter how small the income stream may seem, all those little sales can add mojey to create one full time, livable income! Is your dream to create a full time income from your homestead?
My Homestead Goal Planner can help! It walks you through prioritizing your life and your homestead goals and keeps you on track with good planning practices. After all, goal with out a plan is just a dream! Livestock is probably the most common way farmers make money from their land. And while animals have a few more expenses and a higher overhead, they usually bring in top dollar in terms of net income.
Here are just some of the ways you can make money with livestock. You can make a lot of money with a small flock of chickens — here are some of the ways:. Raise other poultry — duckquail, turkey. Butcher and package for sale. Sell duck eggs — they are very fafm Find out more about the nutritional differences! Here are some tips on how to sell duck eggs. Sell quail eggs — certain ethnic groups LOVE quail eggs.
Sell fertile hatching eggs. Sell feathers from your birds to crafters. Guinea and rooster feathers are particularly popular. Raise and sell all of the above for all types of poultry! Take the milk one step farther and sell fresh goat cheese. New to Goats? Sign up for my free Raising Goats for Beginners course! Got lots of land? How about raising and selling Beef?
Grass faarm is especially popular! Got a pond or an aquaponics set up? Fresh fish can be a viable option for sales. Cow Milk — and other cow milk products like cheese, butter, yogurt can be sold locally.
Fiber is big business these days. You can raise sheep, goats, alpacas, or even rabbits for fiber and sell it locally or online! If you just love raising them animals this is one of the most rewarding ways to make money.
Animals poop. Like I said, use every part of the animal. If you are butchering animals for meat- see if you can sell their hides as another income stream. And all that Beeswax can also be sold to crafters and herbalists- or anyone wanting to make candles or salves.
Chances are that along your homestead journey you have picked up a few skills. Or maybe you are just handy and can build and work like the best of smxll. These ideas will get the creative juices flowing and help you figure out how to use your skills to make money with your homestead. Can you build? Good with plans and construction? Try offering your services to build barns or sheds to other less handy homesteaders. Fencing is a never ending job- if you have the tools and know-how why not offer to construct fences?
Chickens are a big business. You can jake backyard chicken coop or chicken ,ake to sell to backyard chicken owners. Last year my dad paid to have the edges of a large pasture cleared so we could fence.
Brush Clearing can be one more way carm help bring in income. Got a tractor? Lots of people will pay you to do tractor work such as tilling, disking. If you heat with wood chances are you might have invested in a log splitter. Udeas not make it pay for itself by splitting firewood for. Take that tractor or large mower and put it to work by mowing or bush-hogging for pay? If you are DIYer living on a wooded lot you might have a saw mil l on site- put it to good use and make lumber using their trees.
Put you chain saw to work and offer to clear down trees or take small farm ideas to make money trees. Teach Homesteading Classes. Or butchering classes. Or Cheese making classes. The list of things you can teach is unlimited: soap makingarchery, hunting, wildlife skills, edible plants, wild crafting.
Basically any skill you have that could be beneficial to. Be creative and offer a weekend course on your homestead! Do you have a passion for horses?
Giving Horseback Riding Lessons can be a viable option. Teach Canning — preservation can be tricky so share your expertise! You can do this onsite, at your local community college outreach, or even online! Maybe you own fiber animals and have the skills and tools to process the fiber at home?
Fiber Processing is a very valuable service. Bee Removal Service — I know some teens that bring in money doing. Plus side- you can usually keep the swarm and raise it yourself for honey! Love animals- Offer farm sitting so other homesteaders can go on vacation. Not too confident with livestock yet? Try just offering pet or house sitting services.
Do you have an eye for design? Offer Garden Planning and Design services to help others create that maie outdoor space. Maybe you have expertise or education in a certain area? Offer too for all sorts of things- erosion, soil, homestead set up. Anything you can think of that would be of value to others who are just starting out! Your land can be a valuable asset when it comes to making a living. And not just for livestock or a large market garden. Here are a few ways to make your land pay for itself!
If your lot is heavily wooded and you want to clear it for pasture or gardens. Why not cut and split firewood for sale. Along the same lines you can mill the trees and offer rough cut lumber at a good price.
You can also rent out your pastures to others- this is especially valuable to some horse owners. Do you have wooded, mountain, or other natural settings on your property? Create trails for hiking, biking, or even fishing on your property and charge an admission fee. While you are at it, why not set mondy some nice camping or RV areas for people to stay overnight? Do you have a large barn or arena?
Outdoor gazebo? Why not offer your land and amenities for event rentals. Rustic weddings are very in right now! Are you an empty nester with a large house?
The freedom of self employment, the peace of seclusion and close connection to the land itself — wow. It sounds truly magical. So, for all of you enviable land owners out there, we decided to create a list of ways you can make your private land or small farm profitable, while also making your daily life more exciting. After all, the two should go hand in hand.
How to Make Money Farming
Some idaes these ideas are very minute tasks, whereas others are fairly involved, full-time commitments. Maybe you will see something that inspires you! Rent plots to groups looking to build a community smxll Community gardens are all the rage right now, because not everyone has the space to grow their own garden at home. All you have to do is ho the land.
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