Agriculture Careers

Well, actually, there's more to worm farming than just selling the excellent compost they produce. That compost is excellent quality for your own garden or to sell. But the worms themselves are also a product that others will pay for. A tiny farm I saw in Scotland had three long worm beds on a narrow strip of land that they couldn't use for anything else. They sold the mature worms to gardening stores for other people to dump in their compost piles. I imagine some of those worms might do well for bait, too. This little farm had other animals, plus three sturdy boys to pitch in with the work. It seemed like the worm beds were low maintenance once they were up and running. The few kitchen scraps not destined for the pigs or the chickens went into those beds, along with the fall leaves and other free stuff that otherwise would have no use on a farm. Worms would be worth looking into if I were trying to live off the land.

I recently bought 12 acres in Portage County Ohio.
I have started planting an orchard (100 apple of various varieties, some pears, plums, etc.) also grapes, a various berries. ALL ORGANIC.
There is a web site on farm land preservation that might be of help, if nothing else for points of information. The web site is www.thefarmlandcenter.org
The people from this organization are MOST helpful. Organic can actually be less work than non organic. Look for local PRODUCER ONLY farmers markets, you'll get a bigger buck there for sure! Also see if you can tap a natural / health food store and don't be afraid to go to better quality restaurants and speak to the chefs (many are clamoring for local organic and heirloom products). I read recently of a couple in Summit County Ohio who have only 3 acres and their crop is specialty organic lettuce of several varieties....they are making a killing selling to local upscale restaurants.
Another couple have 9 acres in Summit county and have 8 large green houses on the land along with their "homestead", their gross reciepts for 2004 were a whopping $450000.00 ( facts obtained from public records!! )
Be frugal and be patient, it will pay off!
I have found the book "Organic Orcharding" by Logdson to be invaluable! what a wonderful resource!
I also bought 2 other books that might be of interest to you...........
1) "Making Your Small Farm Profitable" by Macher
2) "Successful Small-Scale Farming" by Schwenke
I have about a hundred books on farming and gardening and homesteading many of them are from the 1860s through the 1940s (pre pesticide and pre chem. fertilizer ). I also have several contemporary books as well. I can take the best information from both eras and work it to my advantage! EBAY CAN BE YOUR FRIEND since I found many of these century plus agriculture and homesteading books there!
good luck!
If you need info that I have ... just ask .. id be glad to help!
Mike

Worm droppings. Isn't that just dirt?

I don't remember what it is called, but some of the "health food" stores sell some kind of high dollar supplement made from Bee poop. I went to buy some generic vitamins and saw a bottle of it at the checkout counter and asked the counter person what it was. I had a slip of the tongue when she told me about it and I exclaimed "You mean this is just bee ____?!?"

I guess the beekeepers can make a few bucks off just about all bee byproducts as well as the honey. Strange how those little critters can quietly do so much good in the world. Mother Nature knows her stuff!!

Seen a show on A&E about worm farming, the guy they showed was making alot of money selling worm castings for fertilizer, he had a nice operation going.

That bee-keeping is something my wife and I are excited to try.

Also, Joel Salatin's book ... Pastured Poultry Profits ... is a good one. I really like it. He has 2 other books about farming that I've read and are very informative about how you can start making money and becoming more independent/self-sufficient, even out of your own backyard! Can't wait to start doing it here pretty soon when we get our lot to build out log home!

Brandt

I;ve thought about doing the bee thing not so much for honey, but to polinate fruit trees and the like, seems it only take a couple hundred bucks to try it out, I would realy like to raise deer and/or Elk, that would be cool.

Brother in law kept bees for years in East Texas untill the whole region got hit with some sort of bee mite. The thing I remember him saying about keeping bees, is that he had only a few hives on his property, but kept most of them on other people's land that had flowering crops or clover. Bees that have to travel long distances to find the flowers won't make much honey in comparison to those who have hives located along the fencerows of crops. The farmers were happy to have the hives on their property as it increased pollinazation.

For about 4 years, after he got out of the honey business, he had a small garden (less than 1/2 acre) and raised day lillies, which he sold to a local florist. Fairly labor intensive, but $$ outlay was next to nothing.

30 acres. I think if it were me, and the land was cleared and plantable, I would put it in hay. It's fairly easy to plant, and if you keep the weeds out, and go with a species that comes back on it's own each spring, like coastal bermuda, you are set for a number of years. You won't get rich on it, but the investment is minimal--as far as farming investment goes. Here, if we get the rain, we get 2 cuttings/year. You might in Alabama as well. I've seen years, when hay was in short supply and went for unbelievable prices in the winter.

A medium sized tractor for sure. You can pick up used ones pretty cheap most places-far less than a used car. You will need this no matter what you grow--even livestock.

A cutter to lay it down. We used to use a sickle mower but they have better styles out now. I don't remember what they call the ones with rotating cutter heads.

Hay rake-maybe a conditioner depending on what species you go with.

A baler. They can easily cost as much as the tractor that pulls them, and you have to be careful buying used ones. They can be a mechanical and timing nightmare.

A low trailer to haul the hay from the field.

A storage barn if you go with standard bales--maybe some tarps if you go round bales.

A strong back to load the bales. I know way too much about this aspect of hay raising. As a teenager, I hauled a slew of it to the barn for 17cents/bale, but I wouldn't trade those days for anything..

Christmas trees. 30 acres would raise enough to make a profit on, but dang they are a lot of work.

My husband used to be a bee keeper in wisconsin.
You don't have to have allot of space of investment with that.

WillandHelen,

You might want to research herb farming in your area. In many areas people make a decent living growing culinary and fragrance herbs. Depending upon where you live you might find herbal farms that offer garden tours and u-pick services to people visitng from the larger cities. With a small investment in distilling equipment (something that one could actually build oneself), essential oils can add to the cash flow. In today's market "organic" is the key word. Organic herbs and agricultural products, including essential oils command a very high price compared to commercial/non-organic farm products.

Down the road from where I live is what is known as the "lavender capitol of the Northwest." There are a few dozen small farms, most less than 20 acres, that grow and produce lavender and other herbs for specialty markets. A few of the growers distill their own essential oils, which they sell to commercial fragrance manufacturers and use to produce their own products.
Quite a few offer garden tours and u-pick. Some have been established long enough to have gift stores on their farms, offering fresh herbs, dried herbs, essential oils and prodcuts made from them.

-A

hey Will and Helen, have you thought of berries? or flowers, you could green house'm or raise in the field, the price for berry type fruit and flowers is usually good and you probably will get the same tax break on your land. Probably wont get rich but I bet you could make some cash

Many people have a hard time "farming" these days, especially if you don't have lots of money for equipment and supplies. Keep your dreams alive! ... It can be done. Find a market that's needed in your area that you are interested in. Check back issues of Organic Gardening ... there is a lady who made $25K per year on her 2.5 acres .... she grew colored peppers and shipped them to fancy restaurants. Be creative ..have fun ... never quit! :)