Ready to Face the Realities of Small-Scale Farming?

By Edward Yeary and Manning Becker.

For millions of Americans, the appealing features of life on a small farm outweigh any disadvantages. Discussions could be endless, and many questions would never be answered by words alone. Are you ready to deal with the realities of getting started?

Some questions, and answers, about your personal and family goals and resources will help you make the decisions needed to plan your entry into small-scale farming, or part-time farming on a few acres.

Do you want to be a part-time farmer on a few acres and keep a full-time job in town?

Can you find a farm that suits your needs in a location where you are willing to live?

How much will it cost? If more than your savings, can you obtain financing?

Do you have the knowledge and skills needed to operate a small farm?

What about financing the production process?

How and where will you sell your produce?

Part-time farming is usually the choice of people who want to "get out of town", but not too far, and to "have a little room", but not too much. Space will be available for a few fruit trees, a vegetable garden, even some poultry and animals to reduce the family food bills. A crop can be produced that will earn part of the needed family income.

Small-scale farming on a full-time basis is the goal of some urban families. Fed up with living and working in what they view as crowded, noisy, impersonal cities, they seek the more tranquil life and the satisfactory financial rewards they believe await them on a small farm.

Others will choose a compromise between those two extremes. Their goal is full-time farming, but they accept the reality that it may not be within reach. One or more family members will have to work elsewhere to supplement the income earned by farming a few acres of land. They can enjoy the advantages they associate with rural family life, which will be diluted by the necessity for some to commute to work, perhaps for long distances.

Some people truly want to get away from civilization, at least for awhile. They are willing to live very modestly, create with their hands, and produce with their own efforts to provide for their needs. Shunning many of the offerings of modern civilization, they choose to rely heavily on land, livestock, native materials and hard work to accomplish their objectives.

Your goal will be more easily reached if all family members, old enough to participate, have helped to make the decisions. Along with the many benefits you will enjoy, much hard work lies ahead. Problems, frustrations and adjustments will be more easily dealt with by a family united in purpose and working in harmony to reach the agreed-upon objectives.

Your Resources

If you are typical of many families who enter small-scale or part-time farming, you have three main resources from which you can expect income. These are labor, management, and capital invested in the land, equipment and operating expenses. These resources will dictate the type of small farming enterprise at which you can succeed.

You are going into competition with commercial agriculture and must face some of the realities of this competition. Most of America's agricultural production is highly mechanized.

In the growing of many crops a small unit cannot hope to compete with a typical large scale, highly mechanized farm. But this is not the case with labor-intensive crops, that is, those that require many times the number of hours of labor per acre that are needed by crops which are almost completely mechanized.

Labor provided by family members is a major source of income from small-scale farming. If you are going to sell your labor effectively on a small unit you may want to select from crops such as: fruit trees, grapes, vegetables, and others that require intensive use of labor; perhaps more than 150 hours per acre each year.

With labor-intensive crops it's easier for a small enterprise to compete.

It takes just as long to hand-prune a tree in a 5-acre orchard as it does in an 80-acre planting. By contrast, producing barley on a large-scale farm requires much machinery and only 1 to 3 hours of labor per acre each year. There is little opportunity here to earn labor income unless a large area is farmed.

So, if you are energetic, have plenty of help available, have production know-how, and all goes well, the right choice of crops will provide an outlet for all of this energy at a reasonable return. Labor and all the other production inputs must be used at the right time and in the right way or there will be no profits nor returns for your labor, management or capital. Your ability as a manager of your resources will determine whether or not you receive a return on your investment and for your labor. There is no guarantee here, it's up to you.

Getting Located

The decisions related to location and the type of farming must be made at the same time and may require some flexibility on your part. The larger the general area that suits your needs, the easier it will be to find your farm. Your choice of location and of farm enterprises may conflict with each other. Priorities may have to be given to one or the other, so weigh both carefully while you make your plans.

You are investing in both a small business and a home so this is the time to decide where you might want to live for many years. Consider all areas of interest and types of farming that appeal to you before you make a decision. It is a good idea to travel through these areas and to spend some time exploring them.

Zoning is usually a fact of life in the country as well as in most cities. Generally speaking, areas next to cities are zoned for small acreages; perhaps one or two acres or as many as five. Farther out, agricultural zoning may be in effect, and minimum sizes may be as much as 20 or 40 acres. Other choices are available, especially if you are willing to go a long distance from metropolitan areas.

If you plan to have some livestock, make sure that zoning ordinances will not spoil your plans. You may want to use chemical control measures for insect pests in your farm operation. Are there any restrictions against this in the areas that interest you?

You can learn a lot about areas and people by subscribing to community newspapers and by getting acquainted with local business and professional people. To learn about the usual high and low temperatures, annual rainfall and similar data, contact your nearest U. S. Weather Bureau office. Cooperative Extension personnel can be helpful in providing information about types of agriculture in the areas you visit.

The more time you take to just look around, to meet and talk to people and accumulate information, the more certain you will be that you picked the area best for you.

More for Less

Have you already looked at real estate advertisements? You probably have noticed that small farm units cost much more per acre than large ones. One reason is that many people like yourself are looking for small acreages. The prices asked are partly the result of a large demand for a limited supply of these units. Many are located close to urban areas and reflect the influence of these urban land values.

Does the place you are interested in have a house on it? If so, is it one you will be willing to live in during a cold, wet, windy, disagreeable winter? How about a hot, dry, windy, dust blown summer? Building or remodeling is expensive, unless you are capable of doing most of the work. Labor will be about half the total cost for most reconstruction.

No purpose would be served by attempting to quote prices since each unit will be priced by its owner and these prices change rapidly in most areas. However, small acreages of suitable farmland close to growing urban areas are generally priced far above any value represented by income that can be earned from farming.

You will need some machinery, perhaps an irrigation system, and some sheds or storage buildings. If livestock or poultry will be produced, fencing and housing must be provided. People are often surprised by the high cost of farming including mortgage interest payments, equipment purchases, and seasonal crop expenses. Contrary to popular belief, land will not always produce enough to pay for itself.

Land and Water

Is the quality of the land suitable for your farming project? If it is presently being farmed and crop production is satisfactory, it is unlikely that any problems exist. But someone may have planted tree or vine crops on land not suited to their production and you could be buying trouble. If you are looking at open land, have some soil tests made and get expert opinion to satisfy yourself that your planned crop production could be successful.

You will certainly need water for domestic purposes and for livestock. In many areas of the country, water will be needed to irrigate your crops. Some areas have adequate supplies that are suitable for these purposes. In others, water is limited in both quality and quantity.

If you are planning to buy open land and develop a well, get information about the ground water supply. Check on the likelihood of having enough irrigation water if more land around you is developed. It is a good idea to get professional advice and also to check with neighboring landowners who are irrigating crops. Add their judgment to other information you gather.

Will you have the right to drill a well or to use water from a stream? Is a permit required? Ownership of water rights is a complex subject. More than just a few times the new owners of property bordering on a beautiful mountain stream have found, too late, that they had no rights to any of the water.

Laws concerning water rights differ from one state to another. Prospective buyers will do well to find out ahead of time whether or not any problems about water rights will concern them. If surface water is involved, check also to see if the babbling brook that is so lovely in the late spring is still flowing at the end of a hot dry summer.

What about labor? If you plan to develop or grow crops that demand extra labor at certain times of the year can you find that needed help? Casual labor may be available from a nearby school, community or college. You may need to make arrangements well ahead of time and perhaps furnish some transportation or temporary housing to attract the extra help.