General Advice needed

JessePinkman

Hi guys,my Uncle has asked me would i fancy taking on his farm.

it's something i have always wanted to do so im prepared to go into it on a part time basis.

He has about 80 acres of fairly poor land no drainage,rushes etc.. and another 80 hill,In fairness to the man his health hasnt been great the last few years and the farm is a mess,Wiring is bad,Only 1 proper shed,just a general tidy up is needed.

There is no machinery on site eithir.He has about 60 ewes and 8 cattle.

Now im thinking im gonna whack about 10k of my own money to kick start everything,Get fencing right,Fix up the few sheds.Small tractor etc..

And ill graft away in the evenings and weekends,My Uncle said he will still help out but nothing really more than keeping an eye on the stock when im at work and maybe throwing a bag of nuts out or along those lines.

i have loads of questions to ask but ill easy myself in over the next few days so any help/advice would be greatly appreciated

Good loser

Get an old tractor, a fert spreader and a bale lifter for rear.

Fertilise and some lime, but only to match stocking rate. Sell bales or, preferably, grass for bales.

Concentrate on the fields near the house/yard first.

Apply for SFP. This could be a base year for entitlements.

Best of luck.

hoseman

You will get plenty of advice here,Wish you the best of luck with it,It is very up lifting to see the next generation coming on and giving it a go,Especially the type of land you discribe,Alot more would just plant it, see fantastic land around me planted,and others trying to farm poorer land.It would be good if there was somebody of your own age doing the same beside you,so ye could carry each other over the bad times and bounce ideas off each other.Sorry about the long post ,Good luck.

just do it

Your focus should be to make a profit and then expand, rather than the other way around. Tidy it up slowly starting nearest the house and yard and don't fall into the trap I did and try and do it all in the first year.

Best of luck

Edit: Having your Uncle there to do that much is a real asset. He'll also tell you which were the most productive fields, where would be the best place for drains etc.

JessePinkman

Thanks guys so far,Excellent advice on starting around the yard first.

1st thing is im looking for a tractor,Was initally looking for something like a Massey 135 but might go a little bigger to have a loader just to have it.Eithir way im leaning towards something small and handy as i can always borrow something bigger if needed.

The fields below the yard will be my 1st concern,They need to be levelled and re-seeded,Would i be better planting for the summer and reseed it later in the year or just do it now?

49801

watch your cashflow!!!
reseeding will cost you close to €400/acre

personally am a fan of AI but its difficult for a part timer.
for me improvements with stock is all about genetic's. remember it costs as much to grow a poor animal as it does a real good one.

delaval

If I were you forget tractor you can pay/hour for some else to do it until you get established. My priority would be to fence first then work on land and animal husbandry. If you are part time you cannot afford the time to be following animals in evenings and at w/ends.

Above all, best of luck

just do it

delaval wrote: »

If I were you forget tractor you can pay/hour for some else to do it until you get established. My priority would be to fence first then work on land and animal husbandry. If you are part time you cannot afford the time to be following animals in evenings and at w/ends.

Above all, best of luck

Agree with this. Set up paddocks and rotational grazing will improve your grass quality. Avoid large investment for a year or two until you get to know the land. Top and spray rushes, fertilise land on foot of soil testing. Leave re-seeding until your grazing demand is starting to come close to your supply. And avoid sinking money into machinery. Buy no more than you need. I embarked on the same project as you 5 years ago. Great satisfaction out of it but don't let it become a money pit. Spend the absolute bare minimum! Look at making out a 3 or 5 year plan.

bob charles

JessePinkman wrote: »

Hi guys,my Uncle has asked me would i fancy taking on his farm.

it's something i have always wanted to do so im prepared to go into it on a part time basis.

He has about 80 acres of fairly poor land no drainage,rushes etc.. and another 80 hill,In fairness to the man his health hasnt been great the last few years and the farm is a mess,Wiring is bad,Only 1 proper shed,just a general tidy up is needed.

There is no machinery on site eithir.He has about 60 ewes and 8 cattle.

Now im thinking im gonna whack about 10k of my own money to kick start everything,Get fencing right,Fix up the few sheds.Small tractor etc..

And ill graft away in the evenings and weekends,My Uncle said he will still help out but nothing really more than keeping an eye on the stock when im at work and maybe throwing a bag of nuts out or along those lines.

i have loads of questions to ask but ill easy myself in over the next few days so any help/advice would be greatly appreciated

Jessie have you good access for a wannabago??

JessePinkman

The reason i was looking at a Tractor so it would be very easy to throw out a couple of bails of silage in the evenings also handy for cleaning out sheds with the transport box etc.I was planning on spending about 3k on a tractor

I want to do up 1 decent size shed aswel for wintering cattle and lambing etc. I have set aside 3k for this also

Financially i plan to invest 10k and dont intend to take any money out of the farm for 4/5 years if i was breaking even id be over the moon. Is this even plausible?

I was also thinking to reduce the numbers of stock until i got everything right this is a long term plan

I'm working full time so money is not a motivating factor here.

Juniorhurler

Best of luck to you Jessie. I can't add much to what the boys gave above, except get a good accountant. Any losses you may take can be offset against your paye and may lead to tax refunds. This can be invaluable in the set up phase as you will spend a lot more than you realise. Keep receipts for everything and a good accountant will see you right.

just do it

Worth having a look at Peter Young's "Operation Cashflow" on the online version of the farmer's journal. Google it. It's not easily found from the main page.

Milton09

Just make sure everyone is clear about what "taking on" means, if he is transferring over to you then ok, but if its any other type of arrangment make sure everything is in writing...... relatives coming out of woodwork etc. etc.

JessePinkman

JessePinkman wrote: »

The fields below the yard will be my 1st concern,They need to be levelled and re-seeded,Would i be better planting for the summer and reseed it later in the year or just do it now?

Good advice for Justdoit on this subject but could you eloborate further?

Or anyone else any suggestions

Bizzum

Milton09 wrote: »

Just make sure everyone is clear about what "taking on" means, if he is transferring over to you then ok, but if its any other type of arrangment make sure everything is in writing...... relatives coming out of woodwork etc. etc.

As I was reading down through the thread this is exactly what I was thinking. We've probably all heard of these types of stories that can go wrong.

Some great advice above, by several other posters. Best of luck with it all!

JessePinkman

Milton09 wrote: »

Just make sure everyone is clear about what "taking on" means, if he is transferring over to you then ok, but if its any other type of arrangment make sure everything is in writing...... relatives coming out of woodwork etc. etc.

Everything is being transferred over from him on paper,Has no family himself only us.All of the family is chuffed himself wont have the stress of it for his latter years

Bizzum

JessePinkman wrote: »

Everything is being transferred over from him on paper,Has no family himself only us.All of the family is chuffed himself wont have the stress of it for his latter years

Brilliant stuff. It's all on front of you so. You'll find your uncle of hugh benefit to you, he'll know his own land backwards, and he'll benefit too. Sounds like a win win situation!

JohnBoy

I'd definitely say get some sort of a tractor. doesnt need to be much, but a transport box and a bale handler will let you get a hell of a lot of work done.

if you can find a good contractor you'll be a while before you need much more than those.

My reccomendation would be a ford 4000/4600

big enough to be useful, small enough to be be cheap, easily worked on and not of much interest to either exporters or vintage boys.

All of this means they offer some of the best price/performance you can get for the money.

KatyMac

A MF 135 is too small/light to manage silage bales. I had one and spent far too long rearing onto the back wheels. I got an old 165 and with a weight bar on the front is just about able to carry my silage bales. Occasionally I still have to back up an awkward hill.

candor

Just to chip in my 2 cents, take it one step at a time, it's not a race. Try to plan long term but be flexible to cope with unexpected events. Look for value in any activity you do, fencing would be the biggest priority, fencing is cheap compared to having animals out on the road etc.

farmer_dave

What stock are you considering?

My advice to someone starting up would be to avoid anything to do with lambing/calving in your first few years at least. I'd recommend phasing out the stock which you have and replacing them with young heifer drop calves which are off the milk. They will be easy to rear and handle for you starting off.

Another bonus would be that they are easy on the land compared to fully grown cattle and therefore you might have some grass to sell for silage to someone else. Fully grown animals are poaching the land (deep hoof prints into the soil) really badly these years with the rain.

The heifers when they come through of age can be AI'ed and then sold in-calf. If they don't do to the AI bull then you have the option of selling them fat.

Just remembered, you have sheep. Can you lamb them indoors?

As they will be hand reared by youself then they should be relatively docile around you.


If I was you I'd spend money on fencing and getting the 80 acres soil tested to see why it performing poorly. This would then allow you to get in a contractor to spread the necessary fertiliser in order to get it back to optimum productivity. No point just throwing 20-10-10 onto it when you don't know what it is lacking. It might need aerating, lime, re-seeding, etc.
I'd also be looking at getting the shed into a decent shape so that animals can be housed when needed.

Do you have decent facilities for handling the stock that is accessible to all the land? You haven't said if the land is all in one plot or scattered throughout the area.

As you state you'll only be working weekends and evenings, you'll be better off spending you cash on facilities to make your time on the farm more efficient. Therefore that is decent fences, handling facilities, and healthy animals. Remember, you'll be outlaying some cash on medicines, doses, injections etc.

As for machinery, set yourself up so you are VAT registered before you purchase anything as you should be able to claim back the VAt, which is a good chunk of the price. Get the SFP resolved.

If you do decide to purchase a tractor, think hard about a 4wd. By the sound of your ground it might be a bit boggy and skimping on a tractor is not good practice as it is your main machine. As you buy more machinery, you might find the 2wd option will need replacing.

As you have no machinery yet, I'd concentrate on getting the land into shape bit by bit and then start thinking about machinery. You can get a contractor in to sow the fields, put out slurry, dung etc for a few quid, comparitively speaking. Don't rush into the purchase.

farmer_dave

The 80 acres, scrub the soil testing. Get it drained and ploughed in rotation. Have you considered getting the Teagesac (sp?) guy out to help you get a plan together?

Tony 150

My advice would be to sell the cattle and put the money towards a tractor, overwintering such a small number is messy and time consuming unless you have slated units!

Username John

Hi JessePinkman,

First off - welcome to the world of part time farming

A lot of info has been posted here, and all of it is good info. But I guess everyone is posting from their own perspective... (even me)

You say your uncle has 60 ewes and 8 cattle.

How were these managed in the winter? Where were they wintered, and how / what were they fed?

It may well be that the best thing to do is to continue with the existing system, and make improvements as you go.

Re getting a tractor - if you want to get one, then do.
If you don't really need one, then why get one? (I am assuming your uncle doesn't have one, and is managing away)

Some general comments on what to look at / do
1) Work out how much time you want to spend on farming & what you want from it. Tis easy to spend a lot of time and money at it
2) Involve your uncle as much as you can. I imagine he will get as much enjoyment out of seeing improvements being made as you will.
3) I would second the posts re concentrating on fencing & land improvements initially.
4) Once you are growing better grass, you will have better animals. But also focus on breeding. If there is an animal out there that can do the same job, but quicker / heavier / better kill out, then why not use them.

Best of luck!

lakill Farm

get an accountant. All this investment can we wrote off against other income. could save you alot of money in short and long term.

PM me for advice even .

JessePinkman

farmer_dave wrote: »

What stock are you considering?

My advice to someone starting up would be to avoid anything to do with lambing/calving in your first few years at least. I'd recommend phasing out the stock which you have and replacing them with young heifer drop calves which are off the milk. They will be easy to rear and handle for you starting off.

Another bonus would be that they are easy on the land compared to fully grown cattle and therefore you might have some grass to sell for silage to someone else. Fully grown animals are poaching the land (deep hoof prints into the soil) really badly these years with the rain.

The heifers when they come through of age can be AI'ed and then sold in-calf. If they don't do to the AI bull then you have the option of selling them fat.

Just remembered, you have sheep. Can you lamb them indoors?

As they will be hand reared by youself then they should be relatively docile around you.


If I was you I'd spend money on fencing and getting the 80 acres soil tested to see why it performing poorly. This would then allow you to get in a contractor to spread the necessary fertiliser in order to get it back to optimum productivity. No point just throwing 20-10-10 onto it when you don't know what it is lacking. It might need aerating, lime, re-seeding, etc.
I'd also be looking at getting the shed into a decent shape so that animals can be housed when needed.

Do you have decent facilities for handling the stock that is accessible to all the land? You haven't said if the land is all in one plot or scattered throughout the area.

As you state you'll only be working weekends and evenings, you'll be better off spending you cash on facilities to make your time on the farm more efficient. Therefore that is decent fences, handling facilities, and healthy animals. Remember, you'll be outlaying some cash on medicines, doses, injections etc.

As for machinery, set yourself up so you are VAT registered before you purchase anything as you should be able to claim back the VAt, which is a good chunk of the price. Get the SFP resolved.

If you do decide to purchase a tractor, think hard about a 4wd. By the sound of your ground it might be a bit boggy and skimping on a tractor is not good practice as it is your main machine. As you buy more machinery, you might find the 2wd option will need replacing.

As you have no machinery yet, I'd concentrate on getting the land into shape bit by bit and then start thinking about machinery. You can get a contractor in to sow the fields, put out slurry, dung etc for a few quid, comparitively speaking. Don't rush into the purchase.

Was thinking on getting a few wealings in the next month or so and keep them for a year,I also plan on phasing out some of the older ewes and work with 2/3 year olds and keep a track of good lambers etc..I want to up the number of sheep for the winter as they will be going for the mountain then.

I dont have the facilities to lamb indoor but ill keep them in the field closest to the house to keep an eye on them.

The land is scattered about except 2 fields that adjoin the yard,There is a small handing pen and a crush there also.

Any suggestions for the 4wd?

Thanks for the excellent advice.


And thank you to everyone else who has replied so far

delaval

Tony 150 wrote: »

My advice would be to sell the cattle and put the money towards a tractor, overwintering such a small number is messy and time consuming unless you have slated units!

Sell cattle to buy kit that is guaranteed to devalueThe mind boggles

JessePinkman

Username John wrote: »

Hi JessePinkman,

First off - welcome to the world of part time farming

A lot of info has been posted here, and all of it is good info. But I guess everyone is posting from their own perspective... (even me)

You say your uncle has 60 ewes and 8 cattle.

How were these managed in the winter? Where were they wintered, and how / what were they fed?

It may well be that the best thing to do is to continue with the existing system, and make improvements as you go.

Re getting a tractor - if you want to get one, then do.
If you don't really need one, then why get one? (I am assuming your uncle doesn't have one, and is managing away)

Some general comments on what to look at / do
1) Work out how much time you want to spend on farming & what you want from it. Tis easy to spend a lot of time and money at it
2) Involve your uncle as much as you can. I imagine he will get as much enjoyment out of seeing improvements being made as you will.
3) I would second the posts re concentrating on fencing & land improvements initially.
4) Once you are growing better grass, you will have better animals. But also focus on breeding. If there is an animal out there that can do the same job, but quicker / heavier / better kill out, then why not use them.

Best of luck!

The cattle were in the yard and in the shed which is in ok condition,So they were happy out and it would be OK to continue that.They were fed silage and nuts(rarely)

The sheep were under pressure a bit this year kept in the fields were fed hay to keep them going

Re The tractor,He was cutting the bales and wheelbarrowing the silage down the yard to the shed which is far from ideal.

I guess i want to spend as much time as possible at it and not really worried about the finacial side of it,Its worth it to me if it costs me a few bob a year.


My first priority will be the fencing which im making a start with this weekend,Field by field

hoseman

As regards a 4wd tractor I would go with zetor,had a few over the years kept up grading ,For me cheap to fix ,not complcated straight forward set up,As regards fencing it would pay to get in a contractor and do it field by field plus they can come up with good ideas as regards type of fence ,layout and gaps.Best of luck.

farmer_dave

JessePinkman wrote: »

Was thinking on getting a few wealings in the next month or so and keep them for a year,I also plan on phasing out some of the older ewes and work with 2/3 year olds and keep a track of good lambers etc..I want to up the number of sheep for the winter as they will be going for the mountain then.

Fair enough, good idea. We had heifer drop calves which were just off the milk, kept them about 1 year with very little maintenance - few doses, etc and got a tidy profit when they went to mart. Avoid ones on the milk - they'll break your heart if you're not there full time.

I dont have the facilities to lamb indoor but ill keep them in the field closest to the house to keep an eye on them.

Okay, but what is the shed being used for if there is no machinery?

The land is scattered about except 2 fields that adjoin the yard,There is a small handing pen and a crush there also.

So, therefore, some portable handling facilities in order to load/unload and a livestock trailer will be somewhere on your list of purchases. Can you tow with your car? A 10ft trailer would be your best bet. The 12ft are ****ers to pull unless you have a tractor or a good jeep/pickup.

Ifor Williams are the best, and accordingly hold their value much better that the other brands. Do not opt for the ones with the wheel underneath. They ain't as stable nor as easily towed as one with the big wheels out the sides.

Any suggestions for the 4wd?

To be fair, I'm not 100% up on tractors, but as said above old Zetors are fairly robsut and not too hard to maintain. However, when it comes to buying tractors take a mechanic (or your contractor) with you. It is very easy to get saddled with a lemon. Things are usually sold for a reason.

1chippy

you see this crack of fencing before you fix the ground. its pure madness. Clean back and cut the ditches, drain and reseed and then fence. field by field if you have to. You would be surprised the ground you will gain when you bring a machine in. Dont fool yourself thinking you will only throw a few bob into it. if your anything like the rest of us once you get started you will barely find time for a pint or even the price of it. Dont get me wrong its a great living but you will be tested.
The safest idea would be to make the ground pay for itself but that can be slow.
The tractor at this stage would be handy but its not a necessity. you will have to make a list and prioritise, and from there you can set a budget.
I really should take some of my own advice.
Best of luck with it.

Timmaay

For that cattle, that's where electric fencing should come into its own, low cost, and easy to put up, and move around as necessary.

Of course there is the issue of the fence failing, which will always happen just when you don't want it to ha. I'm surprised though that no one has come up with an electric fence tester, that has a GSM phone module in it, and sends you a text/call to tell you that the fence is down! Would be handy for part time farmers etc. Its something that I briefly even looked into developing myself (I'm an engineer also), but don't have the time at the minute!

hoseman

Timmaay wrote: »

For that cattle, that's where electric fencing should come into its own, low cost, and easy to put up, and move around as necessary.

Of course there is the issue of the fence failing, which will always happen just when you don't want it to ha. I'm surprised though that no one has come up with an electric fence tester, that has a GSM phone module in it, and sends you a text/call to tell you that the fence is down! Would be handy for part time farmers etc. Its something that I briefly even looked into developing myself (I'm an engineer also), but don't have the time at the minute!

You can get a light that clips to the fence,when voltage drops on the line it lights up.Sorry about going off topic.

49801

JessePinkman wrote: »

Re The tractor,He was cutting the bales and wheelbarrowing the silage down the yard to the shed which is far from ideal.

Could u do self feed silage instead?

Masseymad

buy a 135 with weights shes a misor on deisel

mf240

If your lightly stoked for a few years untill you get sorted you could outwinter cattle every winter on the area you intend reseeding the following year. For year one I would clean all main drains and spray rushes ect. This will dry up a lot of the ground and in time you will see where shores are needed.

Very hard to get by without a tractor of some description even for fencing and pottering about. plus you will need if for bales.

just do it

Hey Jesse

Some great advice here from us internet farmers! You won't know where to start by the time we're finished with you:D:D

Good loser

I replied earlier and have read threads since.

Would definitely get a cheap 2wd tractor. Got a 4600 this year for €4,000 - no loader. Also fert spreader and bale spike. Maybe a rear end loader. No other big machinery.

Wouldn't reseed. You have not enough stock to justify the expense.

Unless you rear stock - cattle or sheep - or sell grass in some shape or form you will not get an income. Except EU money. You might get AEOS or Disadvantaged money - I know little about them. Definitely get a Teagasc adviser.

Wonder how scattered land is? How many acres in 2 fields by yard?

Spend money to reduce labour all the time.

Farmer Pudsey

First off Jesse you do not need to VAT register. If anything I would advise against it. You can claim VAT back on fixed assets. New fencing, a couple bags of cement or a water trough. For the first few years you will lose money. It is tax deductable so if you and if you are married your wifes income tax can be alloed against it. Get a good accountant. IFAC and FDC are farm accountancy companies they are not expensive 500 euro's or less when you are starting would be around the go. It is also tax deductable.

Keep your reciepts and have a seperate farm account a cheque is handy but not overely necessary. If paying cash get a reciept I will repeat again get a reciept+ this is the biggest errors that may farmers make I do not know how many times I see fella get a few bags of meal pay cash and will not wait for reciept luc:rolleyes:ky me.

2/3 of car expenses, Electricity, phone bill inc mobile, computer labtop etc. Any small tools nuts bolts screws used on the farm are also expensed so a reciept for everything.

On the tractor for the moment a 2WD will do if 10K is you budget for this year to invest in farm try to keep tractor to minimum. However I would be slow to get less than 55-60HP. http://tractordata.com/ will give you details on loads of tractors. You will find most things on http://www.donedeal.ie/donedeal/. A quad might also be an idea you get a fair one now for a grand a small one can be got out of a hole by yourself a big one that is stuck needs a tractor or another quad.

I would not go mad upgrading flock or cattle at present on these type of farms flocks are used to there area. Consider buying 10-20 ewe lambs in at the end of the year and integrate them into your flock. The same with your cattle if you are intrested in cows but a few black limo heifers calves and bucket feed they will be fit for the bull next year if you do them well.

In ten years time you will look back amazed.

JessePinkman

Well been busy the last few weeks with the ewes gaining,No issues there so delighted it went smooth in the first year.

Bought a quad,To be fair i wasnt planning on buying one atall but one came up for fierce handy money so i bought it and in fairness its handy to be zipping around land to check fencing,Throw out bags of meal etc.. Plus a neighbour of mine has alot of bits a pieces for them Licker,Spredder etc i can borrow the odd time.

Got one of my fields patched up so im nearly happy with that one but next i would ideally like to start on the yard.

Still on the look out for a tractor aswel.Looking at possibly buying a few weanlings in the next month or so,Might but my arse in gear to fix up the yard for wintering them.

matTNT

JessePinkman wrote: »

He has about 80 acres of fairly poor land no drainage,rushes etc.. and another 80 hill,In fairness to the man his health hasnt been great the last few years and the farm is a mess,Wiring is bad,Only 1 proper shed,just a general tidy up is needed.

Hire Farm relief to the fences if your short on time, they will supply the materials and are fairly reasonable. I'd tip away at the other stuff for now, at the weekends but get those fences right!

JessePinkman wrote: »

There is no machinery on site either. He has about 60 ewes and 8 cattle.

That is a good starting stock to begin with. Decide what enterprise you want to go down. Sucklers commercial/pedigree, fattening drystock, Calf to beef etc.
Same situation with the flock.

JessePinkman wrote: »

Now im thinking im gonna whack about 10k of my own money to kick start everything,Get fencing right,Fix up the few sheds.Small tractor etc..

The stock is so small you couldn't justify anything more than the cheapest you can get. Get a bale handler nothing more until you have to.

Leave the sheds unless they're dire. Wait for one Winter then you might decide the sheds are useless or something else needs doing with them. Wait.

Fencing, yeah get that spot on!

JessePinkman wrote: »

And ill graft away in the evenings and weekends,My Uncle said he will still help out but nothing really more than keeping an eye on the stock when im at work and maybe throwing a bag of nuts out or along those lines.

Great to have him to tip away. You have the right attitude good luck!

Farmer Pudsey

JessePinkman wrote: »

Well been busy the last few weeks with the ewes gaining,No issues there so delighted it went smooth in the first year.

Bought a quad,To be fair i wasnt planning on buying one atall but one came up for fierce handy money so i bought it and in fairness its handy to be zipping around land to check fencing,Throw out bags of meal etc.. Plus a neighbour of mine has alot of bits a pieces for them Licker,Spredder etc i can borrow the odd time.

Got one of my fields patched up so im nearly happy with that one but next i would ideally like to start on the yard.

Still on the look out for a tractor aswel.Looking at possibly buying a few weanlings in the next month or so,Might but my arse in gear to fix up the yard for wintering them.

At present is a good time to buy stock especially young light stock. There is no demand for them. A lot of these cattle will be easy enough to overwinter next year. In 4 or 5 weeks time as the grass is out over the ditches they may be up by 100 or more per head. If you have grass, feeding and money try to buy in the next week

Markcheese

Glad everything is moving along for you... There was a bale spike on an axle and long tow bar available for a quad/ small tractor or if there's a design on the Internet you could get it made locally ....
Also have you thought about putting any land into forrestry.... I'd pick the wettest boggiest corners of fields, furthest from the house, and plant mainly broadleaf , I think you can put in 1/2 acre blocks.....you'll get an income from what's probably unproductive land,and you'll have firewood,(if you put in alder or something like that it grows back after harvesting , so more firewood) ...
I'm not suggesting planting the whole farm but cash flow and a handy asset as well as a bit of shelter could be nice ...