Average size farm?

kevthegaff

Well lads just wondering what is the average size farm in ireland, id say about 80 acres. Fulltime you probably need all of it

darragh_haven

kevthegaff wrote: »

Well lads just wondering what is the average size farm in ireland, id say about 80 acres. Fulltime you probably need all of it

I'd say is a good bit less. 45 to 55 acres, but a good few of these "farms" would be rented out to the bigger neighbours looking to expand. Your figure might be right for active farms tho

restive

The quality of the land is just as important. I have 73 acres. Two thirds of which spend half the year under water.

Juniorhurler

Think I remember reading somewhere that 80 acres was the average size in Ireland. To be honest, anybody about here with that size farm has an off farm income be it from contracting or a paye job but they are not fully dependent on the farm.

paddysdream

The average farm in Ireland is just shy of 33 hectares ie 80 acres or so.Average SFP (here we go again!) is about 250 per hectare.

Anyone think that you could make a living from this(by that I mean pay a mortgage, rear kids, etc etc) ?Maybe intensive dairying but not a hope from anything else.

Have a little more than this !(90% plus excellent land suitable for everything including all types of tillage,one very wet field of 16 acres or so) and even farmed intensively it wouldnt support a family without another income.Around here there are very few families living exclusively from farming,maybe 5 or 10 percent.Those that are have either a large farm (250 plus acres )or are the sort that were and are still "snug" ie always had a few bob or were lucky to fall in for a few nice little inheritances from time to time.

yellow50HX

yeah the home place aint to big either, under the avearge but good land. has been used for dairy and tillage. most of the farms bouncing us are between 60-90. but there are a few big ones neaby too. id say in the last 10-15 years the ave farm size round here has gone from about 70 to 100. that said there are a lot more small holdings about 40ac but these are almost all part of farms that were broken up for inheritence and mostly rented out now.

lakill Farm

im farming 45 acres

Owe 12 and rest rented.

classceltis

I need advice big time.
Looks like the job is coming to an end. I'm taking over the farm next Feb all going well. My question is can I make a living from it.
There will be no debt coming with it.
Total of 173 acres. 123 of it owned.
It will be fully stocked.
All sheds are built and machinery bought except baler and mower.
The father keeps saying there is no money out of farming but I'm hoping to give it a go.
I'm planning on doing some contracting work with it. Just haven't the balls to take the leap of faith to commit to it.
I will have a very small mortgage hopefully.
What ye think?

simx

classceltis wrote: »

I need advice big time.
Looks like the job is coming to an end. I'm taking over the farm next Feb all going well. My question is can I make a living from it.
There will be no debt coming with it.
Total of 173 acres. 123 of it owned.
It will be fully stocked.
All sheds are built and machinery bought except baler and mower.
The father keeps saying there is no money out of farming but I'm hoping to give it a go.
I'm planning on doing some contracting work with it. Just haven't the balls to take the leap of faith to commit to it.
I will have a very small mortgage hopefully.
What ye think?

Is it good/bad land? What sort of system are you running? I cant see why not, lots of lads around here surviving on less

delaval

classceltis wrote: »

I need advice big time.
Looks like the job is coming to an end. I'm taking over the farm next Feb all going well. My question is can I make a living from it.
There will be no debt coming with it.
Total of 173 acres. 123 of it owned.
It will be fully stocked.
All sheds are built and machinery bought except baler and mower.
The father keeps saying there is no money out of farming but I'm hoping to give it a go.
I'm planning on doing some contracting work with it. Just haven't the balls to take the leap of faith to commit to it.
I will have a very small mortgage hopefully.
What ye think?

What's stopping you taking the plunge?
It's all very well having no debt and a fully developed farm but what will your sales be? You can't have profit wiyhout cshflow, I'd say that a bit of contracting would go nicey with it.

classceltis

I suppose years of people telling me there is no money out of it.
The father would be very stuck in his ways and wouldn't like to see alas taking too many chances.

delaval

classceltis wrote: »

I suppose years of people telling me there is no money out of it.
The father would be very stuck in his ways and wouldn't like to see alas taking too many chances.

And by taking over do you mean taking over or will you just be the worker and he the decision maker?

classceltis

80 heifers going to beef. Hopefully get back into breeding my own when I get going. 150 ewes lambing and 90 hoggets following up. I think we could carry more. Land could be better managed etc. Main reason I want to buy a baler and wrapper and slurry gear is because we give 4-5k per year to contractor to do them jobs. More some years. Loads of ideas for the place.

mf240

Will your parents be financially secure or will the farm have to support them.


Unless its very poor land then you'd live out of it grand.

Manoffeeling

73 acres. No yard. No cattle. No machinery. About 12k SFP. Going to start to build yard next year. No mortgage or loans of any kind. Going to work from cash flow.

classceltis

Well..... It's gonna be hard to just go and do my way but its that or don't do it at all. He would be good at knocking ideas if you understand me.

classceltis

They will be secure alright. We will be living beside them.

Muckit

Manoffeeling wrote: »

73 acres. No yard. No cattle. No machinery. About 12k SFP. Going to start to build yard next year. No mortgage or loans of any kind. Going to work from cash flow.

What do you want the yard for?

Tom_Cruise

Ive always wanted to own a farm, but to buy that much land would cost more money then i could earn in 10 lifetimes.

How do farmers afford such large farms? Do they usually move into farming from highly paid jobs?

Manoffeeling

Muckit wrote: »

What do you want the yard for?

For wintering. I have no facilities of any kind.

Muckit

wintering what? You don't have any cattle

20silkcut

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

Ive always wanted to own a farm, but to buy that much land would cost more money then i could earn in 10 lifetimes.

How do farmers afford such large farms? Do they usually move into farming from highly paid jobs?

If you want to be a farmer in this country choose your parents wisely.

Or marry someone with a farm.

Very few people buy farms from scratch in this country.

Manoffeeling

Muckit wrote: »

wintering what? You don't have any cattle

Shure I can buy them.

KatyMac

I have 65 acres, 20 of which is 'bad, boggy, rushy' (I'm working on improving when money available) Also work part-time as a secretary. No mortgage or major bills as we live with my aged father. We just about manage!!

1chippy

173 acres, should bring a decent living if its ran anyway right unless its pure bog. If your losing your day job its a great fall back. if your quiting to go farming maybe you should hold onto it for a while just to keep the bread on the table as they say while you get it sorted the way you want without putting yourself into major debt.

munkus

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

Ive always wanted to own a farm, but to buy that much land would cost more money then i could earn in 10 lifetimes.

How do farmers afford such large farms? Do they usually move into farming from highly paid jobs?

Jesus wept, if you'd a high paid job the last thing you'd do is invest in farming. :-)

munkus

120 acres, probably 80 good and 40 reclaimed, light but good grassland. Work full time in good IT job and will be taking over this year which will be a challenge time wise. Hoping auld boy will repay all the slaving I did for the last 30 years. Will need to build a house which requires mortgage so probably be tight for a few years. Will try to go to a four day week when I take over with a view to three day week in the long term.

kevthegaff

im rentin 200 off me mother and 10 off me neighbour, very hilly but dry and good to grow this time of the year. Some of its a little dangerous to drive but still not too bad. probably the equivalent of 120 acres of v good flat land. Next to impossible to buy land from scratch, easier back in the day i think

jfh

20silkcut wrote: »

If you want to be a farmer in this country choose your parents wisely.

Or marry someone with a farm.

Very few people buy farms from scratch in this country.

this is true, but surely there's some on here who have started from scratch?
there's a few progressive fella's on here.

Markcheese

classceltis wrote: »

80 heifers going to beef. Hopefully get back into breeding my own when I get going. 150 ewes lambing and 90 hoggets following up. I think we could carry more. Land could be better managed etc. Main reason I want to buy a baler and wrapper and slurry gear is because we give 4-5k per year to contractor to do them jobs. More some years. Loads of ideas for the place.

You'd want to be fair handy with machines to buy silage, slurry gear and tractors to drive them.
Anything on else on farm you could invest your time (and 30 to 50 grand) on..??. That's not a depreciating asset ... Seems like a lot to invest when
starting off to save 4 or 5 grand a year(a
lot of which you'll pay anyway in fuel and
repair costs )

kevthegaff

my cousin started 20 yrs ago with nothing working for me auld lad, he started finishing cattle, then bough 60 acres hes upto 110 now. but hes a complete workaholic!

tommylimerick

I am going the opposite way , I have reduced my numbers to a min. I have invested the money off farm never went in for environmental improving grants , going to try to maximise my return from the couple of bob I have . I sold the milking stock and invested the money in the stock market was lucky when I bought as the market was down a bit