25 acres and a house

kww13

Hi All,

After spending many years away from home to earn money I am in a position to return and buy a small holding. I will be purchasing a small holding of approx 30 acres of very good land, in fact all 30 is in good shape. Land around it is currently rented out to others and I am told that in 2 years it might be up for rent again another 20 acres

While its a small holding and some of my decisions to purchase it is romantic in nature I would like to reach out to see if I am fundamentally missing anything in my decision matrix.

The land will be selling for <300k with house (bungalow and sheds) The property has approx 3 excellent sites that houses have already been built on in the same road frontage area.

I am not purchasing the land to make a profit I am fully aware from farming before that really its a hobby when we are talking this size. I can spare the cash to buy this and as we will be returning home I believe its a solid investment to put my cash that is otherwise making nothing. I have 2 sons and like my father gave his sons sites I too want to be in the same position (even if they don't chose to live there like me)


While I have always worked on other farms this will be my first and will be interested to know things like , what is the max cattle per head versus sheep for example.
What is the best to farm given I will be keeping a part time job (sheep in my past have been a pain to manage)
I have had people more experienced than me look at the land and they have given the thumbs up as it been good land.
While i have cash now! what are the key things I should invest in to make my life easier (better cattle crush, fencing the land, water supply)

A long thread but hoping people might have some opinions to share. Googling on line just doesn't have the info i seem to need.

Cork boy 55

Open farm?

http://www.leahysopenfarm.ie/index.html

Markcheese

I suppose a lot depend on what you want out... And what you want to put in ?
Plus , where the land is located ! ( ie close to urban areas, or way way out )
I assume your not into full time veg/or flower growing, Or other pretty full time venture ...
If it's just cattle I wouldn't worry too much , start small and gradually work your way up... (everyone says no money in it anyway )
Talk to someone like teagasc about entitlements,getting a herd number , and possibly putting some land into forestry .
Are you talking west of Ireland good? Or tillage area good ?

CaptainAhab

I think you need to draw up a well defined list of goals and prioritise them. Figure out what resources and skills you need to achieve them and start at the bottom, gradually tackling more challenging goals as you gain skills.

A first priority I believe would be to plant longterm trees and crops, as the sooner this is done the sooner you can benefit. But make sure they are correctly sited and that you get the correct species/varieties.

kww13

Hi all update.

Land has been purchased and its west of Ireland good quality land. Am told it had tillage before but not in last 5 years.

It's and exciting time and very privileged to be able to purchase it our decision to work abroad for a few gears has paid off.

I think cattle / sheep is where I will be at as this is something I am more familiar with and have a history in it. Also I have good support locally that can support me on that.

I have been reading up and your suggestion about teagasc is the right direction.

I don't have any formal training in farming other than the grafting I did for 15 years.

I will reach out to them and see, I assume I contact the Galway local branch.

Are grants available for new farmers starting out?

Has anyone been in similar situation to me starting a fresh

Markcheese wrote: »

I suppose a lot depend on what you want out... And what you want to put in ?
Plus , where the land is located ! ( ie close to urban areas, or way way out )
I assume your not into full time veg/or flower growing, Or other pretty full time venture ...
If it's just cattle I wouldn't worry too much , start small and gradually work your way up... (everyone says no money in it anyway )
Talk to someone like teagasc about entitlements,getting a herd number , and possibly putting some land into forestry .
Are you talking west of Ireland good? Or tillage area good ?

Oldtree

Your local Teagasc office can be found here

http://www.teagasc.ie/contacts/office_locator.aspx

and Teagasc Forestry advisor here

http://www.teagasc.ie/forestry/

MayoSalmon

Oldtree wrote: »

Your local Teagasc office can be found here

http://www.teagasc.ie/contacts/office_locator.aspx

and Teagasc Forestry advisor here

http://www.teagasc.ie/forestry/

:eek: :eek: Planting ex tillage land with trees in the West of Ireland would be beyond a mortal sin

on the river

Firstly op fair play to ya for coming back.

I suppose it's what you want out of it.

You could do some agri courses to brush up on farming matters .

You should also draw up a budget for what your willing to spend each year in terms of machinery and livestock.
Also draw up a five point plan for your realistic goals.
Farming only gives you reward after some hard work.
It's a big investment but if you love farming and nature it never is

Oldtree

MayoSalmon wrote: »

:eek: :eek: Planting ex tillage land with trees in the West of Ireland would be beyond a mortal sin

It would give the OP an income in his dotage no sin in that

on the river

Oldtree wrote: »

It would give the OP an income in his dotage no sin in that

Did you plant much of your farm? Just curious

Oldtree

on the river wrote: »

Did you plant much of your farm? Just curious

It is underway in the fields, but I had a head start with an existing semi natural woodland already there. I intend to plant all the fields that I can, but with a short rotation mix to ensure a continuous supply of fire wood for the house. Also I am planting an orchard along with other fruit.

brianiac

Howdy! in a similar situation in that I have just inherited ~30ac of good land in county dublin - no infrastructure on it though and greenfield zoning so presumably no chance of building a home on it. I would love to homestead it though and am keeping an eye on homes nearby.
tbh i'm a complete novice really though my dad did breed charolais when i was much younger so have handled livestock before....so my questions! what advice did teagasc give you? they they suggest any ag courses? or are there good online courses you can do? is there much work in getting herd numbers (presumably you did not have them prior)? keep us updated regardless...and best of luck in your endeavors!

on the river

brianiac wrote: »

Howdy! in a similar situation in that I have just inherited ~30ac of good land in county dublin - no infrastructure on it though and greenfield zoning so presumably no chance of building a home on it. I would love to homestead it though and am keeping an eye on homes nearby.
tbh i'm a complete novice really though my dad did breed charolais when i was much younger so have handled livestock before....so my questions! what advice did teagasc give you? they they suggest any ag courses? or are there good online courses you can do? is there much work in getting herd numbers (presumably you did not have them prior)? keep us updated regardless...and best of luck in your endeavors!

Once you have a basic shed and crush, you then can proceed to obtain a herd
number.
The dept will check over it and issue a herd number.

Teagasc do loads of courses so go to your local branch and find out more.

You could also rent out the land and learn from its occupier.

Whatever you decide know the basic facts before deciding.

4512

since ur in the west i would recommend buying in cheap mountainy/mayo blackface ewe lambs and breeding them to a lowland ram (texel or bluefaced leister) and selling progeny to achieve good returns for little investment.

AdFundum

Would you consider rare breed native cattle? The Dexter would be great on a small farm and although you will be able to keep fewer, the Irish moiled is another option. I think smallholders have a crucial role in the preservation of rare breeds. The keeping of certain native breeding animals will also entitle you to a payment per breeding animal from the department(after a few years) I think Dexter and Irish Moiled Cattle fall under that. Unfortunately, the Tamworth pig doesn't but probably just as well. It's long snouted and will 25 acres ploughed to bits in a forthnight.

Country smallholding magazine is a good read for the small timer - quite practical. The farmers journal is useless.

brianiac

AdFundum wrote: »

Would you consider rare breed native cattle? The Dexter would be great on a small farm and although you will be able to keep fewer, the Irish moiled is another option. I think smallholders have a crucial role in the preservation of rare breeds. The keeping of certain native breeding animals will also entitle you to a payment per breeding animal from the department(after a few years) I think Dexter and Irish Moiled Cattle fall under that. Unfortunately, the Tamworth pig doesn't but probably just as well. It's long snouted and will 25 acres ploughed to bits in a forthnight.

Country smallholding magazine is a good read for the small timer - quite practical. The farmers journal is useless.

Good tips! Hve you reared Tamworth s? I have been reading Mark Shepard 'restoration agriculture'and he recommends tamworths specifically as good grazers though you seem to differ!

Markcheese

brianiac wrote: »

Good tips! Hve you reared Tamworth s? I have been reading Mark Shepard 'restoration agriculture'and he recommends tamworths specifically as good grazers though you seem to differ!

Kind of depends on what your system is - I've heard of guys who run cows and pigs together, and move them to a fresh paddock every day or 2. Reckon you'd need a small chain harrow to straighten the ground out after the pigs- they love a bit of wooded cover and decent clover suits as well -

AdFundum

To be honest, I am confined to the city right now. I grew up on a small holding, help out every chance I get and cannot wait to return to it in some way. My parents have always had two or three Tamworth weaners on the go. They are good grazers but for pigs at least, they are quite athletic and certainly like to root. We also have a Kune Kune and a Pot bellied as pets and the only reason I can imagine for the difference in grazing versus rooting behaviour is the snout size. In a small paddock, when the best of grazing is gone, the Tamworth will plough so as mentioned, a small chain harrow would help with that. We also have a woodland patch at home with hazel and alder and the pigs (and goats) are great for keeping that and the small orchard tidy. From a restoration point of view (by restoration do you mean permaculture) I can imagine that pigs and goats would do very well in a reasonably mature woodland setting. The rooting behaviour of pigs would be limited by roots from trees and shrubs in a way that it is not in open pasture.

Miname

Pick something your going to like working with, planting good land is a pure sin, rare breeds and such are grand as a hobby but nothing more, and imo are suited to small holdings on more marginal land. There was a limo breeder somewhere around dunshauglin used to breed class stock ( some went to ai) on 16 acres.

brianiac

AdFundum wrote: »

To be honest, I am confined to the city right now. I grew up on a small holding, help out every chance I get and cannot wait to return to it in some way. My parents have always had two or three Tamworth weaners on the go. They are good grazers but for pigs at least, they are quite athletic and certainly like to root. We also have a Kune Kune and a Pot bellied as pets and the only reason I can imagine for the difference in grazing versus rooting behaviour is the snout size. In a small paddock, when the best of grazing is gone, the Tamworth will plough so as mentioned, a small chain harrow would help with that. We also have a woodland patch at home with hazel and alder and the pigs (and goats) are great for keeping that and the small orchard tidy. From a restoration point of view (by restoration do you mean permaculture) I can imagine that pigs and goats would do very well in a reasonably mature woodland setting. The rooting behaviour of pigs would be limited by roots from trees and shrubs in a way that it is not in open pasture.

apologies if i'm hijacking the thread - yes 'internet permaculture' was how i found that particular book - essentially talking about growing tree crops in conjunction with animals. If i recall properly he may have nose-ringed the pigs as well to discourage
excessive rooting...