Starting out

Jalopy81

Hi Lads,

I’m after a bit of advice, not sure what the best way to go is. Apologies if this is a bit long.

I inherited a wee bit of ground from the grandfather last year. Nothing huge, 17 acres of good quality low ground. It has always been let out in conacre to a neighbour who is in dairy for as long as I can remember. He takes 2/3 cuts of silage of it per year and zero grazes it. He will put out artificial and slurry aswell. My problem is he never ‘takes care’ of the place. Has never cut a hedge, never fixed a fence, never reseeded or cleared the drains, wouldn’t even close a gate after himself. I think the grandfather just lost interest and the cheque was handy each year but nothing was reinvested in the ground. I think the final straw was damage done to hedges and gate posts during the last cut.

For the past while I have been considering doing something with it myself rather than renting it out. Maybe a few sheep or cattle. I’ve never farmed livestock before but I am involved in the dead stock side of things so not going in blind. I’ve worked on farms when I was younger but these were more vegetable orientated than stock so have limited experience.

The ground itself is split into 5 fields. All would need re-fenced. I have my own machinery (digger/tractor/trailer/topper etc). This is stored in the one shed I have. Don’t have crush or handling equipment.

My plan was to replace the old shed beside the house with something a bit bigger and more secure (60 x 40) so I can keep the machinery in it but if needs be have a section that could be closed off for animals if they are sick.

I have looked into doing the level 2 agriculture scheme which would allow me into BPS and I’m 37 so could get in under the new entrant scheme too.

I was thinking of starting with a few sheep just to get the toes wet. Problem is we are quite close to the edge of town and would get dog walkers through. With cattle, I’ve don’t have a crush or shed to overwinter yet.

So I guess my question is, what do you think my options are? Setting aside Brexit and the utter clusterf**k that it is, should I give it a shot or just sit back, let the ground deteriorate and get my wee cheque each year? I’d love to give it a go as a hobby if nothing else and so the children can experience that side of life.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

roosterman71

Get the cheque, but enforce that the place is maintained as part of the deal. You should get the place back at the end of the term as the same condition as the start. So either do the work yourself and then get the farmer to agree to maintain, or force them to do the work for but you take a cut to your rental income to help them cover the cost. It's always no harm to talk to the renter about this too. A lot of lads on long term lease start to think of the place as their own. Always keep them on their toes

_Brian

You could talk to the tenant.

At next letting set some expectations or look for a new tenant.

Jalopy81

Thanks lads

Think I am past talking to tenant. When I look at his own place with 12ft wide hedges lying on their side and fences bodged with baling twine, I don’t hold out much hope for him treating my place any better.

The next guy over is a bit better but cut from the same cloth and the guy on the other side is downsizing due to health.

At the very least, if I was actively using it myself, I could reinvest whatever I made back into it. I know this won’t be much and the scale leaves it little more than a hobby but there are worse things to spend your free time at

Dinzee Conlee

You could always take back a part of it, say 3-4 acres, fence it, get a few sheep. See how you get on. If you like it, take back more...

17acres isnt a massive amount, but to fence it all and stock it from scratch will cost a bit... So maybe start small... Plus, it would give you a chance to see if it was for you...

solerina

Before getting into sheep make sure you know someone who has a lot of sheep experience, they may appear easy to look after but there is a lot of work in them....dipping, dosing, foot care, fly strike etc. You will also need a good dog unless you feel like running a lot yourself !!

Dinzee Conlee

solerina wrote: »

Before getting into sheep make sure you know someone who has a lot of sheep experience, they may appear easy to look after but there is a lot of work in them....dipping, dosing, foot care, fly strike etc. You will also need a good dog unless you feel like running a lot yourself !!

Agree it is invaluable to know someone who has sheep experience...

But, I don't think a dog is necessary, useful no doubt, but not necessary for 17 acres. Dipping is almost replaced with spray on now.
Dosing and lame legs - still must be done unfortunately... :rolleyes:

Jalopy81

I could try a few acres to see how it works out. Might even spur the tenant on a little if they see the possibility of loosing it long term if they aren’t prepared to mind the place a bit better.

As roosterman said above it would keep them on their toes rather than taking it for granted that they will have it year after year.

I do have a few good friends in sheep that I could lean on for advice. Funnily enough they started with 15-20 ewes a couple of years ago and now run decent sized flocks up to 150 i believe.

I cant see any reason to get a dog yet. I have a quad I use for spraying and with only a few acres to cover a dog might be overkill. On the subject though, would being so close to the town and with dog walkers appearing regularly, would it put you guys off keeping a small flock. We also get the odd local lad out lamping but they tend to stay the next farm over but aren’t a million miles from us