Leaving the city and buying a farm

eviltimeban · 06-08-2015 12:37PM #1

So, if one were to "up sticks", quit their pressured city / office day job for the rolling pastures of say, a small farm, what would be involved? Is it crazy to think that two people with two small kids could not only run a small farm, but survive off it?

Sorry if this seems like a crazy post. Just something I've been thinking about.

Kevhog1988 · 06-08-2015 12:44PM

have you any experience with animal husbandry or growing crops?.

I guess a smallholding and a strive towards self sufficiency is possible but you would not have the comforts afforded by an urban job.

Deepsouthwest · 06-08-2015 12:48PM

eviltimeban wrote: »

So, if one were to "up sticks", quit their pressured city / office day job for the rolling pastures of say, a small farm, what would be involved? Is it crazy to think that two people with two small kids could not only run a small farm, but survive off it?

Sorry if this seems like a crazy post. Just something I've been thinking about.

Don't want to rain on ur parade, but yes it probably would be crazy, especially in what we'll call "normal farming", be it dairy, beef, sheep. The only hope u would have with a small holding is to hit on some "niche product" for a country market or something like that. With average land price at 10k/acre, u would need a fair nest egg to get started.

eviltimeban · 06-08-2015 12:57PM

theemigrant wrote: »

have you any experience with animal husbandry or growing crops?.

Absolutely zero. Nothing. Would have to learn from the beginning.

theemigrant wrote: »

I guess a smallholding and a strive towards self sufficiency is possible but you would not have the comforts afforded by an urban job.

I figured that alright, might be possible to have 100K to invest or have as a "nest egg" alright, after buying it. I haven't started looking at the finance, I'm just more thinking about the "zero farming experience -> owning a farm" part and wondering if it's a crazy thought.

Just looking for a way out of the drudgery of office / suburban living. The idea of a farm is probably idyllic in my head, but am sure not the case in real life.

Still, I'd look into it if it was doable, over time.

Kevhog1988 · 06-08-2015 01:06PM

eviltimeban wrote: »

Absolutely zero. Nothing. Would have to learn from the beginning.

I figured that alright, might be possible to have 100K to invest or have as a "nest egg" alright, after buying it. I haven't started looking at the finance, I'm just more thinking about the "zero farming experience -> owning a farm" part and wondering if it's a crazy thought.

Just looking for a way out of the drudgery of office / suburban living. The idea of a farm is probably idyllic in my head, but am sure not the case in real life.

Still, I'd look into it if it was doable, over time.

smallholding and part time job is doable and pretty enjoyable.

lalababa · 06-08-2015 01:09PM

Not to put you off but as far as I understand, new entrants cannot get sfp or even organic payments. So commercial farming would be out , unless you went dairy -but that is fairly expensive starting out . As a business proposal an accountant would probably laugh at you. At up to 10k an acre there would be a very poor return both for your outlay capital and labour.
Downsizing however and running a small holding producing your own food and a non stressfull part time job would be a different kettle of fish.;)

kowtow · 06-08-2015 01:11PM

If you are bright and have varied business experience it's possible to do it.

And forget just making a living - you can make a small fortune out of farming.

As long as you start with a big one.

eviltimeban · 06-08-2015 01:13PM

lalababa wrote: »

Downsizing however and running a small holding producing your own food and a non stressfull part time job would be a different kettle of fish.;)

I think that's more what I'm going for. It would be less about commercial farming, more about getting out of the rat race and being self sufficient, with the added bonus of selling a bit on the side.

Would have two good business brains going into it, so.... hmmm. I've a lot to ponder.

Huntergonzo · 06-08-2015 01:21PM

Farming is a nice way of life and you are your own boss but it's not without pressure and stress, a farmers income is often heavily reliant on the weather (nuff said) and volatile market prices among many other things, you don't have the security of a steady wage.

Still though if it's something you're genuinely interested in I'd say go look for some experience in it if you can, see if you like it first. If you do like it, I'd recommend doing a green cert course in one of the agricultural colleges (it only takes 2 years, possibly only 1 if you already have a college degree, not sure on that one), there's some excellent grants to get you started once you have the cert and you're under 40.

Kevhog1988 · 06-08-2015 01:25PM

eviltimeban wrote: »

I think that's more what I'm going for. It would be less about commercial farming, more about getting out of the rat race and being self sufficient, with the added bonus of selling a bit on the side.

Would have two good business brains going into it, so.... hmmm. I've a lot to ponder.

get the book of self sufficiency by john seymour

kay 9 · 06-08-2015 01:30PM

I say go for it if you have the capital. Life's too short to have regrets later in life. Be nice to neighbours and they in turn will be a good help to you (most anyway).

It's not all rosy and there will be tough times in it but the good usually out weighs that.
I came back from London to takeover at home and to be honest I'd no interest in going back for any money. However, I do have a part time number on the side as we have a relatively small farm.

Timmaay · 06-08-2015 01:30PM

What sounds like an idealistic way of living life, 2bh I think you need to be realistic here. They say the average kid costs 100k to raise (not sure if thats till 18 or through college 2bh), so thats 200k, also if your escaping for regular holidays now factor that in also, all costs money and harder to escape if there are dependent animals etc on the farm. Finally what way are you pension wise? Your asking for a hell of alot for a small holding to even justify itself as more than a hobby, not to mind support all of the above. I think however a reasonable compromise would be to see if your job could be moved out to the country, likes of a smaller city/town that would be less of a commute, find a country house with the likes if 5/10acres on it, your existing Dublin house should cover that. in time you can develop the few acres on the side, while still having a regular income.

You need to do up plenty of calculations and factor in all the costs, its certainly not something I'd be doing on the whim, even despite how much you might hate your current rat race.

CJhaughey · 06-08-2015 01:37PM

I was talking to guy I know who is a sheep farmer, He said that at recent Teagasc walk-round they visited a dairy operation, mad busy could hardly spare time to talk never mind a cup of anything.
All their capital was tied up in machinery etc and no time off.
Next visit was to a couple of people that had no farming experience and had bought a few acres of the worst farmland you could imagine, absolute no hope of grazing at all. Locals thought that they were fools.
They erected polytunnels and added some soil and grow salad crops for restaurants and some to supermarkets.
They couldn't be busier have a very nice lifestyle can afford to take time off in winter and travel.
Capital outlay in a few polytunnels wasn't cheap but much less than a new tractor.

The success or lack of it will be down to your ability to see a niche and exploit it. Whether its Chillis or Wasabi or Mushrooms if you can see an opportunity then go for it.
There are lots of opportunities in farming but the biggest problem is grants that lock people into a system that discourages innovation.

draiochtanois · 06-08-2015 01:45PM

This post has been deleted.

Mad4simmental · 06-08-2015 02:01PM

Rent a house and a few acres and see how you go for a while.

patsy_mccabe · 06-08-2015 02:23PM

Wait till the weather is really bad. Go out into your back garden and spend the day digging the flower bed. That should give you an idea of what life will be like.

eviltimeban · 06-08-2015 02:35PM

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Wait till the weather is really bad. Go out into your back garden and spend the day digging the flower bed. That should give you an idea of what life will be like.

That wouldn't put me off. No different than walking to a train in the freezing cold and rain and standing on the damp smelly train for an hour, then sitting in an office looking out at said rain and then doing the reverse again that evening.

If I know I'm *meant* to be out in the rain, rain isn't an issue.:pac: Work isn't an issue. I'm not going to be sitting on my hole for the rest of my days, I'm prepared to work.

I get now that "regular" farming is probably not an option. Perhaps it's more about "living off the land", being self sufficient with food and perhaps a part time job. Its a tough one, as the part time job aspect sort of takes the shine off it. Unless it was something I did online / remotely (which is possible).

micraX · 06-08-2015 02:36PM

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Don't want to rain on ur parade, but yes it probably would be crazy, especially in what we'll call "normal farming", be it dairy, beef, sheep. The only hope u would have with a small holding is to hit on some "niche product" for a country market or something like that. With average land price at 10k/acre, u would need a fair nest egg to get started.

Why was tillage and horticulture left out of "normal farming"?

Huntergonzo · 06-08-2015 02:37PM

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Wait till the weather is really bad. Go out into your back garden and spend the day digging the flower bed. That should give you an idea of what life will be like.

Sure what about it, you can always have a cuppa tae and ham sandwich in the hay shed to warm up, job done, you're on your own time farming :-)

farmerwife · 06-08-2015 02:46PM

Think long and hard. As a previous poster said, rent a house and a few acres first and try it out for a while. I'm a city girl, married now for nearly 10 years to a farmer and have a few small children. I hate living in the countryside and I hate the farming lifestyle. I would cut off my right arm right now to leave and move back to the city.
It may turn out to be just what you are looking for but just be aware that it is not for everyone and you don't fully appreciate the reality of country living until you are living it day in, day out.

Kevhog1988 · 06-08-2015 02:49PM

micraX wrote: »

Why was tillage and horticulture left out of "normal farming"?

Doubt he would be able to fund a tillage operation due to acreage , plant etc required

eviltimeban · 06-08-2015 03:04PM

farmerwife wrote: »

Think long and hard. As a previous poster said, rent a house and a few acres first and try it out for a while. I'm a city girl, married now for nearly 10 years to a farmer and have a few small children. I hate living in the countryside and I hate the farming lifestyle. I would cut off my right arm right now to leave and move back to the city.
It may turn out to be just what you are looking for but just be aware that it is not for everyone and you don't fully appreciate the reality of country living until you are living it day in, day out.

I get that. I guess we're different, in the sense that we don't want to be doing what we're doing now for the next 10 or 20 years. What's going to change? More money? More stress? I guess I'm looking for a way to simplify and am aware that farming is not going to be that - as such, it might get very complicated!

So perhaps the small approach is doable. Not sure how we'd make any money though.

Huntergonzo · 06-08-2015 03:04PM

eviltimeban wrote: »

I get now that "regular" farming is probably not an option. Perhaps it's more about "living off the land", being self sufficient with food and perhaps a part time job. Its a tough one, as the part time job aspect sort of takes the shine off it. Unless it was something I did online / remotely (which is possible).

To be fair regular farming is certainly still an option for you, you just have to be clever and plan it right, a solid plan goes a long way. You don't necessarily have to buy land either, although it is a huge advantage to have land and you need a yard but you could rent land as well, just check availability first.

Also their are many types of 'normal farming', certainly not just dairy, beef and sheep, you could also look into other normal farm enterprises such as tillage, chickens, pigs, contract rearing, trees etc etc

I think the advice to rent a house with a bit of land is quite good, at least then you'll have an idea as to whether or not you enjoy farming without being overly committed, but you would need a herd number to buy certain animals, bear that in mind.

Again I'd say if it works out and you like farming look into a green cert course, it's not very time consuming or difficult even for beginners and it's a huge advantage to have the cert if you're under 40 and certainly no harm to have it even if you're over 40.

eviltimeban · 06-08-2015 03:29PM

Huntergonzo wrote: »

the cert if you're under 40 and certainly no harm to have it even if you're over 40.

I am exactly 40. Is that an issue?

Huntergonzo · 06-08-2015 03:39PM

eviltimeban wrote: »

I am exactly 40. Is that an issue?

No issue whatsoever, it's just that if you were under 40 (might even be as low as 35 for some schemes, not exactly sure) with a green cert then you'd qualify for more grants, that's all.

dohc turbo2 · 06-08-2015 03:43PM

Is it 100k u have in total, I took over family farm last year that was rented , 2km of new fencing , cattle , some machinery and a slatted shed later , stamp duty I'd have most of ur money spent . Hope what ever u do works out , I work full time . And have suckers , it's time consuming and hard work . An expensive hobby people keep telling me

eviltimeban · 06-08-2015 03:51PM

dohc turbo2 wrote: »

Is it 100k u have in total, I took over family farm last year that was rented , 2km of new fencing , cattle , some machinery and a slatted shed later , stamp duty I'd have most of ur money spent . Hope what ever u do works out , I work full time . And have suckers , it's time consuming and hard work . An expensive hobby people keep telling me

No, it'd be if I sold my Dublin house and bought something I might have about that much left to invest (or survive on).

Deepsouthwest · 06-08-2015 03:59PM

micraX wrote: »

Why was tillage and horticulture left out of "normal farming"?

Not much of either going on between the rocks and the bushes here in west cork. If the op wants to immerse himself in proper country life, then he's going to do it where he can afford to buy a few acres, which probably won't be in the golden vale!

dohc turbo2 · 06-08-2015 04:02PM

eviltimeban wrote: »

No, it'd be if I sold my Dublin house and bought something I might have about that much left to invest (or survive on).

Got ya ,

WhatsGoingOn2 · 06-08-2015 04:18PM

Have a read of this. Guy from Londo has done something similar, albeit with no kids.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pigs-Clover-Accidentally-Fell-Love-ebook/dp/B00KGJSMSC/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1438874104&sr=1-2

eviltimeban · 06-08-2015 04:27PM

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Not much of either going on between the rocks and the bushes here in west cork. If the op wants to immerse himself in proper country life, then he's going to do it where he can afford to buy a few acres, which probably won't be in the golden vale!

Was thinking more east coast, I'd like to be near the sea / beach. Arklow / Wexford etc.

Leaving the city and buying a farm

Comments