The short answer? Yes. The long answer will be the content of this article. Despite the comfort of the division of labor, and the overall comfort of office life, some people feel a return to natural living is the best way to experience life. Farm work is hard, but it’s deeply satisfying. It can also be quite profitable if you know how to plan your property and manage your operation well. Will it be easy? No. Will it be worth it? That remains to be seen, as you cannot give guarantees to anyone opening a business as to its success. But is it possible to be a renewed, beautiful, satisfying and deeply incredible way of life? We’d say yes.
But first, you need to know how to start the farm from scratch in the first place. You can learn methods for doing so in the following fields:
Zoning Laws
Zoning laws are important to consider when starting your own farm, and also the registration of the property you hope to open this on. Let’s say you owned a plot of land in the middle of a city. There will likely be deep restrictions based on what you can or cannot do there. If your property isn’t licensed for business use, that will be another hurdle. Even in rural areas, even open fields may have some issues depending on their utilities, such as public pipelines or other facilities that are part of the property.
The variables and potentially permissions you need to begin are to complex and variant to list here, unless you’d like to read a testbook thick guide to get you started. Finding a competent agricultural lawyer and applying to your local business and zoning authority can help illuminate you on the practical needs to be found here, and generally help you make more informed decisions from the offset.
Without these considerations taken care of and properly planned for, you’re often going to have a hard time generating the best efforts for your chosen path forward.
Genre Of Farm
What farm would you like to begin? A smallholding with a humble amount of farm animals can be a great way to start, as it will teach you how to relate to these animals, how to care for them, and how to ultimately profit from their rearing. It will also teach you land maintenance, such as draining, security and humble construction of sheds and fences to keep your animals protected. A smallholding only dealing with eggs will be much different from those purchasing livestock, and dealing with the vetenarian upkeep there. Farming is a net term for many different types of industry, and it’s your responsiblity to come up with a solid business plan in the first instance. We often think of farms as humble and natural processes, but they are and always have been a business enterprise. While empathy is needed to care for your animals ethically and run the best operation possible, starting a farm is nothing if you’re not available to know where your foundational base is, and to what end your investment should flow.
Relationships & Supply
No farm is an island, no matter your humble and romantic ideals of escaping to the country, nor how many hours of Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing you have played. You will need to develop relationships with the local community, local farmers, and also become intimate with local suppliers. The crop seed companies, if negotiated with well, could provide you with long-term inventory options at a good price, and this kind of working relationship can be invaluable.
If you’re inexperienced, asking for the advice of farmers near you can help you learn the fundamentals. Possessing good relationships with the local community can help alert you to when a sheep has escaped the field, or perhaps inform you of community market events that you now have the real potential of contributing to. You may also decide to help your local community flourish in certain ways, such as helping the local people’s authority fight against plans for estate building or other potential impacts to the beauty of the environment.
Of course, while it makes sound financial sense to cater to good relationships and build great supply networks, the satisfaction this can yield will be major, as you will become a pillar in the community and generally build a functional, rewarding life for yourself.
Profitability & Investment
Farms are not cheap. From the industrial equipment they require for harvesting, the transport vehicles you need to take your livestock to the abbatoir, or perhaps the regular cost of veterinarian work, you will need to ensure you keep a financial backing of worth in order to help you through the difficult moments. If you don’t have this, starting small is always worthwhile. Remember that farming is quite unforgiving from time to time. A particularly harsh winter can affect the land for the seasons to come, or can mean you lose the lives of some of your livestock despite your attempts at saving them. A pregnant animal may give birth only to lose all of their children and die in the process.
This not only comes with an emotional cost you will always have to bear, but financially can be quite damaging. That means you cannot come into this business without a full intent to make it work, and a real knowledge of the challenges that face you. At the very least, financial flexibility is the name of the game, and profitability is likely not on the cards for some years. However, once established a farm can become a highly profitable venture, especially as you grow your functionality and build your reputation, or gain lucrative contracts with other wholesalers or supply networks. In other words, the main profitability of a farm is the lifestyle you will lead, the things you will learn, and the journey you will attend to as you begin. To us, that sounds hard but rewarding.
With these tips, you’ll realize it is more than possible to start a farm in 2018, and to do it well. Good luck!
