When starting a farm...

[FarmersDigest]

How do you know what people are buying in the area? We have looked on Craigslist in the farm section for that are, and we looked at the auction for that area. Any other ideas? We also looked on Craigslist for the alfalfa, since that's what we would be selling too. I was thinking of doing a post, but not sure about that. Thank you for any help you can give me.

 

[FarmersDigest]

For example, we were thinking about goats, but if there isn't a market, we wouldn't want to do that. So how would we find out if people are buying?

 

[Bossroo]

Where is your future farm going to be located ? What are the weather conditions like ? How large of a farm, soil types, terrain, carrying capacity of the land of various livestock, what are the local crops grown in the area and their yields. What are your experiences in farming, education and other skills. Population of surrounding towns and ethnic base. These as well as other factors will influence what to grow to market.

 

[Southern by choice]

Check to see if you have an extension service in your area.

 

[FarmersDigest]

Where is your future farm going to be located ? What are the weather conditions like ? How large of a farm, soil types, terrain, carrying capacity of the land of various livestock, what are the local crops grown in the area and their yields. What are your experiences in farming, education and other skills. Population of surrounding towns and ethnic base. These as well as other factors will influence what to grow to market.

Awesome, thank you very much! The farm is an hour away from the nearest store, which worried us because I'm sure we might run into a problem with that. It gets really cold during the winter and really hot in the summer. 400 acres. I'm going to have to figure out the other stuff, as I'm not sure of it all. There is angus on the farm, alfalfa, and horses.

 

[FarmersDigest]

Check to see if you have an extension service in your area.

Ok great, thank you!

 

[Baymule]

An hour from the store.....will teach you to make a list and buy two or three of everything. A well stocked pantry will come in handy. You will learn to plan your trips to town and do everything you need to do in that one trip.

What state is the farm in and what towns would be your market area? Alfalfa is sold all over the country, as are Angus.

Here is a link to a farm that has their own USDA butcher/slaughter specializing in grass fed meat. He buys from other farmers as well as raising his own beef.

http://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com/

Here is a link that is packed with information on hog farming. They recently opened their own butcher/slaughter shop. You can spend forever on his blog, I love reading it!

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/home/

Both of these sell local, plus they ship. Look around in your area for anybody doing the same thing.

Is there any farmers markets in the area? There is a CSA in Pittsburg, Texas and they sell in Dallas, Texas-about a 2- 3 hour drive.

If there are Angus and alfalfa grown now on this farm-who are they selling to? You might already have a built in market and her we are trying to reinvent the wheel.

 

[FarmersDigest]

An hour from the store.....will teach you to make a list and buy two or three of everything. A well stocked pantry will come in handy. You will learn to plan your trips to town and do everything you need to do in that one trip.

What state is the farm in and what towns would be your market area? Alfalfa is sold all over the country, as are Angus.

Here is a link to a farm that has their own USDA butcher/slaughter specializing in grass fed meat. He buys from other farmers as well as raising his own beef.

http://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com/

Here is a link that is packed with information on hog farming. They recently opened their own butcher/slaughter shop. You can spend forever on his blog, I love reading it!

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/home/

Both of these sell local, plus they ship. Look around in your area for anybody doing the same thing.

Is there any farmers markets in the area? There is a CSA in Pittsburg, Texas and they sell in Dallas, Texas-about a 2- 3 hour drive.

If there are Angus and alfalfa grown now on this farm-who are they selling to? You might already have a built in market and her we are trying to reinvent the wheel.

So true, and that will be nice to get into a routine of getting everything in 1 trip! My DH gets paid 1 a month, so I already know how to get everything we need and pay all bills in the beginning of the month. I was taught by my grandparents and mom to have a stocked pantry.

It's in Oregon. The main cities would be Pendleton, and Bend.

Wow, you are too good to us! Thank you for helping us out with all the info you have shared and found! We looked up small processing plants, and DH said he doesn't want to sell to other states, just too much do's and don'ts to go through. The plant he works out now is a small business, and all the crap they have to put up with from inspectors, has made him not want to do that. He knows we will still have to go through inspections just selling locally, but he said it's not as extreme.

Hogs would be great too! We were talking about doing hogs, but that will have to be later down the road. As we are going to listen to everyone, and start small! When DH gets home I'll have him look at these great websites too. Because they have so much info and great ideas! Thank you for finding these.

I've tried seeing if anyone else is doing the same thing, but all I can find is farmers selling cattle on Craigslist. Oh I did find a butcher in Bend that buys from local farmers. So maybe we can talk to them?

Yes, there is a big farmers market in Bend. Didn't think of looking up Pendleton, I need to do that next!

The husband and wife team are living on the farm retired, so it's just kind of a hobby farm. They sell cattle to the local auction. It's in Vale, it's not like the auctions here. Where the animals are sick and nasty. It's one that can do the auction on line, and the lots look nice! Here animals are sick and the lots are nasty!

Lol I like your way of thinking! Thanks again for your knowledge, taking your time to help us, and for researching! We go to the farm in Jan., and I'll be taking pics so I can post them on here.

 

[Baymule]

Well, you ask for help around here, and you get a deluge!

 

[OneFineAcre]

I just did a quick search and their is a fair amount of information available on the Oregon Department of Agricultural website, with a lot of information broken down by county. Also, along the lines of what someone else said, weather and soil will dictate your options. The state website also has agricultural maps that give some of that type of information too.

Isn't eastern Oregon fairly dry? I was looking at some of those maps and areas there are listed as "arid" and "semi arid". You would need to know that for sure and if irrigation is required and available water source.

All of this information would also dictate the fair price for the land.