Acres on a farm?

Question

How many acres should a small farm have, with just food growing on it? How about a small farm with some cows, horses and food?

Answer 1

It depends on the climate, the operation, and what you are trying to do.  In our area it would take 20 to 25 acres to feed a cow or horse for a year with only minimal supplemental feed.  You can grow enough vegetables for a family here on about an acre, but this does not include fruit, meat or milk

Answer 2

The answers given to date are to simplistic to answer your question.  How many acres you will need will depend primarily on the operation you intend to implement, the soil productivity of the site you have chosen and the external environmental conditions (weather, disease, etc) that affect your chosen crops (crops can be livestock, also).  Without these details, any comments as to the size needed are nothing more than wild a$$ guesses.  Even with these details,  it becomes little more than a scientific wild a$$ guess.

Good luck with your operation.

Answer 3

It depends on how many horses and cows that you want. 1 1/2 acres per horse is the rule of thumb.  2 cows per acre.  Are you growing hay and grain to feed them?  or just food for your family?

Answer 4

John Seymour, generally considered the father of the back-to-the land movement, outlined how a 5-acre farm, planned correctly, could support food for yourself, with a cow, a horse for plowing, and some hogs.

Seymour, John. The Guide to Self-Sufficiency. New York: Hearst Books, 1976.

Although there is a newer version available (reprinted).

Answer 5

With just a home garden, it can be an acre or so.  With cattle and a home garden, you wanna figure on about an acre per animal.  It really depends.

Answer 6

You could do this on 5 acres as long as you are willing to buy  all the hay and grain the livestock will eat as there will not be enough room to grow fodder for the livestock or have enough pasture to rotate them through so the animals do not eat all the pasture down to dirt. You can do chickens on far less land than cows or horses.

For just produce (vegetables, fruit trees, brambles, etc) a couple of acres will give you enough space for a huge garden

Answer 7

You could grow a pretty good garden on 1/2 acre for all the food you would need for your family. To call it a farm, I think you should have at least five acres. With that you could raise enough vegetables and fruit to have pretty good sales. Then you need to add an acre more for each animal you want to keep. Keep in mind that you always wish to have more animals in the future and might want to have the extra land when you start out.