How can I get support and funds to start a small farm?

Question

no one I know wants me to be a farmer, why is it so hard to get support.

Answer 1

It is nearly impossible to get funding support to start a small farm if you have no previous farming experience.  

I've been actively raising and selling meat goats since 1999.  I am one of the rare people who is successful at it.  I have about 100 does.  I have such a large customer base, I sell myself out, AND all the market kids a fellow goat farmer 12 miles from me produces.  He has 200 does.  

Yet despite being sucessful I'm still unable to get any loans or grants.  I am a disabled woman.  I qualify for bloody well everything....yet instututions are repetedly unwilling to do loans, or grants.  Not enough experience....too small an operation.....yadda yadda.  A million reasons why no money/support should be forthcoming.

I've found that almost all the loans and grants go to people with a serrious farming background (their parents are farmers and gave them land), or one who are already well set up, and can send lots of very pretty pictures.

For most of that stuff, I find the people who qualify and get the loans/grants, are those who need them least of all.

If it's really your goal, do as I did, start small, and work your rear end off.  I started with just three goats in 1999.  I now have around 100.

Starting small does have it's advantages.  It allows you to learn as you go, and not make finacially horrible decisions.  

A lady near me got a second mortgage on her home for $16,000 and purchased 180 "prime" meat goats to leap into the business.

Almost her entire first kid crop died, because her does were NOT "prime" and she didn't know about minerals you need to supply to produce healthy kids.

The first year she had to sell 1/2 of her "prime" does just to try and make the payments.  Kids continue to die at alarming rates for her, despite the fact that she now spends mega amounts of money on minerals.  They are the wrong minerals ment for the coats of show goats, and not to produce healthy kids in commercial breeding does.

This year the price for goats has dropped in the toilet.  She paid $125 for each of those "prime" does.  She cannot get more than $35 each for them this year.

Starting small does have some very real advantages.  My sales continue to be very strong, having gained 20 new customers just last month alone!  

Decide what you are most interested in, with farming.  Be realistic in your goals.  Do your research FIRST.  In other words, do not try to open a raw milk dairy in a state where it is illegal to sell raw milk.  Realize that if you want to sell items like llama, alpaca angora rabbit & other exotic wools for fiber arts, that is a good economy business only.  What will you do if the economy drops in the toilet?  Do you have a local farmers market you can sell at?  How will you get your customers?  Advertising is expensive.  Do you have a passion for growing hot peppers?  Do you have a local hispanic market to support your hot pepper sales?

There are all sorts of things you need to think about.  It's NEVER too early to start making a plan, and doing research!

Best of luck to you,

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 2

It takess so much capital to be a farmer its hard to start. Sometimes if you go to work for a person who may be retiring in a few years you gain knowledge and may be able to work into a partnership

Answer 3

A good way to start farming is renting land from someone, and even renting the machinery.  My parents farm and don't make that much money.  Sometimes farmers just have enough to break even with all the expenses.

Answer 4

dg is right, that's a good way to start.

Answer 5

Peaches your story sounds familiar.

Try this question and my answer.  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

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Unlike most answers here I will say that your goal is VERY achievable VERY admirable and I will tell you how. With the right setup and knowledge 2-3K per acre income is very realistic. Not initially of course but in 5 or so years it is.

First, stop thinking of buying a farm or land just yet. Instead you need to learn what kind of land/farm you are looking for. So the only way to do that is to learn about farming. You have 3 basic approaches here.

Buy a farm and learn on the job. Not very smart, not likely to succeed. Think about it. Would you go start a restaurant and just learn on the job? I didn't think so. Farming isn't just about taking care of animals and growing stuff, its a business. Its one of the toughest businesses to make money at because of the enormous amount of knowledge needed to address everyday problems.

You could also rent a house in a small rural community, find a job there and work for some elderly farmers in your spare time or as your primary job. This would be better than the first way but it will take finding the right farmer and several years to get where you need to be.

The best way is to apprentice at a farm. You can find some excellent opportunities in this area. In sustainable agriculture circles there are some very very good farmers to work for. These types of farmers (sustainable agriculture) are true agrarians. They will show you how to make a living off the land while improving it, they will show you how to find markets for your products, they will show you how to manage your business. Here is a link to locate one http://www.attrainternships.ncat.org/

I would focus on the ones that deal more with "sustainable agriculture" and avoid ones hung up on the term "organic". I say that because usually the "organic" farms its more of a anti pollution religion than a true understanding of nature.

This is a list of a few very excellent books that I recommend you read to give you an idea of exactly how encompassing the term "sustainable agriculture" really is.

You Can Farm - Joel Salatin

The Contrary Farmer - Gene Logsden

Introduction to Permaculture - Bill Mollison

Making Your Small Farm Profitable - Ron Macher

Really any book by Joel Salatin is worth the read,

Here are a few magazines

http://www.acresusa.com/magazines/magazi...

http://stockmangrassfarmer.net/

http://www.americanagriculturist.com/

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

Here are a few more websites

http://www.polyfacefarms.com/index.html -this is Joel Salatins farm site

http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/

http://www.attra.org/

http://www.sustainabletable.org/intro/wh... - good description of sustainable agriculture.

With the knowledge you gain by reading those books and doing an apprenticeship you will be able to confidently go out and purchase a small farm, provide all of your necessities, make a profit from your work and be able to pay double what most people pay for land to expand your farm. I say this because I am doing it NOW.

One last thing I forgot to mention. I would avoid any and all advice given by the USDA. Think about it, they have been advising small farmers for decades now and look how many of them are left. The one thing you might consider hitting them up for is a USDA beginning farmer loan. I dunno much about it but I have a friend that used it to buy 120 acres and so far he says it was a snap with them. http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=...  

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Of course that answer was in response to someone who had no farming experience.  Maybe you do and some of that info might not be as helpful.

Pay close attention to what Bohemian_garnet says also.  She is speaking from experience and its easy to see she knows what she is talking about.  She touches on alot of the same topics I did in that answer.

1.  Get the knowledge BEFORE you invest.

2.  Diversify to protect yourself from down years that can and will happen

3.  Start small, and expand.  Its slow, hard work but it will be worth it.

email me and I will help you, encourage you, answer questions if I can and then you cant say "no one I know want me to be a farmer?" lol.

Answer 6

It's hard to get support because many people view farmers as poor people.  It can be hard if you are starting out and have to buy all your own machinery and land, etc.  I would start by contacting your local Farm Bureau, Farm Service Agency, and Soil and Water Conservation District.  These agencies offer many low interest loans to farmers and producers of the land.  Good luck!

Answer 7

try the oda

Answer 8

It is hard to get support because getting started farming is an expensive venture and pays small dividends.  It can be a great way of life, however, and if you are willing to work at it, go for it.

There are several sources of loans to get started farming, some better than others.  Read this article for several sources of money to purchase land to start farming.  

http://www.cfra.org/resources/beginning_...