How would you start your own farm?

Question

Say you inherited money and live in a suburban area. There few farms around. Say you wanted to start your own farm (such as poultry, or rabbit) to free range the animals and sell organic. How would you figure out how to start? what supplies to need? What if someone wanted to buy just one body part? I have many more questions. But I need a place to start. I am dedicated to doing this. Can anyone help please?

Answer 1

You might talk to Agricultural Extension Agents, or even study at a University.  You could get an "Agricultural Engineering" degree, or something similar.  

The pioneers would find virgin forest, cut the trees, farm until the soil ran out, then move on.  

Answer 2

I would wait a few years until the genetic bomb threat is over

Answer 3

I sort of did this.. I moved from the city to the country and now have a small hobby farm with my own free range hens...

I also have hair sheep and a few other critters as pets

first thing - find property ideally already set up to use for what you want.. this will save time and money

this link might also help

http://www.gomestic.com/Rural-Living/Mov...

its about moving to the country.

also check zoning laws

Answer 4

Intern on a small diversified farm for a couple of years. This way you can see if you like working long hours 7 days a week in all weather conditions for low pay. you say there are no farms near you if that is true than go and find one that houses interns and go and live on a farm for a summer.

A lot of people have romantic notions of farming with zero experience and once they find out that the work can be brutally hard, very dirty, long hours (a 16 hour day is common) and the pay is low they decide to find another line of work.

What you will need is a minimum of 10 acres of land, barns, fencing, feed bins, a truck, trailer, potable water source, animals, organic certification which will cost around $200K to $300K to get started.

You will need to be located near a source for organic feed and a slaughterhouse that is at least state inspected to process the animals you raise. than you will need good refrigeration and freezers to store the processed meats. You will have to find a market before you start raising animals for food (it does not sell itself, you must be decent at marketing to make a living selling what you grow).

Raising animals means not being able to take a vacation or leaving the farm for more than 18 hours (so no overnight visits unless you can find a farm sitter who will not kill several animals while you are gone-these people are very very hard to find in our modern world)

Answer 5

starting a small poultry or rabbit operation does not take much, however remember small operations aren't hugely profitable, One suggestion I would make especially if you were into permaculture or organic farming/ranching etc. would be to check out communes/intentional communities there are many which if you are a adult will offer you a internship or some are income sharing, there can be heavy screening requirements to joining but if your enthusiastic and interested in learning about these fields it is a good area to start. I always suggest to anyone who is interested in agriculture and is from the suburbs, big city that they should start first with the skills then with  the land, the land is something that can be easily negotiated [i know quite a few people who become farmhand and live simply and then move on to renting and then on to buying land it seems to be the best solution] I have seen many a friend who have thought the farming/rural life is for them and then realize overall it not just not on their dance card. anyway provided a few links of the top of my head that I have heard from people who are on that path, run with it and have fun.

Good Luck and Blessings with your journey!!