My husband and I recently graduated from North Carolina State University, both with degrees in agriculture. My husband graduated with a B.S. in Agricultural Science and I have an A.S. in Livestock and Poultry Management.
My husband spent several years working on a cattle ranch in WV, while I grew up working on a farm where the main cash crop besides pumpkins, strawberries, Christmas trees and livestock was Ag tourism. The farm was open to the public 7 months out of the year and we led educational tours and field trips through the working barns and fields.
We are a young couple with a baby and at this time we are planning, researching and saving. Our goal is to eventually have a farm where we can raise/grow our own organic food and hopefully enough for others as well (we are very interested in providing a CSA program). I am also extremely interested in also incorporating a smaller scale Ag tourism program as well. Although we both grew up working on farms, our family will be first generation farmers. We are coming up hard against the price of land and are wondering if anyone out there knows of good areas to start out small with the ability to grow. We are also interested in the idea of leasing from retired farmers/ranchers and would love to hear other's advice or ideas on how to get going.
We are both young, dedicated and hard workers. We have a lot of exciting ideas that are a bit different then your average farm and we are excited about putting our knowledge and passion to work! We are biting at the bit and extremely excited to turn our dreams into reality!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Family in need of farm
Hi Sebron,
I don't know that I have much useful advice but I am curious to know if you want your farm in North Carolina or are you willing to move? I guess it goes without saying that you should check with the local people that farm/garden in the area you are considering so you will know the challenges of climate, soil, and pests when selecting a piece of property.
If you have time to share some of those different farming ideas I know there are people out here who would love to read about them on Dave's Garden.
It is my dream also to grow organic food for my family and friends (and I am sometimes able to do that on our 2.3 acres). Where we live here in north Texas there is deep, kind of heavy soil (mostly clay) and it tends to be fertile and easy to work when amended with compost. Our main problems are due to the weather. Some years, like 2007 and 2008, we have had too much rain (and flooding). Then there are years like this one where we have a serious drought. Water issues aside, the weather is extremely hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter and very windy in the fall and spring. That makes it really hard to grow anything.
Hopefully you will find a farm/land in a more agreeable climate. Good luck!
Not sure if you looking in NC since that is where you are now...
Looking at your education it looks as though you could probably do a poultry farm which there are a lot of in Union County...it is just to the east of Charlotte (Mecklenburg County). Here is one that I found http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17012205/4504-Austin-Rd-Monroe-NC/
We lived in the area a while back and there were a lot of chicken and turkey farms all around.
It looks like there is potential to expand as time goes on...
Hope this helps.
Sebron, you might contact Anthony never can remember his difficult last name but it starts with Flocca...) at Appalachian Sustainable Development, which (I think) is in Abingdon, VA. http://www.asdevelop.org/
I'm sorry I don't have any information or ideas that can help you but I sure am looking forward to hearing all about your work and progress.
You might try looking around NW Arkansas. Land is comparatively cheap Some of the land is not anygood for farming. But some is.How many acres were you thinking about? Improved or unimproved?
There are poultry farms,truck gardens, Tree farms.Peach orchards.Vinyards.Try info about Clarksville,Russellville,Fort Smith,Huntsville and Feyetteville
I do not know anything about this property, just saw it on CL and then read your post and thought you may be interested.
http://northmiss.craigslist.org/grd/2579477416.html
RUSTIC WOOD HOME. 4 BDRM/2 BATH HAS 80X120 COVERED ARENA . PIPED FENCING. ALL OF THIS ON 20 ACRES