on becoming self-sufficient. We had a "hobby farm" for over 10 years and tried a number of things. Here are some ideas - some we did, others did not for various reasons but are ideas that worked for other people we knew.
* buy 2-3 weaned calves and feed them until big enough to butcher (over 800 pounds), keep some meat for yourself and sell the rest either by the side or if you have lots of freezer space by the package or pound. This works best if you have enough pasture and hay or can get it cheap. We bought many dairy calves directly from the dairy and raised them until at least 8 months - even when well fed they look like a bag of bones but will surprise you how much meat you get from them. You will have to develop a customer base and will find you have more customers than meat about the time you quit doing it!
* the same with lambs - buy in spring - some farmers will sell lambs at a fairly good price and they will grow well if fed well and you can butcher in the fall.
* chickens or other fowl for eggs and meat.
* make something to sell at farmer's markets. They are everywhere and usually a good place to sell plants, food, crafty creations especially oriented to the garden.
* contact your local branch of the dept of agriculture for ideas on what might work in your area. A lot depends on the soil, topography, climate, distance from major centers, etc. as to which agricultural enterprises may be viable in your area.
* if you have a part-time job it will make a lot of things more possible.
The main thing people who want to live off the land must realize is that it is a lot of work - 24/7 when you have animals. Many times I thought of just moving out into the barn during calving and lambing. We checked our animals every 2 hours day and night during calving and lambing and more if anything looked "odd". As a result we had an extremely low mortality rate and a 180% lamb crop (some people are more than happy with 150%). Since DH had a full-time job, I did all the work when he wasn't home. However, if an animal dies that is a loss of $$$ as well as being very sad. So my biggest recommendation is that if you don't want to do the work go on a farm vacation experience on your holidays and enjoy it because a lot of farming is really drudgery. I did really love a lot of it but have had the experience and wouldn't do it again. Well, maybe chickens, I did love our hens and the eggs.
Some ideas...
Thanks, those are some excellent ideas. Many people in our area raise livestock for profit. It definately is a lot of work. Those who think farm life is easy have never experienced it.