Small acreage profitability?

[MeAnthony]

Hello all,

My mom's long term renter recently told her he's downsizing and won't be renting her ground any longer. She's got 15 acres tillable and was getting about $1600 annually for rent. Location is about 2 miles west of North Adams, MI. I understand there a lot of inputs and time required to make any farming operation successful but geez, there's gotta be a way to make more than $100 an acres off a place?

I'm just outside Moscow, MI and have about 4 acres at home that I could do something with, other than spend my summer mowing it.
I have a Kioti 2620 tractor but not much else that would support a farming operation. I baled a lot of hay as a kid, loved doing that.... but that was 40 years ago and I may not survive such an endeavor today. At least not without several breaks...

A long time ago, mom's place was Anson Meeks' Potato Farm. I kinda thought it would be cool to go back to that, as I've not heard of anyone else here in south central Michigan growing potatoes. But.... is that viable, where's the market, etc?
My neighbor works on a farm and was telling me about food-grade soybeans? He said they're planted and harvested with the same equipment as regular soybeans but are exported directly to Japan?
I don't think a livestock operation would be sensible at mom's, as I'd have to make sure I get over there daily to check on things.
I'm also wondering about a chicken/egg facility, given the new law in Michigan about selling only cage-free eggs? I could fence off 3 1/2 acres here at home, build a couple chicken houses and buy a bunch of layers? A 2-dozen pack of eggs was over $7 at the store recently and I'd expect those prices will still go up a little?

But anyway.... I'd be willing to invest in some older equipment and learn what I need to in order to be successful at something but I don't know what is profitable on such small acreages?

Thanks for your time and suggestions, I do appreciate it.
Anthony

 

[Tony in SD]

In my part of the world, you would have a hard time turning the equipment around. IMHO With that small of an acreage, you would have to grow some sort of labor intensive, high demand crop(s) to net much more than $100/acre.

 

[plattman]

I hobby farmed a bunch more acres than that and never made a dime. I spend $ on other hobbies now.

 

[RedMF40]

Orchard? I understand cherries do well in Michigan. More an investment of time than money since you won't be seeing a harvest for a few years.

 

[Mule Meat]

An ole boy here is trying something new with 5 acres.
He wants to divide it up into 50' x 50' plots. Put four of them together to make a 100' x 100' block laid out like a city with paths between each block. Then rent each plot out for $100 each for people to grow gardens on. For each 100 x 100 block he would get $400. It sounds a little corny to me but he has a lot of people that live in town interested in the idea with food prices and all.

 

[Mark-Mi]

Hello all,

My mom's long term renter recently told her he's downsizing and won't be renting her ground any longer. She's got 15 acres tillable and was getting about $1600 annually for rent. Location is about 2 miles west of North Adams, MI. I understand there a lot of inputs and time required to make any farming operation successful but geez, there's gotta be a way to make more than $100 an acres off a place?

I'm just outside Moscow, MI and have about 4 acres at home that I could do something with, other than spend my summer mowing it.
I have a Kioti 2620 tractor but not much else that would support a farming operation. I baled a lot of hay as a kid, loved doing that.... but that was 40 years ago and I may not survive such an endeavor today. At least not without several breaks...

A long time ago, mom's place was Anson Meeks' Potato Farm. I kinda thought it would be cool to go back to that, as I've not heard of anyone else here in south central Michigan growing potatoes. But.... is that viable, where's the market, etc?
My neighbor works on a farm and was telling me about food-grade soybeans? He said they're planted and harvested with the same equipment as regular soybeans but are exported directly to Japan?
I don't think a livestock operation would be sensible at mom's, as I'd have to make sure I get over there daily to check on things.
I'm also wondering about a chicken/egg facility, given the new law in Michigan about selling only cage-free eggs? I could fence off 3 1/2 acres here at home, build a couple chicken houses and buy a bunch of layers? A 2-dozen pack of eggs was over $7 at the store recently and I'd expect those prices will still go up a little?

But anyway.... I'd be willing to invest in some older equipment and learn what I need to in order to be successful at something but I don't know what is profitable on such small acreages?

Thanks for your time and suggestions, I do appreciate it.
Anthony

Your mom needs a better renter, should be getting 200 a acre minimum if the ground is good enough to grow potatoes on.
Southern Mi. potato grower.
https://www.lennardag.com/

 

[caterpillar guy]

Most enterprises in the farm sector require a very large investment or a lot of hired machinery to do much of any farming in a way that is profitable. I keep hearing about a deal where you would collect money for vegetables. Then once planted harvesting is dived by the shares prepurchased .Another words if Somebody bought 2 shares that would be their allotment of each picking lets say on string beans. Then the picking would be dived by the shares and they would either pick them up or you would deliver them. This would go on all season. IF the crop fails they are out the dollars. So they would be relying on your ability to grow a crop and also they would be out the money if it is a failure. I would suppose there would be some details I have not been told about in full on how these things would be done and everybody is happy/ content with the results of the season.

 

[WESnIL]

An ole boy here is trying something new with 5 acres.
He wants to divide it up into 50' x 50' plots. Put four of them together to make a 100' x 100' block laid out like a city with paths between each block. Then rent each plot out for $100 each for people to grow gardens on. For each 100 x 100 block he would get $400. It sounds a little corny to me but he has a lot of people that live in town interested in the idea with food prices and all.

Have you ever been in a large college town? If not, get close to the married student housing areas; you will find garden plots nearby. In spring, those areas are full of busy bodies prepping the ground, planting the seed, plants, etc. Then check back later in the summer when the interest is gone, the sun is hot, the ground is hard, and the weeds are taller than the intended crop. As a landlord on small plots, one better be prepared to finish the project, pick up tools, etc. that are left and clean up the plant debris in preparation for next year's energetic souls.

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

"I keep hearing about a deal where you would collect money for vegetables. Then once planted harvesting is dived by the shares prepurchased ."


A copy/paste from Wikipedia:

"Community-supported agriculture (CSA model) or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alternative socioeconomic model of agriculture and food distribution that allows the producer and consumer to share the risks of farming. The model is a subcategory of civic agriculture that has an overarching goal of strengthening a sense of community through local markets.

In return for subscribing to a harvest, subscribers receive either a weekly or bi-weekly box of produce or other farm goods. This includes in-season fruits, vegetables, and can expand to dried goods, eggs, milk, meat, etc. Typically, farmers try to cultivate a relationship with subscribers by sending weekly letters of what is happening on the farm, inviting them for harvest, or holding an open-farm event. Some CSAs provide for contributions of labor in lieu of a portion of subscription costs."

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Unless you're willing to fully commit to farming, there's really nothing more profitable than renting. There will either be a significant investment in equipment, or time, but usually both. You're not going to go out there in the spring, scuff up the ground with your little Kioti, and throw some seeds around, then cash in in the fall.

If there was something low-overhead and profitable, every farmer would do it, and it would quickly cease to be low-overhead and profitable...

You mentioned potatoes. The situation around here is there is one massive grower, who has an exclusive contract to grow a specific type of potato for a large manufacturer of frozen potato products. There is no "potato elevator" where Farmer McGillicuddy can sell his pickup truck load of random spuds. If you grow potatoes, you have to direct-market them yourself to make any money at it. That means farmers' markets, and competing with all the other stands at the market that sell potatoes.

That's pretty much the case with most crops. Unless you're willing to commit full time to producing and marketing the product, which usually means quitting your day job, you're not going to be making any money at it. ON A SMALL SCALE.

Obviously if you've got hundreds or thousands of acres, it's a different story. You make it up on volume and economies of scale, and having what a buyer wants in the quantities they need.

 

[RobCons]

I have some friends that grow hay on small acreages. Usually the fields are close enough together they can drive equipment from one to the next.

 

[JOCCO]

Around me people have been backing off these very small lots. To much time and trouble to move stuff to them. And bigger equipment makes them not feasible.

 

[DanielW]

I'll approach this from a different perspective (and most folks will think I'm crazy): But... Why be so concerned about profitability?

Does your mother have sheds or barns to store equipment or hay? And do you like to tinker and fix old equipment? Given your original post and that you're writing on an antique tractor forum, I think the answer might be 'yes'. If so, why not try to have some fun doing hay or something similar. You probably won't make any money on it, but you probably won't lose much either. And there are way, way worse ways to spend time and money than tinkering with old equipment and trying your hand at old-time farming methods.

This is very much predicated on your willingness and enjoyment when tinkering with old equipment. If you don't like fixing things or figuring things out, this advice isn't for you. But if it were me (who loves to tinker and fix old equipment) and if you think there might be a market for more hay in the area, I'd be looking for an old NH hayliner in good shape, an old rolabar rake, an old 40-50 HP tractor with three point and live PTO, some basic tillage equipment, and have fun. Or you could get the same old tractor and tillage equipment and try potatoes/garlic/vegtables, but they're a little more maintenance-intensive and folks who try vegetables on small scales often lose interest as WESnIL notes above.

Whatever you do, you may quickly find it's not your cup of tea or that you're not making any money. But you'll only be in it about $5-$10k and can probably sell the equipment for as much as you paid for it. Compare that to some folks spending $50k on a boat or $80k on a sports-car or high-end truck.

I always get a little flamdoozled when some folks on here start talking and crunching numbers about profitability and trying to justify costs on small scale operations. Yes, those are definitely very important considerations, especially if farming is your primary source of income. But you can't always look strictly at your time-to-profit ratio as a metric of how to live your life. If you follow that logic to its ultimate conclusion, all of us on here should probably sell all our old tractors/equipment and stop posting on these forums and restoring old equipment.

From a profitability and time-input perspective, I'd be far further ahead to sell all my old tractors, replace them with one newer offshore utility tractor, and go work at McDonald's during my spare time instead of tinkering with old equipment. But where's the fun in that?

Ultimately, it all depends on what you like to do, and how much time and money you're willing to invest in a low-return operation.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Yeah small squares would make you the most money off that little piece for a young guy that is the ticket cheap tractor baler mower and rake. Someone has to drive the tractor and that sounds like you you just need the young helper For bale pickup day riding on the rack or get a bale accumulator for a loader tractor. Around here there’s a hay auction where they sell them on the rack or trailer sometimes delivered for people with horses and a couple cows but no rack. One can make some very very good money. You will need some mechanization and ac and a cab would make a world of difference if your Kioti has that making hay is fun listening to the radio nice and cool. Mowing away or raking. At that amount of acreage you would have about half a day each time you do a task. Get a cheap little Tedder and it will cut your drying time in half.

 

[Gambles]

There was a local man who had a few acres of pumpkins that he grew every year. During the month of October, he would open his farm to the public and sell pumpkins to the area. He made enough money to put his four kids through college on the proceeds.
That type of business wouldn’t be for everyone, as there is a big risk of injury or a lawsuit from John Q. Public. There would also be a fair amount of work involved, as pumpkins are not a plant where they are planted and harvested with no maintenance in between. It would also help if you lived next to a busy highway. It would not be a crop for me.
But the potential to make more than $1600 is likely.

 

[moresmoke]

Just as a base line, $100 is pretty good income for a grain farmer at today’s prices. Likely the renter is letting it go because 15ac doesn’t pencil out currently.

As others have said, hay you might break even or make a couple $$. 15 ac of direct marketed vegetables is plenty to support a family. Might not be much of a living but can survive. Full time labor intensive though. Anything sold as a commodity will not return much on that scale. It takes the customer connection to make that happen.

A lot of it depends on what you (OP) would like to do in the future. Do you want to farm? Really really want to farm? If you are just trying to increase income you are bet to let someone keep renting. It takes a certain passion to farm, whether it is a hobby deal or a large operation. If this is something you don’t want to do, I will bet that there is some other young person just waiting for the chance to have a go at it.

 

[JMOR]

Around here, if more than 5 acres, the owner is pretty much doing him/her self a big favor to let anyone use the small acreage for nothing. Why you ask? Because ag tax exemption on property taxes save you $. About 30X less than non-ag use.

 

[stoughtonfarmboy]

I'll approach this from a different perspective (and most folks will think I'm crazy): But... Why be so concerned about profitability?

Does your mother have sheds or barns to store equipment or hay? And do you like to tinker and fix old equipment? Given your original post and that you're writing on an antique tractor forum, I think the answer might be 'yes'. If so, why not try to have some fun doing hay or something similar. You probably won't make any money on it, but you probably won't lose much either. And there are way, way worse ways to spend time and money than tinkering with old equipment and trying your hand at old-time farming methods.

This is very much predicated on your willingness and enjoyment when tinkering with old equipment. If you don't like fixing things or figuring things out, this advice isn't for you. But if it were me (who loves to tinker and fix old equipment) and if you think there might be a market for more hay in the area, I'd be looking for an old NH hayliner in good shape, an old rolabar rake, an old 40-50 HP tractor with three point and live PTO, some basic tillage equipment, and have fun. Or you could get the same old tractor and tillage equipment and try potatoes/garlic/vegtables, but they're a little more maintenance-intensive and folks who try vegetables on small scales often lose interest as WESnIL notes above.

Whatever you do, you may quickly find it's not your cup of tea or that you're not making any money. But you'll only be in it about $5-$10k and can probably sell the equipment for as much as you paid for it. Compare that to some folks spending $50k on a boat or $80k on a sports-car or high-end truck.

I always get a little flamdoozled when some folks on here start talking and crunching numbers about profitability and trying to justify costs on small scale operations. Yes, those are definitely very important considerations, especially if farming is your primary source of income. But you can't always look strictly at your time-to-profit ratio as a metric of how to live your life. If you follow that logic to its ultimate conclusion, all of us on here should probably sell all our old tractors/equipment and stop posting on these forums and restoring old equipment.

From a profitability and time-input perspective, I'd be far further ahead to sell all my old tractors, replace them with one newer offshore utility tractor, and go work at McDonald's during my spare time instead of tinkering with old equipment. But where's the fun in that?

Ultimately, it all depends on what you like to do, and how much time and money you're willing to invest in a low-return operation.

I agree. I bale hay on 5 small (2 to 4 acre) fields including my own in the immediate neighborhood. Sell to my wife's sister and to two other gals who have a horse. Just grass hay. The property owners don't charge me, they just want their small field kept mowed so weeds and trees don't take over.

At $3.50 a bale I will pay for my $40,000 John Deere tractor in about 20 years.

Can't decide if I am putting the "farm" or the "hobby" in "hobby farm".

Ken

P.S. I took over 10 years ago from an older neighbor who baled these fields.

 

[Roger in Iowa]

Hello all,

My mom's long term renter recently told her he's downsizing and won't be renting her ground any longer. She's got 15 acres tillable and was getting about $1600 annually for rent. Location is about 2 miles west of North Adams, MI. I understand there a lot of inputs and time required to make any farming operation successful but geez, there's gotta be a way to make more than $100 an acres off a place?

I'm just outside Moscow, MI and have about 4 acres at home that I could do something with, other than spend my summer mowing it.
I have a Kioti 2620 tractor but not much else that would support a farming operation. I baled a lot of hay as a kid, loved doing that.... but that was 40 years ago and I may not survive such an endeavor today. At least not without several breaks...

A long time ago, mom's place was Anson Meeks' Potato Farm. I kinda thought it would be cool to go back to that, as I've not heard of anyone else here in south central Michigan growing potatoes. But.... is that viable, where's the market, etc?
My neighbor works on a farm and was telling me about food-grade soybeans? He said they're planted and harvested with the same equipment as regular soybeans but are exported directly to Japan?
I don't think a livestock operation would be sensible at mom's, as I'd have to make sure I get over there daily to check on things.
I'm also wondering about a chicken/egg facility, given the new law in Michigan about selling only cage-free eggs? I could fence off 3 1/2 acres here at home, build a couple chicken houses and buy a bunch of layers? A 2-dozen pack of eggs was over $7 at the store recently and I'd expect those prices will still go up a little?

But anyway.... I'd be willing to invest in some older equipment and learn what I need to in order to be successful at something but I don't know what is profitable on such small acreages?

Thanks for your time and suggestions, I do appreciate it.
Anthony

So you must be 60+ years old. Too much work and $$$.
Try to find another renter
Or check with FSA on programs.
My 23 acres are growing flowers (forbs) for the bees and butterflies for $200+ per acre. Was corn and beans ground.

 

[Ozlander]

You are going from a labor free income to a labor intensive income for the same or a little more income with more out go.