Making a living on 100 acres? (Farmersville, Howe: leasing, how much, buying)

[PakBrain]

Hope someone can help me come up with a ballpark figure how much money one 'can' earn from 100 acres farmland.

Background:

Making decent living as an IT Professional but farming is something I always wanted to do (own some farmland abroad plus grandparents were farmers ... but I am an immigrant with no one inside the family having farming experience in the US).

Planning to buy roughly 100 acres around Farmersville, TX. Land is being used for agriculture by the seller with Ag Exemption in place.

But the question is assuming I do the things right how much money I can make from 100 acres?

Would I be able to quit my day job making $150K+ a year? If someone has done it I dont feel too bad but if it is not possible I need to think twice before making buying decision.

Have all kinds of ideas coming to mind from aquaponis, to hens laying pasture/organic eggs, to raising goat/cattle, to running a tree nursery business .. but basic question I keep asking myself is if I'll be able to quit my day job, or not? After 6 months or a year? Never?

Please share your thoughts/experience ... Thanks for your time!

- PB

[MckinneyOwnr]

No way will you make $150k farming off 100 acres. 100 acres isn't actually all that large as farms go. 500 is about the minimum for a farm to produce a 6 figure income.

While this isn't exactly analogous to your situation, I think you can see that 100 acres just won't cut it to keep your standard of living.

http://www.cffm.umn.edu/publications...arnlvgfarm.pdf

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by PakBrain

Hope someone can help me come up with a ballpark figure how much money one 'can' earn from 100 acres farmland.

Background:

Making decent living as an IT Professional but farming is something I always wanted to do (own some farmland abroad plus grandparents were farmers ... but I am an immigrant with no one inside the family having farming experience in the US).

Planning to buy roughly 100 acres around Farmersville, TX. Land is being used for agriculture by the seller with Ag Exemption in place.

But the question is assuming I do the things right how much money I can make from 100 acres?

Would I be able to quit my day job making $150K+ a year? If someone has done it I dont feel too bad but if it is not possible I need to think twice before making buying decision.

Have all kinds of ideas coming to mind from aquaponis, to hens laying pasture/organic eggs, to raising goat/cattle, to running a tree nursery business .. but basic question I keep asking myself is if I'll be able to quit my day job, or not? After 6 months or a year? Never?

Please share your thoughts/experience ... Thanks for your time!

- PB

I agree with MckinneyOwnr that you won't be able to equal $150K with just 100 acres growing anything legal.

The biggest problem you'll have with farming right now is the drought conditions and trying to establish any operation. I'm not a farmer but am somewhat of a Country Boy and have spent many years right here watching farmers, cattle ranchers, etc., trying to run their operations. Also you say you or family members have no experience here in the US running any type of agricultural operation so you have a HUGE education leap ahead of you. There are so many different regulations and requirements these days that those alone are going to cost dearly if you follow them. If you don't follow them then that too can cost dearly if you're caught.

The days of the family and Mom & Pop agricultural operations are quickly coming to an end. That's such a shame too!

Now one thing about that land in Farmersville that you should check out very closely. Not sure where that land is but there is a new outer loop being planned for construction and State Highway 78 is expanding as well. Is any of that slated to affect the property your considering buying? In the past 5 years or so there have also been a huge number of various types of pipelines run all around this area that might have an affect on some of the operations you mentioned above.

Also you mentioned possible aquaponics which means you are going to have to do some major land movement since I am sure your land isn't partly or largely under water now. There are relatively new EPA regulations out one of which WILL affect this type of preparation. Essentially if you plan to disrupt one acre or more of land you have to jump through so many hoops you'll have no money left over to buy a can of soda afterward! Also you will need to divert rain run-off in a HUGE way for those bodies of water. There are also potential State regulations for preventing the diversion of surface run-off since you will be taking it away from Lake Lavon and/or other used bodies of water.

You got a lot of homework ahead of you so good luck!

[jdallas]

You might consider purchasing the land and leasing out the field to someone else to farm. You can collect the income and use the time to learn what does and doesn't work for your particular parcel.

[Restrain]

Lease the land for hay production. Most 'family' farmers now lease other acreages to farm 1000 acres or more. The black clay is not nearly as productive as East Texas sandy loam. And the continuing drought greatly affects normally economically viable uses as corn or wheat. But definitely just put the land into a lease to maintain the AG valuation.

Just be a gentleman farmer, enjoying the land and lease income.

[PakBrain]

Thanks guys for all the feedback. Leasing out land is interesting option; never thought about that. Probably how much should I expect in terms of income leasing out all 100 acres? Are there any risks or liabilities?

[sossie]

I second what everyone has said above…one other thing farming is incredibly labor intensive…I grew up on a farm and both my parents and all 4 kids worked everyday..all weekends after school etc..my father worked another job as well and my mom part time to make ends meet..it is a lot of hard work for not much return. We had 100 acres and it was always a hard slog…my father sold off his land eventually and retired…can't help thinking it shortened his life somewhat because he was always working. If your goal is to have a less stressful life I would seriously consider not farming.

[Clayton from GA]

You could do vegetables and make that kind of money no doubt

[6oo9]

What's the matter, from farming the IT to farming the land? Yes, you can make productive use of your 100-acre. Make it a hunting ranch by planting some trees and bringing in some animals for guided tour ... That'd not be labor intensive, and would be more profitable than farming or ranching. However, if you are a buddhist, then that'd be a very bad idea.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by PakBrain

Hope someone can help me come up with a ballpark figure how much money one 'can' earn from 100 acres farmland.

Background:

Making decent living as an IT Professional but farming is something I always wanted to do (own some farmland abroad plus grandparents were farmers ... but I am an immigrant with no one inside the family having farming experience in the US).

Planning to buy roughly 100 acres around Farmersville, TX. Land is being used for agriculture by the seller with Ag Exemption in place.

But the question is assuming I do the things right how much money I can make from 100 acres?

Would I be able to quit my day job making $150K+ a year? If someone has done it I dont feel too bad but if it is not possible I need to think twice before making buying decision.

Have all kinds of ideas coming to mind from aquaponis, to hens laying pasture/organic eggs, to raising goat/cattle, to running a tree nursery business .. but basic question I keep asking myself is if I'll be able to quit my day job, or not? After 6 months or a year? Never?

Please share your thoughts/experience ... Thanks for your time!

- PB

Necromancing thread dredge noted:

No. Not one year out of fifty. The land around here is rough/tough/dry when you need water/wet when you need dry/thin of decent topsoil......you'd need multiples of your proposed acreage and likely 150 miles any direction of here, to have a thimbles chance.

Tough love is what you need right now.

If your heart is into small tillage look far from here.

Best of luck.....may you enjoy fair winds and following seas..........but neither is near to DFW.