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I appreciate the question, as it sounded almost exactly as though it was coming from me...i'm a white collar engineer making good money in the city, but not enjoying it. My passion for years has been to own/manage a family farm.
The folks noting the realities of family farming in this forum are much appreciated, but they sound negative; and apparently don't understand that if you are living your passion, it is not work, it is invigorating.
I may not have a family farm yet, but at 54 years i can assure you that if you are not living your passion, you are doing yourself a disservice. I appreciate the sacrifices we all make for our family/others/etc. However, God puts passions (not sinful desires) in us for a reason, and it is through those passions that often enable us to best serve Him.
I'm making a major lifestyle change from current life to family farm this summer, God willing. I am looking forward to all the challenges, study, and hard work that i will be living daily, and quite frankly, such will be exciting and enjoyable to me.
To the factual naysayers----thanks for the good info--'now go seek your passion, as farming certainly does not appear to be it---with all due respect.
Good luck! I am an engineer too who got fed up with the rat race and managed to get out of it. Being negative is a way to get people to stop and think. If you can absorb all that and you are still convinced you want to try - well, go for it!
Mink farming can be extremely profitable. Right now prices are lower, but just a few years ago small side farms (4k-5k head) were making 40k+. They're expected to go back high within a couple years. I raised mink for only a a single season and came away $4,000 after it was said and done only doing (typically) 45 minutes a day. Doesn't sound like a lot but I'd say it's pretty good seeing I put a up a shed, bought a hole bunch of cages, the breeding stock, feed, ect.
my favorite way to cash in on org farming is to focus on cash crops- or those specialty items & crops which command higher prices than normal produce.
will depend of course on your area, and here's a typical list of winners in price leadership:
blueberries & bilberries (top favorite)
tobacco
large tomatoes (beefsteak, windsor)
exotic bamboo (nigra etc)
marijuana
mushrooms (medicinals, exotics)
ginseng
all manner of fruits & nuts
there of course are many more to choose from, the idea is that you find out what is out of control expensive, that you can grow in your area, and learn about growing that.
i may be able to help, or others in this forum, for starters.
Ouch. How long have you been out?
Every sub guy I know at least claims tinnitus, which is 5% to 10% and automatic free VA with co pays for meds.
I have been out for 3 years, but they were tossing everyone out after Obama cut funding. Average advancement rates for most aviation guys was less than1% a year. So out of lets say 2000 AD3s, 1 or less would pick up rank per year. So people hit walls like crazy. And now, my cousin is a AE2 in 2 years because they are undermanned.
Obama did not cut funding. The GOP insisted on Sequestration or else gov shutdown. Funny how they only care about the budget when they aren't in office blowing up the budget...
A farmer wins the lottery, and is asked what he's going to do with his winnings. He replies, "I guess I'll just keep farming til it's all gone."
Anyone who goes into farming isn't doing it for the money, it's a calling, tradition or irresistible force.
I could never be a farmer but am a gardener 40+ years. Plants are so much better to be around than most people.
A farmer wins the lottery, and is asked what he's going to do with his winnings. He replies, "I guess I'll just keep farming til it's all gone."
Anyone who goes into farming isn't doing it for the money, it's a calling, tradition or irresistible force.
I could never be a farmer but am a gardener 40+ years. Plants are so much better to be around than most people.
That's because they are NOT farming the Federal Government. The profitable farms FARM the Federal Government.
I worked as a mid-level Federal employee for 30 years. My ENTIRE federal earnings were about 1.5 million.
I have a wheat farmer friend that has received over 8 million dollars in just the past 20 years for NOT farming.
There is a web site that gives Federal payments to farmers by county and name. It is all public information. Search around...interesting reading about your friends and neighbors if you live in farm country. Be careful about sharing the information....most do not know that it is a public record. AND the farmers are sensitive on this subject!!
Oh, forget growing weed in Washington state. It is licensed by the counties and I believe all the licenses are spoken for. Some farm counties are starting to zone against growing weed due to neighbor complaints about odor during harvest, lights at night, etc.
Pot. The winds they are a changin, and anyone who gets in now gets in a very good position.
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go for cash crops- or high-value growers
