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I've heard that in some areas of Virginia it is rated at 1 acre for a Cow/Calf pair.
That sounds about right for much of the land east of the Miss. Here, we think of an "acre" as being a rather large plot of land (which you'd probably laugh at! ). But in the absence of drought and mountainous terrain, an acre of land back east here can produce something; 20 to 40 of them can produce a lot.
The only folks I know in the east who own over 100 acres, own forested parcels!
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Originally Posted by 6.7traveler
The only problem with leasing is the fact you still need to live somewhere.
OK, let's translate this: "The only problem with going to work is the fact that you need to live somewhere". That's a given, for anybody.
If you can find cheap land and want to own it for homesteading, that's great. But if you want good tillable land that you can work with, without a lot of debt, or clearing to do (esp in the eastern half of the US), you'll need a good chunk of $$$. The type of land I'm referring to is what most people cannot afford, as it's in high demand and people will bid it up (if it's on the market at all).
But it can often be leased, for much less per year than you'd pay if you bought and financed it.
Most people I think are just wanting to gain some self-sufficiency,
not necessarily selling crops for big profit. If it was about the money,
they would be doing something else. Just being alone and not have
to mess with the public so much is part of the payout.
Pricing yourself out of assistance eligibility doesn't make sense either.
Everything's a war. Since we can't make any frikkin decisions about
how this country is ran and our money and our freedoms anyway,
just do what you gotta do to make life as tolerable as possible.
That sounds about right for much of the land east of the Miss. Here, we think of an "acre" as being a rather large plot of land (which you'd probably laugh at! ). But in the absence of drought and mountainous terrain, an acre of land back east here can produce something; 20 to 40 of them can produce a lot.
The only folks I know in the east who own over 100 acres, own forested parcels!
Yeah, here 20 acres is basically your front yard, an acre is pretty much a town lot.
Back in the day when you could get 160 acres to homestead, the settlers often said it was "too small to live on and too big to die on" which is why the husband would file on one 1/4 section, the wife on another, all the kids, grandma, grandpa, any miscellaneous cousins, aunt's, uncles, hired hands, so that they could put together enough land to produce a living.
Some of the larger ranches would file on parcels that had water, making surrounding acreage worthless, so nobody would file on it and it became free range and they had unhindered use of the unclaimed land because they controlled the water for thousands of acres.
There are a lot of mitigating factors west of the Mississippi, water being number one, then comes arable soil, then comes how vertical it is, and if there's access.
When it comes to farms and ranches, East and West of the Big Muddy are totally different worlds. The Pacific Northwest down into the State of Jefferson are more similar to the east coast, but cooler and with a lot less arable ground due to the mountains, but they do get water!.
For anyone just starting out, you really need to look at what any piece of ground you'll be working will be able to do for you.
Last edited by MTSilvertip; 05-09-2016 at 03:29 PM..
Partly because there are those of us who are leasing out our land in order to find good young farmers to put on the land, and our wills may well gift the land to them in perpetuity.
Young farmers - find land owned by a farmer whose heirs don't want to farm or owned by farmers who don't have direct heirs. Then be excellent stewards of the land and continuously update your farming education and methods. And be a good, nice, reliable person.
We're out there, you just have to find us!
Some of you in the Midwest might want to look into the "Farm Transitions" program of the Land Stewardship Project. There are similar programs in other areas of the country.
... Was your father simply providing his own farm labor in exchange for a portion of the crop yield? or was he the farmer?
When you share-crop land; you typically work the land with a promise to return a percent of the harvest to the land-owner. 1/4 to 1/3 of the harvest is typical.
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... Did he have to supply any equipment to perform his tasks?
I have never heard of a land-owner providing any equipment for the share-cropper to use. It is possible, they could. But again I do not recall ever hearing of that being done.
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... all of the "share cropping" arrangements that I've seen require that work be performed at the sole expense of the partner, including providing the equipment required (and the maintenance and operating or fuel costs for same).
We seem to be in agreement on what sharecropping is. It befuddles me why you desire to argue about agreement.
Landowners I have seen generally do not live there and if it were not for the sharecropper, there would not be any farming activity being done.
Yes, it has been done on both private and public land. Often, that land is of better quality than someone could afford on their own without crippling debt. It is not a big deal to not live on it. Those who go to work every day commute; it is only by tradition that ag land is usually inhabited by those who work it.
This early video shows a young farmer who lives in the state of CT, discussing how he's getting underway. Yes, he is the same guy whose videos I show of brooding chickens for meat and eggs. He's doing quite well:
The guy has free land. Where did he get the electricity? This is like all those tiny house videos where the young couples claim that they are living in a house for $10,000 until you find out they are living on their parents' land and using their parents' utilities.
The farmer has every claim to anything built or grown on his property. He could come in anytime and take this stuff away from the guy in the video. I've got a feeling this farmer friend is a relative.
The farmer has every claim to anything built or grown on his property. He could come in anytime and take this stuff away from the guy in the video. I've got a feeling this farmer friend is a relative.
If you look at his later videos (this was one of his very first), he breaks down his expenses, and the land is one of them. He is not getting a free ride, and he does not live there.
What makes his operation unique and profitable, is his association with a hops operation, which he is getting strongly into this year. He's cut back on some other projects to concentrate on the hops.
as usual, Submariner ... I suspect you've left out some details about that "share-cropping" arrangement of your father or your neighbors today ...
My parents let a 75 acre parcel to a sharecropper for several years. Material costs (seed, fertilizer, chemicals) were split 50/50. The sharecropper supplied the labor and equipment. They split the crop 50/50, and my parents kept the federal subsidy check, which went to defray property taxes.
My parents let a 75 acre parcel to a sharecropper for several years. Material costs (seed, fertilizer, chemicals) were split 50/50. The sharecropper supplied the labor and equipment. They split the crop 50/50, and my parents kept the federal subsidy check, which went to defray property taxes.
ballpark figure on what the sharecropper's net profit was ? crop type ?
TIA.
When I was a kid I knew many farmers. Most crops were soybeans, corn, things like that. The area was prime tillable farmland. You needed a minimum of a few hundred acres to earn a living. It was common for farmers to lease 1,000 to 2,000 acre tracts to farm even if they already owned a couple hundred acres.
Things have changed. Back then a farmer with 20-30 acres couldn't earn a living raising organic produce or free range chickens because there was no market for it. Today there are markets for these things and it's growing. Out of necessity farmers are using more efficient practices today that allow them to do more with less land.
Commercial farming is a business like any other. You need to know if there is enough demand for what you're producing, and who and where your market is and how you will get it to them before you begin. Leasing is definitely an option; always has been.
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). But in the absence of drought and mountainous terrain, an acre of land back east here can produce something; 20 to 40 of them can produce a lot.
That's a given, for anybody. 
