Hobby Farm around Cheyenne. (Pine Bluffs, Burns: real estate, HOA, inspector)

[gimpthe]

Been looking into HOA's and CC&R around the Cheyenne and outlying areas over Hobby Farms. We are looking for minimum 5 acres to have a couple cows, goats, chickens and things of the sort. However I have noticed an extraordinary amount of HOAs and most will allow horses but everything else is a challenge. Mainly my wife wants farm pets, not animals for commercial purposes. My favorite line in the HOAs are "commonly accepted domestic pets", which can mean anything at the moment. Of course the best action would have the HOA outline an agreement before I bought the place, but I hate to have to do that. Is there any areas to look within 30miles of Cheyenne that allows something like that. I'm sure there are some here and there, but it's pretty discouraging overall.

[branDcalf]

With multiple animals on 5 acres you would likely lose your topsoil (such as it is there) to your neighbors with the wind they get. That is one of the reasons for limits in HOAs. On the upside, you may gain some soil from those the other side of your place if they, too, are stocking their place heavily.

If you want to do that sort of hobby farm, in most areas, you may have better luck looking at properties through a realtor who knows what your plans are.

[sunsprit]

Any HOA controlled subdivision must have their CC&R's on file as part of the plat plan. So it's no big deal to ask for the CC&R's as part of your consideration for any parcel.

Be forewarned that 5 acres is a tiny plot of land here for the amount of livestock you propose to keep. You will, of course, be feeding them purchased hay (and grain, if desired) year-round here as the amount of grazing land you'd have available wouldn't support the large animals; it might provide some "nibbling grass" for a couple of goats from time to time. Consider, too, that it's unlikely you'll have any irrigation water on such a parcel. If you're on municipal water, it will be quite expensive to use it for anything beyond domestic, livestock, and a small garden use. If you're on a well, it will be specified for domestic use (which may include livestock watering), but not irrigation use.

IMO, you might consider looking at the residential ag areas around Cheyenne where the properties are 40 acres or larger. You'll have a better chance of finding properties where you won't be under the constraints of an HOA for livestock. Again, you need to get the CC&R's in hand before making any decision because some of the HOA's will accept limited equine or an equivalency of livestock on your property. In my experience, that might be a few head of livestock, not the quantity that you've suggested.

Be aware that Cheyenne is essentially a high altitude desert area where natural rainfall is limited. There's more to the annual moisture situation then simply seeing 12" of moisture per year. Understand that much of that comes in the form of snow in the winter months which melts off in the spring (or a lot of it on those sunny days in the winter, too). The Springtime rains will add some more inches of moisture in those months. Perhaps we'll get a decent summer season and a few storms will roll through, depositing more moisture in a timely manner. But for the most part, you can generally rely upon pasture lands here to be green only briefly in the Spring and BROWN by mid-to-late June, then from July onward.

We have a variety of native (primarily clump) grasses here which have adapted to the climate and soil. They typically fall into two groups, a cool season and a warm season grass ... both dormant in the winter and appear only briefly during their respective growing seasons. Again, these are primarily clumps, not a uniform field of grass across an expanse of prairie. They comprise a relatively fragile ecosystem and are easily damaged by overgrazing livestock. Allow your livestock to do so and you'll find your pasture land quickly overwhelmed by invasive weeds which can outperform the native grasses. The weeds offer little nutritive value and some of them are toxic to your livestock.

I see neighbors in the area intolerant of the landscape view that the native grasses present. They "mow" their pasture lands with riding lawnmowers, trimming it up and thinking that they're doing a good job of stewardship of their land. In reality, the mowing is as damaging as overgrazing the land with livestock. Lately, I've seen several 40 acre parcels turned from a productive fallow field with native grasses into a weed patch with noxious weeds. Tried to visit with these folk and suggest that the mowing wasn't a good idea here, but they just scoffed at the concept. Later, when the noxious weeds take over, the county road crews have spotted the weeds along the barrow pit on the dirt roads and spray the county easement area. They also notify the "weed and pest" division which will send out an inspector to advise the landowner that they need to spray or otherwise remove the toxic weeds.

You mention "farm". I hope you don't mean actually farming on such limited acreage beyond a modest sized vegetable garden/potato patch/onion patch/corn patch. Water will be the big limitation for this. I'd urge you to do most of your vegetable gardening in a greenhouse (tunnel structure) where you can control the winds and temperatures while using timer controlled drip tape irrigation at the soil surface, and drip tape irrigation for your outside produce.

In my experience, the real estate pro's in this area don't know or won't have meaningful input on livestock or gardening issues. They will, however, be glad to nod their heads knowingly at the appropriate moments to give you good feelings about what you know about real estate from other areas. A far better resource in Cheyenne for soils, water, livestock inquiries would be to call upon the folks at the County Extension Office (located at LCCC) ... where you'll find the 4H group, the county horticulturist, and connections to other folk who have real knowledge of the activities you propose for your residence property. As well, you might want to visit the State Engineer's office regarding water availability and use, and the federal NRCS office East of town on Hwy 30.

Do keep in mind that Wyoming is a "non-reporting" state for real estate transactions. When you are looking at properties and find one of interest, you'd be well advised to get an independent appraisal for your purposes on the property. Representations by a RE agent and asked prices are meaningless because the RE agent has a primary responsibility to the seller. IOW, don't make binding offers and put any earnest money down unless you know the real FMV of the property you're looking at. It's very easy to pay way too much in your ignorance of the market.

Depending upon your budget, you will find suitable properties for an ag residence zoned property in any direction from Cheyenne you care to reside. 30 miles would have you all the way East to Burns or Pine Bluffs, which are surrounded with rural ag properties. You will find properties closer in along the North, North East, or West side of town. I would avoid properties further west than a few miles past WAFB on Happy Jack road, and particularly, properties that are up in the foothills leading up to the pass west of town (gorgeous places in the summer months, but brutal in the winter ... even by Wyoming standards).

Good luck with your property search.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

^^^^ Probably all the info that anybody planning on a hobby farm anywhere would ever need. That being said, I'm more familiar with similar issues in North Idaho, and based on that I'd suggest to just drop "cows" from the list. Our neighbors in North Idaho have chickens and goats on 5 acres, no HOA, and that seems to work out just fine. Plus we get fresh eggs! Another neighbor has two horses on their 5 acres. A third neighbor has an obnoxious llama . Plus everybody has dogs, of course. So a small number of animals seems to be doable on 5-10 acres, with a fenced vegetable garden, but I keep hearing about what a mistake if would be to try to run a real farm, even just a hobby farm, on anything less than 40 acres ( a frequent question in the Idaho forum, too). OP, I wouldn't tell you to give up on your dream, but just modify it a bit, to match the circumstances. Surrounding oneself with animals is a lovely idea, but just be realistic. And don't forget that you'll never be able to take a day off unless you have a support network!

[Tyster]

For that many animals I would look into areas east of Cheyenne... fewer HOAs and generally larger lots. Many of those lots are 35-40 acres with no HOA at all.

Good luck!