Buying a farm is a massive step in anybody’s life, and something that you need to be truly sure you are up for. Farm life isn’t just about being close to nature and living in the countryside; for many farmers, it is also a full-time job. Whether you’re considering taking on a huge farm with lots of land, or only want a small farm where you can perhaps raise some chickens and plant a few crops to make an extra income, there are many things that you’ll need to take into consideration before you go ahead with the big move. We’ve listed some of the main things that new farmers need to think about in order to get up and running.
1. Tools and Machinery
When it comes to running a farm, then even the smallest of farms will need to have the right kinds of tools and machinery to run properly. If you’re running a large farm, then you’ll need to think about machines such as combine harvesters, or for dairy farms, machines that allow you to milk multiple cows at the same time, for example. Even the smallest of farms, however, aren’t exempt from the need for the right machines and tools, although these are often much smaller, such as machines to help with small crop planting, or tools for incubating chicken eggs. You can save on initial costs by looking for used farm equipment instead of buying new.
2. Animals
For many farms, it is the farm animals that are the life-blood. For example, dairy farms cannot be run without a herd of cows, just as chicken farms can’t do well if there isn’t many chickens. Or, perhaps you are considering keeping sheep or goats; goats are useful for a number of products such as goats’ cheese or milk, whilst sheep can be used for their wool and their milk too. If you are buying a farm as the full package, then you may find that there are already animals there which you will inherit. If you are to be obtaining your own animals, then the main concern is that they are healthy. Over time, you should also ensure that your farm animals are looked after in an ethical manner and that every step is taken to look after their comfort and well-being on your farm, with an increasing number of people refusing to buy products from farms that do not look after their animals well.
3 Land
Lastly, before you purchase a farm, it’s important to consider the quality of the land which it is built upon. This is especially true for anybody who is planning to use the farm for planting and harvesting crops, which are then sold on a for a profit. Ideally, the land should be very fertile, and it should not be prone to flooding or water-logging, for example, which could be very damaging to any crops that you plant and could cause you to lose out massively. It’s also important to take into consideration the amount of land available, and whether it will be enough to cover the amount of things that you have planned for your farm, for your business.