City slicker in the process of buying a farm in the South...

City slicker in the process of buying a farm in the South. Is there any way to make a living from a 5 acre farm for two people? what's the easiest and most probable animal to raise? Is there any money in beekeeping?

Iowan here. Born in the city, but have plenty of farm friends.

You will fail. 5 acres is not enough to sustain any meaningful amount of cattle. Second, bee keeping is not as lucrative as you would assume, check the ROI for people with 100's of hives. Last, many farmers just rent the land to a 3rd party who does the actual farming. this is what you should do.

5 acres? That's like 5k a year gl man0

this, upstate SC here. farming is something you're more born into, it aint going to work out. keep your normal job and if you want to live outside of the city move to a small town, you get best of both worlds.

>farming is something you're more born into

I was thinking of picking up farming through youtube. I'm cool with manual labor.

and what about pigs? they don't need that much room, and supplement that with bees. Or sheep, milk them and make some soap, cheese, butter. Then sell the wool, and finally sell them for meat.

is that a failed plan? then how many acres would I need. Cause I could get more, but I would need to buy further away from the town.

With 5 acres you had better keep your job. There's not enough land to sustain any sort of crop and pasture will be over grazed pretty quickly. Beekeeping won't give you a return besides a bit too much honey that you'll end up giving away.

If you're serious about "being a farmer" you could get laying hens, till a large garden, and if you're absolutely 100% into it get a couple milking goats. Milk, cheese, tons of homestead dairy products. But I wouldn't recommend dairy to anyone unless you have time, money, and know a good amount about general lactation along with bovine diet. Any level of dairy requires 365 days/year.

You should have done this years ago so you could blame Obama when it fails.

Who boy. There is a book aptly titled "5 acres and freedom".

Start slow with a garden. Doesnt require 24/7 maintenance.

Slowly. With five acres you can have an orchard, barn with paddock, a large garden.

You have to learn to can, pickle, butcher, dehydrate. With those skills you can put up enough to eat year round with a family of six.

Avoid pigs like the plague. Good quality meat comes from pure breeds. And pure bred swine have strict biosecurity protocols as they're fairly sensitive. Plus any sort of medications/vaccinations damage the meat (unless you want to inject into the vulva but you'd need proper training.)

5 acres is far too small to turn a profit. Sheep/Goats are going to overgraze any pasture and you're going to end up feeding out hay daily. And if you want milk production you stay up then they need a pretty decent TMR which runs up costs, especially if you don't know what you're doing. It's not worth it if you're looking to make money. With 5 acres it's something to do as a hobby. And given its a hobby, avoid dairy as you'll be working a different job too.

grow weed

As for how many acres? Look into your soil profiles, local vegetation diversity, etc. It's impossible to say how much you need(for grazing) without knowing that info. Then you get a nice little chart and figure out how many AUMs you get from certain areas.

thanks for all the input. So, around how any acres would be good to be an entry level farmer. I just need enough to survive. I'm not a big spender. Having money for food and to pay my taxes, and maybe a vacation once every year or two is enough for me. Me and the wife are simply trying to escape the cubicle drone life.

this

whats with the turf tires in an agriculture situation?

>porn people don't know tractors

Feed the chicken and fuck their egg holes
Feed the pigs and fuck their bacon holes
Feed the cows and fuck their hamburger holes

That should do it OP, get out there and feed and fuck your animals

what about avocado trees or mango trees? I know avocado is expensive as hell. I sometimes buy it at one dollar a piece.

Corn is easy mode. The most imbred cousinfucker can manage it. You just can't kill these plants.

Corn is abundant though, and profits are slim on it.

Potatoes, and onions are easy enough, and are less common meaning you can make decent change for them.

Bee keeping isn't really profitable, or easy. But you should do it anyway because theyre dieing out and need help. And Mead is tasty.

Depending on how many of those 5 are usable for production then it could work well for growing your own food. But you WILL NOT make a living off of this.

The money is in grain (well the money is in dairy but I doubt you have a few million to invest) but grain is tricky still. You're going to need at the very least 100+ acres just to see any sort of taxable income off grain and even then it's not much. There's a reason most small farmers have city jobs. It's a passion, not a career.

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

There are literally no profitable crops for a farm your size because crop commissions use agreements to keep people from utilizing all their land

Bump

The number of acres doesn't really matter. What you really need is a greenhouse. Use this sprinkler layout and plant only ancient seeds. You'll make tons of money with no effort, year round.

Yeah that'll take a long fucking time...

That is it for a hobby farm that can be worked by one person or a couple. That much will feed a family of six or more. Probably have some you can sell at a farmers market or trade in farm co-op.

Soil type matters. Look into "Truck Farms". Basically, you pick a crop you can grow in your area and sell it out of the back of your truck (melons, potatoes, w/e). A 40 acre truck farm could make you enough to live on.

If you're serious about making a living at it, though, wait 2-3 years and study up on the area and save, save save your money. Right now the farm economy is turning to shit, and in about 2-3 year there's be a lot of land for sale cheap. Then buy 640 acres, plant wheat, and get a grain cleaner and flour mill. People will pay serious premium for local-ground flour, and you'll have a much better chance of making it.

Farms suck don't do it.

I'd go with either pigs or chickens though. Goats are alright too, but those fuckers climb. if you want to get into produce then you'll need to consider vertical farming, but good luck with that man. You should just try homesteading on 5 acres.

yes farm tobacco and focus on self sufficiency. make sure the title on the land is clean too btw

Edit: with 5 acres you could go into hydroponics. year-round production. Pick a crop, get good at it, and get a reputation for quality. Downside of commercial hydroponics is you'll need to put up some buildings. At least in the South you'll have a beneficial climate, but you'd still need shelter.

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Better start learning how to grow tobacco, OP.
That's about the most profitable crop you can grow. But even then it's going to take more land than you have to really make a decent living off of your farm.

Wrong state anyway - buy in Colorado, grow weed.

jews

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50 acres isn't enough, let alone 5. What I would do is become an artisan-farmer. Make artisanal breads, cheeses, and grow 'heirloom' vegetables. Sell these at some urban farmer's market, along with whatever crafts you can throw together. A high margin is the only thing that can make this plan of yours work out.

this

Don't give up though.

Get a work from home job?

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po
ta
toes

Also, invest in a GoPro and a decent microphone. Make videos as the Dumbass New Farmer Couple, and chronicle your adventures. This will supplement your income via advertising revenue by the other dumbass millenials who share your dream. Don't get me wrong, I admire your dream... that's what makes me think others will, too.

You could compensate for your overgrazing issue, by growing your own hydroponic grass feed. A lot of good guides online on how to grow quality grass feed for your livestock, year round.

Srsly bro? Why are you asking Sup Forums and not doing real research? And aren't you smart enough to make money without exploiting animals?

Or cook meth

Hothouse marijuana.

There is a family 8n Pasadena California who farms their own food on 1/10 acre. Look it up.

5 acres isn't much, but it's enough to start covering some self sustaining practices. First off, but chickens, ducks, or turkeys. Poultry and water fowl are generally easy to maintain, reproduce fairly quickly, and require a much smaller area to live than cows. Another space economical animal is a goat. You can get a few milking goats. Hogs are also a good space conscious option. As far as planting goes, I suggest you make any amenities for your animals somewhat mobile so you can move then in a cycle to refertilize your fields naturally. Just learn the crop cycles and pay attention to your soil. Some areas will be better than others and plan for every contingency. After a while, you'll be able to preemptively head off preventable problems.

Pork

Modern farmers have thousands of acres, and are basically slaves to large corporations (sort of). You're not gonna make a living off of it. Maybe a side hobby that makes a little money.

I've never farmed in my life

Just sayin

this right here. Kill too birds with one stone.

Grow marijuana.

You'll make millions with 5 acres. Sell in bulk to people you can trust not to rat on you.

>Why are you asking Sup Forums and not doing real research?

Trust me, I've done plenty of research. But it's always great to hear from regular people who actually do it or have done it growing up. You sometimes get nuggets of wisdom that commercial sites don't capture. Professional bloggers and info sites sometimes feel very artificial. Also, many are aimed towards hardcore industrial farming.

This stuffs been done like forever. Check out mother earth news magazine.

5 acres is not a farm,
and
No.

Arkansan here. Just rent your land to grow cotton.

kill all niggers

Hello neighbor. I'm in NEA

>buying a farm in the South.
>Is there any way to make a living from a 5 acre farm for two people?
cook meth
>what's the easiest and most probable animal to raise?
>probable
chicken, goats
Is there any money in beekeeping?
probably the only money you'll make

Does anyone have more of that gril? I like her thighs