I regularly read Country Smallholding and Permaculture and my eyes rove to the advertisements selling smallholdings. Many show a lovely house with a few acres of land, but the price is enormous, way beyond my reach.My neighbour on the allotment bought one some time ago, but she was very well off. But you do not have to buy a massively expensive house, for some smallholders simply get hold of a field and make the most of it; and for many it is a very happy experience.
Firstly, though, let us be realistic about land.Agricultural land is divided into prime and marginal. In Britain prime agricultural land is very expensive and the price goes on rising. You will be lucky to snap up a field. But marginal land is cheaper, and it is often land like this that aspiring smallholders purchase. Often such land is in the hillier parts of the country, far from the cities, or on the margins of industrial towns. And note, you do not need a beautiful view for a smallholding to work.There are urban farms in run down inner city areas.
But you must think of the legal side of your endeavour and learn all the laws relevant to your enterprise. In the UK you must register your holding with the government, who will give you a number which you quote on all correspondence. You must also learn the regulations pertinent to the stock that you hold, for there is legislation concerning animal welfare, movements from the farm and slaughtering, too complex for me to go into in this article. Smallholders who offer food products made on their premises must ensure that their production system meets all the hygiene laws,which in the UK are strict.
You need also to arrange the business side of the operation, for the economics must be right.Many smallholders combine a small farm with a job or another business. Some offer courses to other would-be smallholders or growers, and others publish books or offer specialist food products. Sometimes one member of a couple works on the holding during the week while the other works in a conventional job, this spreads the economic risks and brings in a more regular supply of money.Many businesses fail because of cash flow problems, so would-be smallholders need a business plan that prevents these from happening. You can never do without a business plan with proper revenue forecasts.
Smallholders must weigh up their physical capacity, as they must not take on a load that is too much for them. This is especially so as they age. Dealing with heavy weights might be less easy for people in their sixties, and there are times when older people feel tired and need to rest. But also smallholders need to ensure that both members of a couple are not only well, but are enthusiastic for the lifestyle, and there are marriages that have broken down because one went grudgingly along with the other partner's dream, for a while.
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Gardeners manage their land more intensively than farmers do, and so if they are growing vegetables for personal consumption and maybe some for sale, then they can make do with less land than farmers need. Of course, animals need lots of space and the larger the animal the more space it needs.
This is a good and worthwhile observation. In Britain we have smallholdings, which are small sized farms whose owners feed themselves and sell surplus produce, but often they are into niche markets. Moreover, sometimes one of the farming couple keeps an outside job. In my wife's family, in Ireland, her cousin maintains a small family beef cattle farm, but does a job as a delivery driver during the day. The cattle are tended morning and evening. This way he makes a living.
Great piece on small farming, which issues that apply in the US as well as the UK. I can certainly speak from experience as my mother decided to try to re-operate old family farmland on her own some years ago...I won't go into the losses and costs that followed in detail, but it is not something to be undertaken alone and without a LOT of experience. Out our way there are very few family, independent farms left and for good reason. It's hard to compete against the big commercial farms, as you mentioned. Also, in truth, in the past farming families could count on having a good number of children and using them for "free" labor, knowing they would in turn carry on the operations. Now? Not so much. You may need to hire a farm manager to maintain equipment, feed animals 1-2 times a day, stay through the night with birthing animals...deal with insurance in case someone is injured on your land...never mind taxes and regulations.
Those I do see being successful in small farming here today, tend to specialize in niche markets: heritage/special breeds for local markets or restaurants focusing on farm-to-table or organic meals, those selling whole animals or animal "shares" direct to consumers, etc. It all seems like a nice peaceful fantasy, an idyll way of life, until you actually try it yourself.
These are extremely important points that you make. We don't get the drought problems over here that you get in parts of North America, but we are prone to the opposite, wet and unpredictable weather and flooding, with all that follows therefrom. This weather can ruin fodder crops, such as silage or hay, and vegetable crops can be diminished by bad conditions.
You are right about health, and I must say that farms are places where accidents do happen. There have been instances of elderly farmers being killed by rams, which sometimes charge from behind.
It is a lifestyle for some, but not for others. That realism about finances is a valid one, there could be tow or three lean years in a row when crops suffer from drought. A reserve of cash is important. Another consideration is whether there is a backup person. animals have to be tended daily, and who picks up the duty during illness?