Back to the Forum & I started a farm

[G-Man]

Good to be back after several years of hiatus

TLDR Life came at me fast in a lot of ways and I basically went entirely offline. In the meantime, I've moved to a different part of Texas, and now have a small farm.

Looking forward to getting in touch with everyone again.

Just wanted to say hi.

G

 

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[amp0193]

Good to be back after several years of hiatus

TLDR Life came at me fast in a lot of ways and I basically went entirely offline. In the meantime, I've moved to a different part of Texas, and now have a small farm.

Looking forward to getting in touch with everyone again.

Just wanted to say hi.

G

Welcome back, what are you farming?

What motivated leaving from city life and into the country?

Is the farm to accomplish fastlane objective or just a lifestyle choice?

 

[G-Man]

Welcome back, what are you farming?

What motivated leaving from city life and into the country?

Is the farm to accomplish fastlane objective or just a lifestyle choice?

I'm raising breeding stock hair sheep out west of DFW. It's a lifestyle choice. Part for the kids, part therapy for me and the wife.

We'll probably turn a profit for the first time this year, but it's nothing relative to the amount of time invested.

There are major lifestyle changes that would have to happen to make it "fastlane", so right now I'm focusing on drought resilience and management intensive grazing to reduce inputs and make an animal that is fit for Southern US climate.

It's something I really love and enjoy, but... there's a reason everybody left the farm for the city, and all the small farmers are peddling content as digital influencers to sell escapism as the product.

 

[GuitarDude]

Very cool! Is it a large farm or more of a mini-farm? Is it self-sustaining or do you have another source of income? I've always thought having a mini farm would be sweet!

 

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[G-Man]

Very cool! Is it a large farm or more of a mini-farm? Is it self-sustaining or do you have another source of income? I've always thought having a mini farm would be sweet!

It’s a small hobby farm. I have a full time job.

 

[G-Man]

3 years into breeding animals, and this year I had people reach out before lambing season to be put on my waiting list (which I do not have), and every animal but 1 is pre-sold.

Done with no real marketing. I think I'm gonna take that as signal that we've created a bit of a productocracy.

Farming is frustrating because you have to invest so much time to get signal. The other side of that is that it's not winner-take-all, and some kid a bigger brain and a laptop can't just drum up a better product that delivers more value than mine in short order.

EDIT: We really took a leap of faith that there was a specific unmet need in the market, and I'm still not 100% sure the premise is completely validated, but for now, the feedback on my product is that my customers are happy, and because I manage intensive graze, the unit economics are good, and the long term ecological impact should be that my grazing land gets *better* and *more valuable* over time, rather than degrading.

 

[Bounce Back]

3 years into breeding animals, and this year I had people reach out before lambing season to be put on my waiting list (which I do not have), and every animal but 1 is pre-sold.

Done with no real marketing. I think I'm gonna take that as signal that we've created a bit of a productocracy.

Farming is frustrating because you have to invest so much time to get signal. The other side of that is that it's not winner-take-all, and some kid a bigger brain and a laptop can't just drum up a better product that delivers more value than mine in short order.

EDIT: We really took a leap of faith that there was a specific unmet need in the market, and I'm still not 100% sure the premise is completely validated, but for now, the feedback on my product is that my customers are happy, and because I manage intensive graze, the unit economics are good, and the long term ecological impact should be that my grazing land gets *better* and *more valuable* over time, rather than degrading.

Do you sow the pasture or is it all native?

 

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[Awakened2022]

Farming is frustrating because you have to invest so much time to get signal.

Much as that is true, there is a uniqueness to farming that beats most other ventures for me.
For starters, nothing beats the excitement of watching a newly germinated field, a fruit laden tree, or the skipping of satisfied lambs. The smile of a referred customer on validating the quality of your products is heaven in itself.

For my case, I deal mainly in crop husbandry,and our main challenge is climate change, not lack of market. I shudder to think what would happen to your "laptop kid" if farmers downed their tools(pun unavoidable).Think of the Need alone and graze on,(plough on in my case).
I also love the fact that farm produce rarely needs advertising if you get the quality right.
As for Time, I don't need to caress a coffee tree twice a day for it to bear good fruit, or sing for a cassava plant to sprout.

I wish more people would take up this Godly duty,and may be we could have a farmers' weekly meet up.
Good of you to come back.

 

[G-Man]

Much as that is true, there is a uniqueness to farming that beats most other ventures for me.
For starters, nothing beats the excitement of watching a newly germinated field, a fruit laden tree, or the skipping of satisfied lambs. The smile of a referred customer on validating the quality of your products is heaven in itself.

For my case, I deal mainly in crop husbandry,and our main challenge is climate change, not lack of market. I shudder to think what would happen to your "laptop kid" if farmers downed their tools(pun unavoidable).Think of the Need alone and graze on,(plough on in my case).
I also love the fact that farm produce rarely needs advertising if you get the quality right.
As for Time, I don't need to caress a coffee tree twice a day for it to bear good fruit, or sing for a cassava plant to sprout.

I wish more people would take up this Godly duty,and may be we could have a farmers' weekly meet up.
Good of you to come back.

Yeah I think of it more in terms of building a generational asset.

 

[G-Man]

Do you sow the pasture or is it all native?

Mostly, I repair with bale grazing in really damaged spots. In one heavily eroded pasture I planted Crimson clover to put some carbon back in and slow runoff, which worked. Going forward it will be bale grazing, and sheer native. Most of the downside risk of farming is stuff completely out of your control, so IMO, the best way to control downside is to be as input light as possible, be patient, and let the system repair itself with wise management.

 

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