making a go at farming

good evening everyone
long time reader of the forum first time poster so many responses and advice would be helpful
my thoughts earlier today in my lunch hour I was looking at farms for sale just out of curiousity and see many in Scotland which are over 400 hundred acres and are around 700k to 1 mil I understand that is a substantial amount of money but living in the southwest it is also a very large farm compared to what that would buy down here. so my point is if a young farmer with a large deposit through inheritance and savings (below 100k) be able to borrow and make a go at it through sucklers and sheep.

farms background
3-400 acres
average ground
say capacity for 100 cows and calves and 600 ewes
farmhouse and cottage so possibility of selling cottage for loan

person background
I'm 20
business owner
dedicated farmer

please respond and discuss as this is a serious posability and thought of mine
 

Sheep

Member
Location
Northern Ireland
Only you can decide that. See what type of mortgages are available, business plans and projection for potential income and weight that against repayments on mortgage and what income you wish to take out of it.

Only thing to be aware of is that Scotland is much different than Southwest England.
 

GTB

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
I've never been to Scotland so maybe I'm talking out of place here but my thoughts are...

Scotland is 500 miles further North than where you are. The winters are longer and colder. The growing season is therefore shorter.

400 acres in Scotland won't carry the same amount of stock as 400 acres in the south west.

100 sucklers and 600 ewes won't pay the mortgage on 700+ k especially if subs go/reduce.

Sorry to be so negative. Just want you to go into this with your eyes wide open.
 
Only you can decide that. See what type of mortgages are available, business plans and projection for potential income and weight that against repayments on mortgage and what income you wish to take out of it.

Only thing to be aware of is that Scotland is much different than Southwest England.
yes right I understand that and I also understand that the stocking rate and also the housing time but I am willing to make it work as I am young and enthusiastic about the future in farming so fine if suckers and sheep couldn't make a repayment on a loan this size is there anyway you could farm it to make it pay (chickens,heifer rearing)
 
yes that is true and my family have farmed near Scotland before and I have helped them out so know roughly what it is like. just out of curiousity has anyone known anyone who has done something similar to this or buying land down to not real farmers and not keen youngsters?
 

sherg

Member
Location
shropshire
yes right I understand that and I also understand that the stocking rate and also the housing time but I am willing to make it work as I am young and enthusiastic about the future in farming so fine if suckers and sheep couldn't make a repayment on a loan this size is there anyway you could farm it to make it pay (chickens,heifer rearing)
Chickens would probably make it make it pay depending on the location, personally I'd wait a few years depending on what type of brexit we have that farm could be worth half that amount in 5 years time
 

Danllan

Member
Location
Sir Gar / Carms
I think it will depend just how large that deposit is, if it's £300k you could make a go of it, if it's more you could be on to a good thing; but don't forget another £50 - 100k to set you up (depending on what you have and can make do without). The SNP have said sub's will stay, but they are not credible economically, so you can't count on them. I know people who have done it on that scale, but they had no debts, having moved from SE England and pocketed the remaining sum after purchase and set-up. It's all down to the math's, age and energy will be in your favour, but don't bury yourself under the altar of ambition - there are a hell of a lot of people out there who have got themselves into debt in the way you are proposing. Maybe bide your time, land prices may fall across the UK, most heavily in Scotland if that does happen. Good luck.
 

Sheep

Member
Location
Northern Ireland
I've never been to Scotland so maybe I'm talking out of place here but my thoughts are...

Scotland is 500 miles further North than where you are. The winters are longer and colder. The growing season is therefore shorter.

400 acres in Scotland won't carry the same amount of stock as 400 acres in the south west.

100 sucklers and 600 ewes won't pay the mortgage on 700+ k especially if subs go/reduce.

Sorry to be so negative. Just want you to go into this with your eyes wide open.

yes right I understand that and I also understand that the stocking rate and also the housing time but I am willing to make it work as I am young and enthusiastic about the future in farming so fine if suckers and sheep couldn't make a repayment on a loan this size is there anyway you could farm it to make it pay (chickens,heifer rearing)

I see no reason why sheep and sucklers couldn't meet loan repayments, on a 700k loan the repayments aren't going to be massive over a 30 year period.

Edit - scratch that calculated it totally wrong:D
 
Last edited:
I see no reason why sheep and sucklers couldn't meet loan repayments, on a 700k loan the repayments aren't going to be massive over a 30 year period. Rent and subsidy (assuming it remains) will amount to around ~50k on 300 acres won't it? 7.5% interest on 700k amounts to an extra 52k, over 30 years thats a 25k repayment per annum.
this is exactly my point but I wasn't sure if i was being blinded by my ambition but surely if subs go then produce price should increase(should)
 

GTB

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
I see no reason why sheep and sucklers couldn't meet loan repayments, on a 700k loan the repayments aren't going to be massive over a 30 year period.

Edit - scratch that calculated it totally wrong:D
The mortgage for 800k over 25 yrs works out at over 50k a year at current interest rates. :eek:
 

Sheep

Member
Location
Northern Ireland
this is exactly my point but I wasn't sure if i was being blinded by my ambition but surely if subs go then produce price should increase(should)

The mortgage for 800k over 25 yrs works out at over 50k a year at current interest rates. :eek:

Yeah I realised that after I re-read it after posting haha, repayment on that size of a loan will be £1.1m not 750k :banghead::oops:
 

Tim W

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Wiltshire
a few reasons such as imports will be taxed so imported produce will rise so uk produce wont have to compete with low prices and also cop will rise so it will force price up suley or that's my theory

Those are assumptions/hopes I would say?

Taxing imports? trade deals done with farming at the top of the agenda? Not sure that will happen

COP rise---could well be but that doesn't mean that we get paid more for the produce....
 
Those are assumptions/hopes I would say?

Taxing imports? trade deals done with farming at the top of the agenda? Not sure that will happen

COP rise---could well be but that doesn't mean that we get paid more for the produce....
yes that's very true I haven't thought of it that way what would you say will happen to land prices once brexit takes place then
 

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