Interested in buying a farm - no experience

[warksfarmer]

With huge apologies to all farmers for the massively naive nature of this post, my wife and I are exploring buying (and farming) a livestock farm. I have the financial resources but no experience and I don't know any farmers. Any suggestions of where to go to get experience or any good courses, or is it an idea to volunteer on a farm a couple of days a week? I live in South Cambridgeshire but am looking to buy in Wales. I am in my early 50s and have run several businesses but my outdoor experience only extends to gardening!

Dont do it .

Q: How do you make a farmer end up with a million?
A: Give him 10 million and watch ......

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I think when you do buy your farm, and start farming you are going to be shocked by just the volume of rules, regulations and paperwork involved, it's mind blowing. Did you know that you need to apply for an exemption to burn any wood you cut off a hedge on the farm, or to keep old tyres (for silage pit covering), just a couple off the top of my head. Oops, just thought of another, when you clean out a ditch with a digger, the soil or muck in the bottom of the ditch is muck, as soon as the digger bucket leaves the water level it's no longer muck, it's now controlled waste. You can spread that controlled waste next to the ditch, but only if you have applied for a licence to allow yourself to do that.

 

[Netherfield]

Does insanity run in your family

 

[Gareth Edwards]

I think when you do buy your farm, and start farming you are going to be shocked by just the volume of rules, regulations and paperwork involved, it's mind blowing. Did you know that you need to apply for an exemption to burn any wood you cut off a hedge on the farm, or to keep old tyres (for silage pit covering), just a couple off the top of my head. Oops, just thought of another, when you clean out a ditch with a digger, the soil or muck in the bottom of the ditch is muck, as soon as the digger bucket leaves the water level it's no longer muck, it's now controlled waste. You can spread that controlled waste next to the ditch, but only if you have applied for a licence to allow yourself to do that.

Thanks for this thought, unbelievable, I had no idea. Apologies for the naivety here! Appreciate you pointing this out.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Thanks for this thought, unbelievable, I had no idea. Apologies for the naivety here! Appreciate you pointing this out.

having said that, it's mostly "rubbish" and I wouldn't worry too much about it, you may end up beng farm assured, and you will end up finding out about all that stuff during the inspection! I think there are rules, that to sell livestock you need to be covered by a vet practice and farm assurance (farm assured welsh livestock) covers you for that.

 

[puppet]

I think when you do buy your farm, and start farming you are going to be shocked by just the volume of rules, regulations and paperwork involved, it's mind blowing. Did you know that you need to apply for an exemption to burn any wood you cut off a hedge on the farm, or to keep old tyres (for silage pit covering), just a couple off the top of my head. Oops, just thought of another, when you clean out a ditch with a digger, the soil or muck in the bottom of the ditch is muck, as soon as the digger bucket leaves the water level it's no longer muck, it's now controlled waste. You can spread that controlled waste next to the ditch, but only if you have applied for a licence to allow yourself to do that.

Guilty as charged then. Unless you have a neighbour's washing out then burning some wood is ok and there are millions of tyres stacked next to pits that no authority is going to question. You do need a waste permit to receive them.
Compared to some jobs farming actually involves little paperwork

 

[Gareth Edwards]

Thanks for this, that's reassuring to hear!

 

[toquark]

Guilty as charged then. Unless you have a neighbour's washing out then burning some wood is ok and there are millions of tyres stacked next to pits that no authority is going to question. You do need a waste permit to receive them.
Compared to some jobs farming actually involves little paperwork

I would second this, the farm is a blessed relief from the regulation involved in my main job.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I would second this, the farm is a blessed relief from the regulation involved in my main job.

both my partner and I have lost all patience to regulations, forms, paperwork etc, and both because we got overloaded with it at work.

 

[Agrivator]

If you can finance the purchase of a farm with a reasonable amount of borrowing or no borrowing, then try to buy the biggest farm you can afford, but with the condition that it must have at least one habitable house for you to live in.

A lack of knowledge about farming is of no consequence, because you can rely on local but often reticent farmers to farm it for you - so long as you can find a local worthy (maybe an honest local Livestock Auctioneer) to tell you who is honest and trustworthy to deal with, and who to avoid like the plague. And avoid horsey folk at all costs, at least to begin with.

The right local farmers will rent your grass all summer for sheep or beef cattle or more lucratively dairy heifers, or for growing hay or silage, or for cropping. Meanwhile, you won't need to invest in machinery other than maybe small tractor and loader for you to keep the rest of the farm tidy. Any major improvements like renewing fencing or gates, or roofing are best left to craftsmen, so can only be done as and when you can afford them.

 

[BalazsT]

Now that is a very good idea.
Bankroll a young skilled farmer, learn from them.
They can do the skilled bit, and let @Gareth Edwards do the day to day mundane bit. Leaving the young farmer free to explore other avenues to expand income. Won't be any old ingrained ways or ideas.
Everyone will be able to benefit from it.
Be prepared for a wild ride tho.... @Gareth Edwards

New member here in the same boat... So where do I find these young skilled farmers in my neighbourhood?

 

[Badshot]

New member here in the same boat... So where do I find these young skilled farmers in my neighbourhood?

Local ag college.

Local market is a good place.

My daughter will be looking for something in a few years, depends where your neighbourhood is.

 

[DrWazzock]

Interested in buying a nuclear power station/ widget factory/ car repair shop/ pharmacy. I mean honestly how hard can it be? They are usually just sitting at desks, lying under cars or handing over pills all day.
No experience.
Where do I start?
At the bottom usually.
Or can I get an enthusiastic local to come and train me up, do all the crap stuff for a slab of beers?
Only in farming.

 

[DrWazzock]

And these enthusiastic local youngsters with 400 breeding ewes just ready to come and graze your regenerative flower meadows? Where are they? And what kind of let will they offered? £££ an acre for some rough grazing low input low output environmental grass where no supplementary feeding is allowed because the agent says it’ll void the enviro payment and if it gets a bit muddy kindly raise all those sheep up into the sky but do come back in spring when we need you again.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

And these enthusiastic local youngsters with 400 breeding ewes just ready to come and graze your regenerative flower meadows? Where are they? And what kind of let will they offered? £££ an acre for some rough grazing low input low output environmental grass where no supplementary feeding is allowed because the agent says it’ll void the enviro payment and if it gets a bit muddy kindly raise all those sheep up into the sky but do come back in spring when we need you again.

The problem for the youngster is, they buy or rear their 400 ewes and invest in improving someone else's farm, without the security of tenure then the owner changes their mind about what they want to do, and poor sheep owner is out on their ear. There is an answer to that, offer them a 5 or 10 year farm business tenancy.

 

[DrWazzock]

If you want to be

The problem for the youngster is, they buy or rear their 400 ewes and invest in improving someone else's farm, without the security of tenure then the owner changes their mind about what they want to do, and poor sheep owner is out on their ear. There is an answer to that, offer them a 5 or 10 year farm business tenancy.

Indeed. And that to my mind that is venture capitalism. A partnership between the owner and the professional landless farmer. No need to be coy about it. It can work and probably actually works better than somebody with no experience at all making a half arsed job of trying to job hands on themselves and causing misery for themselves and their stock because Kate Humble made it look easy.

 

[DrWazzock]

The tenant needs real security, a reasonable rent and a free hand though.

 

[Rich_ard]

New member here in the same boat... So where do I find these young skilled farmers in my neighbourhood?

Was someone on here looking for a farm as they were having to move on. Can't remember who. I'm sure you will find them once you're ready. What have you got?

 

[DrWazzock]

New member here in the same boat... So where do I find these young skilled farmers in my neighbourhood?

Ask a land agent. They might have folks on their books looking for land. Still plenty of ways for you to enjoy your farm and learn maintaining infrastructure and helping out while they get on with the core livestock work.

 

[neilo]

New member here in the same boat... So where do I find these young skilled farmers in my neighbourhood?

If you are in Wales, Farming Connect have a ‘matching’ service, trying to put the two sides in contact.
Not sure there is anyone doing so elsewhere though?