Startup farming

Jievernon

Member
Livestock Farmer
Hi everyone,
I am looking to start a farm, but unsure exactly where to start and what help is available.
I am 39 years old, I have a mortgaged house and run a small courier company.
All I have ever wanted to do was farming as that is what everyone in my family does apart from my parents who chose different career paths, and when I left school and wanted to go into farming they talked me out of it and also got my family to talk me out of it.
All my grandparents have now passed away and at 39 it’s really made me evaluate what I want to do with the rest of my life, and farming is still where my heart lies, it’s what I grew up with and what I’m most interested in.
I realise that getting a big farm and having big tractors and milking like 200 cows is not realistic, I’m willing to start small and I’m well aware of the hard work involved in good weather and also bad weather, working weekends and at night, I’m well aware of all this, I am a grafter and was born for this, I feel I have wasted so many years not following through with my dream of being a farmer
Can anyone give me some advice where to start, tips, point me in the right direction?
 

glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
Hi everyone,
I am looking to start a farm, but unsure exactly where to start and what help is available.
I am 39 years old, I have a mortgaged house and run a small courier company.
All I have ever wanted to do was farming as that is what everyone in my family does apart from my parents who chose different career paths, and when I left school and wanted to go into farming they talked me out of it and also got my family to talk me out of it.
All my grandparents have now passed away and at 39 it’s really made me evaluate what I want to do with the rest of my life, and farming is still where my heart lies, it’s what I grew up with and what I’m most interested in.
I realise that getting a big farm and having big tractors and milking like 200 cows is not realistic, I’m willing to start small and I’m well aware of the hard work involved in good weather and also bad weather, working weekends and at night, I’m well aware of all this, I am a grafter and was born for this, I feel I have wasted so many years not following through with my dream of being a farmer
Can anyone give me some advice where to start, tips, point me in the right direction?
Find a rich uncle and work for him till he leaves it to you.
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
Going to be an up hill struggle financially and mentally. Even with a pile of money there is so much to learn and little room for mistakes. I admire you wanting to try.I’d say go work weekends and after work with a local farmer and start learning the right and wrong ways to do things. it will give you hands on experience and great insight into the day to day grind. You’ll learn more from a well established family farmer that a big estate scenario. If your single with no ties I’d be tempted to travel and learn while working on various farms Until you know exactly wat you want. Forget what glasshouse said. Find a rich widow with lots of work and a kind heart. No offence glasshouse.
 

Jievernon

Member
Livestock Farmer
Welcome and good luck.
Have you got land or access to any?
Are you Arable or Livestock orientated?
Would other family farming help you a bit, with machinery ,few acres etc?
Location may help?
Hi thanks for your reply.
Unfortunately I don’t have any land or access to any, I have asked family but they say they could do with some there selves , I have been looking for land and even farms to rent to get a rough idea.
I am mainly livestock orientated but have done grass cutting, hay making and silage.
Family have said they will help me with advice along the way and borrow some machinery ect, but they are short on land.
I am based near Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, my family farms are Staffordshire and Derbyshire , but to be honest I am willing to move anywhere to start this.
 

Hilly

Member
Hi everyone,
I am looking to start a farm, but unsure exactly where to start and what help is available.
I am 39 years old, I have a mortgaged house and run a small courier company.
All I have ever wanted to do was farming as that is what everyone in my family does apart from my parents who chose different career paths, and when I left school and wanted to go into farming they talked me out of it and also got my family to talk me out of it.
All my grandparents have now passed away and at 39 it’s really made me evaluate what I want to do with the rest of my life, and farming is still where my heart lies, it’s what I grew up with and what I’m most interested in.
I realise that getting a big farm and having big tractors and milking like 200 cows is not realistic, I’m willing to start small and I’m well aware of the hard work involved in good weather and also bad weather, working weekends and at night, I’m well aware of all this, I am a grafter and was born for this, I feel I have wasted so many years not following through with my dream of being a farmer
Can anyone give me some advice where to start, tips, point me in the right direction?
North.
 

Jievernon

Member
Livestock Farmer
Find a rich uncle and work for him till he leaves it to you.
I was working for my uncle a few years back and the intention of me working for him he was leaving me in charge when he retired, unfortunately there was abit of a family fallout between my dad and his brothers leaving us all to fall out and him leave the farm to another family member, so sort of tried that.
I need to do this on my own now.
 

Mc115reed

Member
Livestock Farmer
Hi thanks for your reply.
Unfortunately I don’t have any land or access to any, I have asked family but they say they could do with some there selves , I have been looking for land and even farms to rent to get a rough idea.
I am mainly livestock orientated but have done grass cutting, hay making and silage.
Family have said they will help me with advice along the way and borrow some machinery ect, but they are short on land.
I am based near Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, my family farms are Staffordshire and Derbyshire , but to be honest I am willing to move anywhere to start this.
Good luck your gonna need it folk in Staffordshire would murder there Nan if they thought it would get them another 20 acres too grow maize on
 
It sounds like you’re set on farming in your own right but don’t dismiss being employed on a farm as an option. There are some great opportunities for people with the right attitude. It would certainly help you to itch the scratch (so to speak) and gain you experience that in itself could open doors / help you make contacts etc and make the possibility of renting some ground more likely.

Good luck with your choices!
 

CornishRanger

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cornwall
Your enthusiasm and knowledge you have will be an advantage, without knowing your exact situation I would say the main things you need to consider are your financial situation, and your immediate family/dependants. You need to have wife/partner/kids on board fully or that could be a major stain on relationships. If your house is still mortgaged I assume you need the monthly income, so don't give up the day job just yet.

I would say try and get your foot in the door, if you can get part time work take it, and if you can get hold of any grazing keep some sheep. Building connections in the industry could well give you leads to expand. If that works out you could then look at tenancies, we now have a council tenancy and having a established flock of sheep, enthusiasm and working in the industry and bringing in an outside income (not a full time unit) helped in the application.
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
we came from outside industry in about 1978 , we had a base of 1 acre and the house , nothing else , now farm 150 (summer )acres , and prob similar winter keep , nearly all on grazing licences / keep , some free some full rent , maybe 30ac on a FBT as well , took rural payments 3 days to measure our field boundaries lol ,
steep learning curve and still learning lol , important is being straight , keep stock where they should be , pay your bills on time , treat landlords as your friends be aware of their needs , oh and most important have a plan B for everything ,
we ended up on the pedigree end of sheep farming with about 200 ewes + similar followers we sell as shearlings ,this after 15 years of commercial sheep farming that we used to keep turf short we sold , instead of mowing , as it gave best bang for buck for us ,
you need to be able to see through the BS for pedigree sheep job , because your farm will never be as good as the one , stock you buy , came off or will be fed as well , (a strength long term )
it is a great career and i wouldnt change the path i took but dont expect it to pay as well as nearly any other job you could do ,
But could you see a barn owl or suprise a deer or muntjac while fencing , hear the lark singing and be part of the landscape ? , i doubt it !
 

Jievernon

Member
Livestock Farmer
Genuine offer though if your from Stoke and want too come f**k about with sheep for a bit of experience for food and a few quid you can come give me a hand any time but I can’t afford too pay you much
Hi mate , where abouts are you based? I
Say Stoke on Trent but I actually live on the out skirts, Tean, near Alton towers.
 

Jievernon

Member
Livestock Farmer
Happy new year guys, let’s hope 2022 is a good one !!
And I would just like to say thanks for all your replies, they have all been a great help and inspiring to hear what you have achieved yourselves .
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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