what to do with 4 acres

[DeanB]

I've got about 4 acres or so that I used to have 5 horses on it but now I'm down to just 2 horses, I don't want anymore horses but need the grass keeping under control would 5 or so sheep be any good and what sort of maintenance and price should I be paying to buy them and would they need selling off every year. Is there any other way to earn from the land I don't mind hard work

 

[andybk]

best option is to let someone local to eat it down ,better more sheep shorter time on and off then they can remove when it gets short , few £ a week if you need the money or half a lamb evry so often , or free if you just want maintenance and bit more control , many do the same

 

[Raider112]

best option is to let someone local to eat it down ,better more sheep shorter time on and off then they can remove when it gets short , few £ a week if you need the money or half a lamb evry so often , or free if you just want maintenance and bit more control , many do the same

Maybe he has that damned bug that the rest of us have and is craving the involvement that drives us. If not he would do well to take your advice.

 

[DeanB]

Well I have i had enough of my day job in the rat race with the rest of the lemmings travelling 100s of miles a day and still putting in 12 hours on a building site

 

[Anymulewilldo]

I'd find someone local willing to exchange a full lamb/year for grazing it down. Sounds fair then, they get a bit of grass. You get to eat local lamb grazed on your forks without the hassle, deaths and paperwork involved. have one or two arrangements around here for crofts below 5 acre

 

[twizzel]

I'd find someone local willing to exchange a full lamb/year for grazing it down. Sounds fair then, they get a bit of grass. You get to eat local lamb grazed on your forks without the hassle, deaths and paperwork involved. have one or two arrangements around here for crofts below 5 acre

We do this with our replacement ewe lambs, works really well.

 

[haybob]

As said find a local lad who is daft enough to keep sheep. I'm the local daft lad here dagging out maggots while the locals are sat out having their BBQs and chilling out on a Sunday .

 

[Anymulewilldo]

We do this with our replacement ewe lambs, works really well.

I find them a pain in the arse... except they are perfect for losing the 25 tups from February through too October! Just keep moving them round them every 3 weeks with a mineral block and they keep themselves brilliant!

 

[haybob]

I find them a pain in the arse... except they are perfect for losing the 25 tups from February through too October! Just keep moving them round them every 3 weeks with a mineral block and they keep themselves brilliant!

Trying to round up 6 ewes in a daft paddock is worse than catching a 100

 

[twizzel]

I find them a pain in the arse... except they are perfect for losing the 25 tups from February through too October! Just keep moving them round them every 3 weeks with a mineral block and they keep themselves brilliant!

To be fair we have a bit more than 4 acres on offer but move around keeping things tidy behind the horses. Literally next door too and the owners look in on the sheep most days. The ewe lambs went up there 1st nov last year to tidy a couple of paddocks up and are still there now

 

[DeanB]

I might be thinking too big but what about grass for bio fuel or a solar farm. And from the previous Post my top floor window looks over the land so I'm able to keep an eye on the field at all times

 

[Estate fencing.]

Trying to round up 6 ewes in a daft paddock is worse than catching a 100

Especially with two horses running around the field as well.

 

[teslacoils]

Glamping pod. Pond. Wood. "Off grid".

 

[Farmer Roy]

My house is on 6 acres

I do nothing with it, apart from enjoying the privacy, the trees, the birds & not being able to see the neighbours . . .
that is worth more than anything else

 

[Highland Mule]

I might be thinking too big but what about grass for bio fuel or a solar farm. And from the previous Post my top floor window looks over the land so I'm able to keep an eye on the field at all times

Grass for biofuel sounds lovely and green, but in reality is nothing but and is just a clever tax dodge/ subsidy collection system for the people doing it. Your area is too small to even consider it, and would also be ruined by the heavy machinery burning diesel to produce said crop, harvest it etc. And your neighbours would hate you for the idiot tractor drivers who would terrorise the roads whilst doing so.

Solar farm is perhaps an option if there is grid capacity near you, but do you really want that in your eyes for the next 25 years? I think you're past the sweetspot of subsidy on that too, in fact, and the economics are nowhere near as convincing as they were.

 

[Guiggs]

Some free range hens for eggs, a polytunnel or 2 for veg and a few weaners for pork freezer packs, sell all your produce from the gate at top prices, it will make a great front for the real business of growing weed in with your tomatoes, you'll be loaded in every sense of the word!!

 

[Still Farming]

Houses,Planning, market garden , poultry ,pigs ,whatever you want ?
Is it adjoining all services or back of beyond on a hill?

 

[DeanB]

Its next to a road with all the necessary services and already has a water connection

 

[DeanB]

It will cost £5000 for electricity

 

[Still Farming]

Looking better every post!
Soil ok or ever ploughed?