We have had pretty good weather all week all though it has just barely been warm enough to allow the bees out a bit from time to time it certainly has been better than the sub-zero crap. The 40's and 50's are suppose to end tomorrow and we go back down into the lower 30's once again. Maybe at least this wind that has been hitting us will die down that would be a blessing.
I actually got out and worked in the shop some getting it ready for bee hive production and even began moving some of the mountains of wood chips I need to spread around. Things are getting back on track after the big freeze once again.
With the sale of the 18 lambs I have been running some numbers and to tell you the truth I am seeing some bright spots of possibility here. Keeping in mind that our property is completely paid off along with all our vehicles, tractors, equipment etc. and that we have a more than decent little nest egg of assets just in case things don't fall apart financially the small farm numbers are looking pretty good.
I have only been working on the actual goal of using the farm as a semi-retirement vehicle for the last four years and truthfully I have not been growing it fast either, at least not until this last year with any real eye for the numbers. There are still plenty of things I am not counting and plenty of useless expenditures that are being carried so I do not have an actual overall financial picture yet but some of the small chunks are coming together and looking workable.
The 18 lambs brought in about $2500.00 after a 10% commission fee which doesn't sound like a lot except I am only interested in the cost of the flock and I figure that amount covers the total expenses with a bit left over. However that is dividing the minor costs of things like overall property taxes, fuel for the tractor and vehicles and splitting the water bill. I am figuring the useless nags running around the place are at least half of those expenses and I know they are more in the grain and hay consumption. Our yearly grain bill is right about $4000.00 but the price of the hay contains only fuel costs and this years fertilizer bill since the property is all paid off.
Other miscellaneous expenditures might in fact take the total cost of the flock per year above that $2500.00 mark but overall that means I am approaching the break even point in numbers.
Honestly when I take out the total cost of those worthless horses and ancient donkey not to mention switching from the wasteful round bales to small square bales things look even better. I could in fact triple the size of the flock easily without increasing the hay field and still come out with extra hay to sell each year and excess pasture besides. Adding an additional planting of hay types that can give extra cuttings like I did last Summer hasn't even figured into the numbers yet but should pay off this year.
This season, God willing, I should get some decent numbers in honey production and farmer's market sales and I also plan on putting in a couple of acres of pumpkins as well. Last year I had so many demands for pumpkins I believe I can work that scheme out to another money maker. I easily could have unloaded wagon loads of pumpkins last year as I had people stopping by wanting to buy some and one inquiry for a couple of pickup loads as he put it.
Now a small bit of patting my own back because honestly these numbers would have in no way worked out like this four years ago. To this point my prediction of inflation and increased fuel costs is proving I was right. If the trend continues small local farms will be an entrepreneurial boom by 2020 easily I think. A few more upticks in food inflation and it will be cheaper to produce the stuff locally and that will only add to the demand over and above the "organic" craze.
The secret as I see it is to own the land debt free and limit the expenditures in equipment preferring to use smaller tractors and more sustainable practices overall.
Then again who knows what the future holds. Honestly it's going to take me years to get everything set up and real hard numbers calculated that include all expenditures and profits. But so far things are still progressing as I predicted.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
I enjoy your posts about your farm and daily life. I like them better than political stuff, to be honest. You lead an interesting life and it's worth reading about. If you enjoy political writing more, so be it, it's your blog. But don't' do away entirely with your "journal" style entries. I'm sure I'm not the only one who looks forward to reading them.
ReplyDeleteHarry - I appreciate that. Of course you are one of the least political guys I know and never wanna risk anyone's anger. I on the other hand like to make people angry because I have noticed over the years that after the anger wears off they many times can see things more clearly.
DeleteI don't plan on not doing relevant posts about what I do but I am going to try and not post too much mundane stuff is really what I meant. Try to get to topics that concern all preppers if I can.
LOL You made some people so angry over yonder in the good old days when we first "met" and I laughed because your so good at what you do. You opened my eyes and I never, ever was upset. Admire and respect is how I felt but ya you ticked a lot of people off and had a come back that was rock solid.
DeletePreppy - Thanks. I look forward to these posts as well and will be interested to see how this works out as I am toying with some of these ideas on my own on a much smaller scale. A question (If it is not too personal): was everything paid off when you started this exercise or did you do that stepwise as well?
ReplyDeleteTB - Nope it wasn't. I have always tried and managed to live debt free so I had no bills but due to my mothers love of horses this particular farm was underwater at least on the loan as she kept rolling it over and refinancing. The wife and I talked long and hard about it and decided to just buy the place and get my mother out from under the loan. In turn we allow her to keep her animals and use all the hay but the understanding is there will be NO MORE HORSES EVER. As the one's she has die they are not replaced.
DeleteUseless animals need to be controlled firmly or they will break you financially very quickly.
I have been using round bales as I can't get square ones here, they are being sold to horse people at a high price. I don't put the round in with the animals but rip it apart with a hooked corn knife and fork it in to them.
ReplyDeleteI need to figure out a plan here, I don't have enough useable land, most of it is too steep for a tractor. We have lots of micro brewers around here so I am thinkiing of growing hops on the hillsides.
SF - Thats the biggest issue few want to sell square bales anymore. Round bales in my opinion, especially with sheep, waste alot to. I originally wanted to buy a place with more trees honestly but from a hay and ag production angle this bit of land we are on is ideal for small farming really and that big barn would take prolly 200K to build new. Since we bailed out my Mom in the process we actually picked the place up for less than half it's actual value we just don't get free run of the place until all her horses are gone.
DeleteYou know, Bro, in France (yes, they're strange) they eat the meat of horse...just saying.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, I second Harry.
DeleteStephen - I am really just trying to avoid the old internet criticism of prepping blogs being about what the author had for dinner is all. Funny well known bloggers can say stuff like that and it's OK but disagree with them and you are just jealous :)
DeleteActually some Hispanic sub-cultures love horse meat and there really is a market for it. Missouri just passed a law allowing horse slaughter houses to open back up but whenever someone tries they attack them with local suits to keep em from opening. I may in fact always keep a horse around I have been known to ride believe it or not. Honestly I was riding horses damned near before I could walk it's not that I really dislike them it's the fact I dislike the cost and the lies (to oneself and others) that usually go along with them. In many ways horse people are a lot like drug addicts and if they are currently addicted there is no reasoning with them.
On the food thing...I so much agree.
DeleteI think your take on horses, at least in the way that modern folk treat and use horses, is very realistic.
I agree with Harry. From your posts, I get an idea of want I'd like to do when we buy our property. You run the actual numbers, and experiment (which I also do). The desire to put just factual information is admirable, but...well, heck...I look forward to any post that you put up.
ReplyDeleteK - What I am calling the political stuff I throw up either so readers can be aware how something may play out or for land owners to see the path and obstacles that lie ahead. One reason I am so against and worried about pensions. Land owners have big huge targets on them and it can't be moved or hidden. It's a constant threat and danger because in the end there is only one real wealth and that is land. I may only have 25 acres here but it is prime ag acreage and carries a pretty hefty farm value tax appraisal. Luckily for right now this county keeps low tax rates but if things keep going the way they are that could change.
DeleteSo, inquiring minds want to know.....
ReplyDeleteAbout how much did the lambs weigh and how old were they? I've never had lamb before and if we ever get the darned pastures fenced, I'm wondering if we'd get one or two to try and if they'd get along with the goats. I didn't notice any horns, are the breed you have naturally polled or do you disbud/dehorn them?
Carolyn - Oh BTW I got your letter. The wife chuckled at the Federal Thugs comment :)
DeleteAll the lambs were under a year old, Some were only 10 months while one or two may have been 11. We did have some March births last year. I want to say the average weight was about 65 pounds maybe into 70 but the ones we sold were all the smaller ones except for one really good looking ewe who was related directly to both our rams.
Every sheep on the place is naturally polled except one Ram who was debudded but we have never seen any horns form. I have read the polled trait is dominate so I guess that's why.
Goats bring more money at the auctions than sheep do. We had a few goats years ago and honestly I thought they were a lot harder to keep than the sheep but only because the goats liked to get out and roam more. Even if the sheep escape they never go far.
The deciding factor for me and going with sheep, other than the fact we already had a flock from my Mother buying em anyway, was the taste. All of us love lamb meat. To me it taste so close to beef but yet just a bit different. I guess that's another value I could figure in but with the commercial cost of lamb these days being so outrageous it's a hard oe to calculate the actual value.
Another thought provoking post.
ReplyDelete