[Farmerswifey]

I'm sure this has been done before but I'm new to the forum and the search function threw up nothing;

What do you on you smallholding/piece of land to pay the bills?

Do you have a regular job and make a little extra from your land or do you make all of your income from the land/farm business?

[henchard]

I think there is a thread on this somewhere.

Personally we retired early (took a reduced pension), sold up a larger house and bought a smallholding in a less expensive area. I think that is a fairly common operandus modi.


edit: should that be 'modus operandi'?

[mowhaugh]

We are not exactly smallholders, our farm is 508 acres, but of rough ground.  My husband does a lot of contract shedherding, tractor driving, combine driving, fencing etc. etc., and I teach a day and a half per week.  I still think we would struggle if it wasn't for our tax credits, which I have absolutely no qualms about claiming, having paid plenty of the stuff when I worked full time.  Having said that, if we didn't spend around £300/month on trying to keep us and the children even vaguely warm, we would be an awful lot better off.

[mowhaugh]

Also, we sell the extra eggs from our hens and this money goes into a jar for treats for our boys - most weeks, we spend some of this on going swimming and I am just about to buy tickets to see the Hairy Mclary stage show with the rest. 

[bloomer]

I have 6 chickens


they are a permanent drain on my finances...


my day job is fencing and other outdoorsy projects (but mainly i am house husband and primary carer to 4 children), in 1 month mrs. b will graduate as a social worker, hopefully find a job and soon afterwards we can start a quest for our own patch of land to donate all our spare time and money too...


I want sheep!!!


and chickens (more than 6)


and maybe piggies if i get the right place.... but if not i have a great pork supplier already 

[Rosemary]

We have 12 acres (about 9 acres grass, plus orchard, veg garden, fruit garden) plus about 10 acres of rented grazing. We have a small flock of Coloured Ryeland sheep (13 to the tup this year and 7 ewe lambs from last year not going to the tup), a small herd of Shetland cattle (two cows and a heifer incalf for May next year, 2 2013 calves (a bullock and a heifer), a 2012 bullock and a 2012 bull, plus 100 laying hens (or not given the time of year ). We fatten a couple of weaner pigs for our consumption.

Our aim is to be at least cost neutral on the smallholding ie get all our food for free (well, free-ish) but at the moment we're investing a lot in infrastructure and we're still building up our flocks / herds. We sell surplus eggs, beef, lamb and a very few veggies (enough to pay for next year's seeds  ) but we planted 70 apple trees last year and another 50 go in next year so we'll be selling apples and juice in a couple of years.

We have a small income from the website; we run a few courses and we're part of the team that organises the Scottish Smallholder and Grower Festival - so there's a small income from smallholding related activities. But we couldn't live of this.

Dan works full-time with his brother on price comparison websites. Without that, we'd be broke.

[MAK]

We did exactly the same as Henchard says above BUT we moved to France.
Our pensions cover utility bills, taxes, 2 cars, wine, cigs, DIY, wine and wine.
BUT - we slipped into a very frugal lifestyle ( even buy cheap wine now). We shop for little as we home kill pigs,rabbits,ducks and chickens as well as having a long growing season for veg.
We exchange things with our neighbours and I keep animal feed costs low by gathering foods from the woods, fields and hedges. We even make our own hay after the council cut the verges on the lanes. It is amazing how much money you can free up when you examine your normal shopping and expenditure.
Oh - we sell some eggs but make enough for just a few bottles of wine.
NB We are not really winOs

[doganjo]

Government and occupational pension allows me to have had my ducks, hens and quail for 10 years, and I play around at growing veg and fruit.  Never seem to have a lot of eggs or anything else so I don't really sell any, just use as gifts - only 6 hens and four are oldies that are also pensioners till they pop their clogs.  Never counted the cost, regardless of having been a company accountant for almost 40 years.  Don't intend to start.  i just enjoy doing what i do.  I'd have preferred more land in which case I'd probably have had a few sheep.

[lachlanandmarcus]

OH works down south during the week and I look after the 2 horses, 40 odd sheep, 4 geese, 3 chickens, 2 sheepdogs and 2 pet dogs. I used to work full time in a big tower in Canary Wharf but we worked out that we wouldn't be much worse off this way cos of all the costs down there and also when OHs mum died suddenly it made me just think 'seize the day' as she was the most lively person I knew, so we decided to be a bit mad and go for it!


The sheep pretty much cover their costs as we have plenty of land, they are unreg Shetlands so cheap to buy and need little cosseting, we make our own hay, they just have that and a mineral lick as winter feed. We eat some (boys) and sell surplus ewe lambs and some meat from the boys. The horses on the other hand are a pure cost centre! But a lot cheaper to keep up here neat Aboyne than in Hertfordshire (about a quarter of the cost....


So OHs income keeps the show on the road, mortgage and all. But he gets to come home at the weekend and enjoy it (well sometimes, tomorrow he's bashing in fence posts and today he was putting on a tractor tyre!)

[ellied]

I have 10 acres, most of which is the Highland pony stud I've run for over 20 years.  Initially an expensive hobby when I was working, it now has to pay for itself as far as possible, for which I need 2-3 sales a year and a stud fee or two for the stallion if I can manage it.  Selling 1 a year at present which is something of a drain, but I have reduced overall from average 20 ponies to currently 12 of which 1 on loan and 1 sold bar the payment of the balance, I just have a deposit so far..

I have 20 odd hens and sell any eggs I can, which usually about covers their feed costs and gives me a steady diet, along with fruit and veg I grow.  The orchard (plums/apples) earned for the first time ever this year through joining the local Orchard Group, but my share was under £60 as most members do it as a hobby and the group wouldn't take all I could have supplied as it was more than the rest and they wanted to be fair to everyone     I am planting more fruit trees/bushes but mostly it's for my own use - I am veggie so the more fruit and veg and eggs I have the better my diet balance and the lower my food bills..

Over and above the holding based stuff I sometimes sell crafts, art, massage therapy, counselling/psychotherapy and any other services I can manage and folk will pay for.  I've done basic websites, run workshops, done alternative therapies, all sorts, but most of it is dormant at the mo due to health issues so things are a little tight for now.

My holding was bought on a mortgage when I was working and I overpaid regularly and had an offset savings account too so now I don't earn much I can still cover the minimum payments without difficulty.  Everything else is getting honed down further and further, but I haven't broken even in the 3 years I've been living this way tho it is getting closer each year so that's progress 

[jaykay]

I have a full-time job (50+ hours) and I smallhold in the evenings and weekends.
I have a house with no equity and a big mortgage (divorce plus banking crash) and about 10 acres of very wet, rough, hilly grazing.

I have 40 Shetland sheep, 4 goats, two of which I milk, about 30 chooks, 20 ducks and 4 geese.

I sell meat from the sheep, drink the goats' milk myself, sometimes sell surplus eggs and give cheese to friends. I've sold some of the Shetland fleeces and sent some to be carded for the first time (I've changed breed in the last couple of years) and I might sell some of the spun yarn.

I don't think I break even, but I like the animals and the land, to counterbalance my stressful office/people job.

[RUSTYME]

Basically , i don't do money , stepped off the merry go round .
 I don't have bills , so don't need money , apart from just a basic amount (£20-£40)  to cover things i can't make or grow .
 More or less grow my own food , but things do go wrong , but scrape by one way or tuther .

[plumseverywhere]

I run a little soap business - the soap is made using milk from our goats. It pays the goats keep and a nice little profit on top (but has taken 3 years and lots of hard work and ploughing through beaurocratic paperwork type stuff to get here!)
Husband works for NFU mutual so still involved in farming, without his job we'd not be able to keep a smallholding.

[john and helen]

We are changing lifestyles altogether, me or H will have to do 1 or 2 days a week work, whether thats me traveling back to Devon once a week,or find work locally , we aim to grow and rear most of our own food, and i would like to progress my filming idea , which could produce a small income..

at the end of the day, i don't really want to chase the £ i just want enough to get by, and enjoy life

[SteveHants]

I run 350ish ewes over 230 odd acres (less in summer). Decent handling kit and dog mean it is a part-time job and pays almost as much as my wife who is a full time secretary.