[crimson]

Thinking about starting out with farming  preferably sheep. Currently have 120 acres, only want to do it as a hobby. I have a job so i could work around that.  Inexperienced with sheep but i have people giving me advice. What kind of numbers, breeds of sheep etc should i think about? (farm is inherited by the way)

[john and helen]

well you only live once…and like you, i am just about to start out on a smaller scale..but hey…if you don't do it, you will never know 

[Lesley Silvester]

Worth a try. If it doesn't work you don't have to continue but, if you don't try, you'll never know if it could have worked and you'll probably regret not giving it a go.

[Castle Farm]

Rent it out. You can't keep sheep on a part time basis.

[Rosemary]

Rent it out. You can't keep sheep on a part time basis.

Have to disagree with you CF. I know lots of folk who very successfully keep sheep on a part-time basis. The crofting counties are full of them. Probably not 120 acres worth of sheep though.

Depends what you mean by a hobby, crimson, too. Is it a hobby with no money issues, a break even hobby or a money generating hobby? Do you want to show, breeding pedigree sheep or run on a more commercial basis?

Sheep need 365 day care - at least a daily visit, with enough flexibility to take time to deal with any problems. Things like fly strike can't be left until tomorrow or after work. If you are going to breed, then you'll need to be able to take time off to be there 24/7 over the lambing period - but the length of that period is controlled by you and how long you leave the tup in. But the shorter the tupping period, the fewer ewes will get in lamb, so you need to balance the two things.

Animal welfare must always be uppermost in your mind - but livestock isn't a lifetime commitment. You can always sell them if you decide it's not for you.

Any particular reason for sheep?

I'm so envious of 120 acres of inherited farm - I'd have lots and lots of cattle 

Maybe think about renting out some and keeping some - as your experience grows, you can take more land in hand if you want to.

[honeyend]

The sensible thing would be to rent it out, perhaps to someone who will let you help out and then decide. The trouble with all stock you are on call 365 days a year, you have to plan six months in advance, I am thinking about winter already. Just look at the sheep threads and see some of the problems people have.
 

[tizaala]

ASSUMING. £10,000 per acre =£120,000, sod farming, retire now

[Backinwellies]

Many people on here are now very envious of your inheritance  .... if you like hard physical work and a challenge ... go for it. Alternatively rent it to a would be smallholder .... or what about a share farm ....  go into partnership with someone who may have time, experience but no capital?

[Stellan Vert]

Hi Tiz

I think you may be missing a 0

120 acres at £10,000 is £1,200,000  (£1.2 million),

I agree retire and do what ever you want to do with your life.
(no one, on their deathbed, wishes that they had spent more time at work!!!!)

SV

[SallyintNorth]

ASSUMING. £10,000 per acre =£120,000, sod farming, retire now

120 x 10,000 = 1.2 million

(Oops, x-posted with SV.)

But whilst 10 acres might fetch 10 grand per acre, larger acreage fetch proportionately less.

Good on yer, crimson, for wanting to give it a go.    

To estimate numbers of sheep we'd need to know more about where the land is, what sort of land, and so on.  You'll see people talk about a working figure of 5 sheep per acre; if it's good pasture in Somerset, you may just be able to do 600 sheep on it, but most of us would look at a lot less stock than that to be sustainable.  It's usually a good idea to have other livestock too, to clean up after the sheep, so maybe a few store cattle to follow the sheep.  And is any of it mowing ground?  Clearing a field and leaving it for hay also cleans the ground.

Rosemary's idea to farm some and rent some out is a cracking idea, particularly if you rent to someone doing the sort of thing you want to do, so you can help them and learn from them.

[Porterlauren]

Don't do what all of the others do and split it up into wee 5-10 acre plots and punt them for maximum money to good lifers.

Inheriting a 120 acre farm is a gift that so few get and so many (including me) would kill for!

However, as has been said, properly running a farm of that size as a viable venture . . . . .as a part time hobby, either won't work, or will kill you in the process!

The difficult thing about farm land, is that it needs to be farmed in order to remain productive and in order.

If I was in your position, right now, I would probably be looking to cut as much hay or silage as I could get off the land, store some for own use and sell the rest (either as a bulk or in bales if there was storage). I would then rent out  say 100 acres of grazing to someone with sheep and not enough land (like me now!) and then ask (and use) their advice to build a small flock on the remaining 20 acres, gathering experience and knowledge as you went, helping out the person farming the rest of the land, and having them on hand to help and advise you.

With time, there would be the option to grow your operation and take back some of the 120 acres, eventually farming all of it, and renting more besides if you really made a go of it!

But whatever you do, don't sell it off, especially not by breaking up the farm - once its gone, its gone.

[Anke]

Don't do what all of the others do and split it up into wee 5-10 acre plots and punt them for maximum money to good lifers.

Inheriting a 120 acre farm is a gift that so few get and so many (including me) would kill for!

However, as has been said, properly running a farm of that size as a viable venture . . . . .as a part time hobby, either won't work, or will kill you in the process!

The difficult thing about farm land, is that it needs to be farmed in order to remain productive and in order.

If I was in your position, right now, I would probably be looking to cut as much hay or silage as I could get off the land, store some for own use and sell the rest (either as a bulk or in bales if there was storage). I would then rent out  say 100 acres of grazing to someone with sheep and not enough land (like me now!) and then ask (and use) their advice to build a small flock on the remaining 20 acres, gathering experience and knowledge as you went, helping out the person farming the rest of the land, and having them on hand to help and advise you.

With time, there would be the option to grow your operation and take back some of the 120 acres, eventually farming all of it, and renting more besides if you really made a go of it!

But whatever you do, don't sell it off, especially not by breaking up the farm - once its gone, its gone.

Sound advice!

It also all depends on what your day job is, and other family commitments you have - young family also needs time, anyone to care for?

Also depends on the land - how easily rented out, what type of animal suits - cattle or sheep etc etc

But yes I would rent out and get playing with a small acreage...

[SallyintNorth]

However, as has been said, properly running a farm of that size as a viable venture . . . . .as a part time hobby, either won't work, or will kill you in the process!

Most farmers also do other work to bring in income, and anyone trying to make a living off 120 acres is almost certainly getting income from elsewhere. 

If it's a couple, the wife often works a day job as well as helping on the farm and rearing children, running the home, etc.  She'll take her holidays at lambing time, hay time, and so on.  One farmer on his/her own will struggle.  A lot of farmers do contracting for other farmers - general help, lambing, haymaking, etc, as well as running their own spot.

[midtown]

Plenty of sound advice for you to ponder over Crimson.

Other things to consider;
Previous use of the land?
How familiar are you with every inch of the farm? "You need to know every blade of grass by name", was a bit of advice given to me many years ago.
It's no use having hay fields if you can't get the machinery in to harvest the crop due to access problems such as gates being too narrow!
What machinery and other resources do you have available?
How secure is the existing fencing?
Is drainage a problem?
Is water freely available?
Walk the land making notes of potential problems.
"If I rent field x, how would the tenant access the field?",
"How would I get water to field xx?"
"How easily could I access the furthermost part of the estate - in all weathers, and if necessary return with ill/injured stock?"   

On the admin side, check with the Rural Payments Agency that the transfer of ownership is recorded with them.

Best of luck with your inheritance, and there will always be plenty of advice freely available to you from the good people on this forum.
Don't be afraid to ask, and remember - there is no such thing as a stupid question.

[Ideation]

P.S

If you are anywhere near me. . . . I might just know a nice man with some sheep looking to rent your farm haha