[Devon Boy]

This is my first topic on here so please be gentle.

myself and my partner are both at the start of our smallholding journey. we have looked at a few places and were originally looking for a residential property with land. we have now decided that as long as it is well placed we would be happy with a separate plot of land locally, alas we have found one we believe would be ideal at a fair price but we were quite keen to lease for 12 months with a view to buy but later discovered that this was no longer an option.

We currently have a horse and some hens but ultimately hoping to possibly to expand to something along the lines of

2 horses
2 cattle
4 sheep
some ducks and further chickens

Possibly some pheasants

I am quite keen to find somewhere that already has established mains electric and water. A borehole or spring would be preferable.

What would your top ten top tips be all things considered?

Thanks in advance.

[ballingall]

I don't know if I can come up with 10 tips, but here are a few off the top of my head.

Make sure you have enough land for the animals- not enough land in summer, but enough in winter. The ratio is 4 sheep an acre, I think, but if your land isn't good, prone to flooding in winter, that can reduce the usable amount considerably in winter. Ideally you want enough so that some areas can be rested too so that you can move animals around and onto a fresh field.

Consider the soil type, wish I'd done this more when we bought here- we are on heavy clay, and it is quite wet in winter, despite the fact that we are at the top of a rise.

Water/ electric- electric is useful, but I would say water is essential. I know some people do cart water to their land, but that must be tough.
A building or buildings would useful too, even just for storing hay etc in, even if there is not enough room to bring the livestock in poor weather.


Fencing- most important, that it either has good fencing, or that you can get good fencing put in. Either by yourself, or by a contractor if you have money available.


Hope that helps a little- I'm sure other people will mention other things too!


Beth

[Devon Boy]

Thats a great start Beth, thanks very much 

[SirDoolb]

Make sure that you can get to the land on a daily basis. It needs to be close enough. So think about that.
Yes, look at the local geology. I bought my land for it's interest, so while there is plenty of diversity on it, it's totally soggy most of the time. That's not an issue for me but it's slippy clay and skies would probably work best.

[Clarebelle]

If you look at somewhere in summer, ask the owners or neighbours what it's like in winter. Our field doesn't flood in winter but many others here do.

It's probably different down there but here buildings are essential, you can't leave anything outside if you want to see it again!

Water nearby also unless you can fill and forklift ibc containers about I guess

I loved the process of finding a smallholding, I hope you do to! Enjoy 

[devonlad]

Welcome from somewhere near ? Echo all above. If we were looking again having learnt from mistakes then we'd not have such steep ground as its a bugger to manage, access for trailers or mowers is vital and prob most important to long term serenity is no neighbours or fabulous ones. We've been really lucky in this regard but I know from here not everyone's so lucky. Good luck and hello