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Author Topic: 20 acres smallholding ideas  (Read 11592 times)

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #15 on: October 29, 2016, 09:11:34 am »
I agree.  Look to your transportation costs and to the fact that a bad Winter could mean no transportation possible at all for days or weeks on end.  What did the previous owner do?  If he kept 20 sheep and had an outside job or did contracting for neighbours it may give you an idea of what's possible on that parcel of land. Why would people want to say at that particular spot?  You may have 6 enquiries for a week in the summer holidays but who'll want to camp in January?

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #16 on: October 31, 2016, 03:41:15 pm »
Have you been for a look?

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #17 on: October 31, 2016, 04:52:28 pm »
But there is in BRUM & it's not such a distance either.

 I seem to recall that there is a slaughter house close by that also runs a halal line , so having an on-line search for it could be very helpful .


 As an aside for all smallholders who buy in feed stuffs .

  If you didn't know it a business with livestock now has to have full farm to customer traceability .

Our local feed supply place is now asking everyone who buys from them to also agree to giving our names & address to be put on each till ticket .
So that in the event of a problem in the feed supply chain all affected people can be quickly contacted and the problem remedied .
They have also asked for the details for sales of cat & dog food as well , for they think that will soon also be a requirement  .

Good luck in everything .
Dream big , build it bigger & build it better .
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #18 on: October 31, 2016, 08:26:39 pm »
Have you been for a look?
Booked a viewing for next Monday.
Yes Brum, Cardiff and Bristol would be probably biggest markets if we set it up in wales.
On the other hand we are setting up an online based business.
I would want to spend my life rearing animals and growing food just for my family on a larger scale even if it wasn't the main business.
After all its not just about the money but a lifestyle. Being close to nature. Teaching children where food comes from...
Nowadays even farmers get all their food from tescos... beef farmers eat beef from the supermarket... ridiculous...
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #19 on: November 01, 2016, 01:00:20 pm »
But there is in BRUM & it's not such a distance either.
Birmingham is 140 miles away, with a mountain range in the way.    Journey time in Summer 3 to 4 hours, in Winter .....

farmershort

  • Joined Nov 2010
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #20 on: November 01, 2016, 03:27:26 pm »
Not many Muslims in Wales? What nonsense... not as many as the east mids or bits of London and the North perhaps, but walk around Prestatyn on a sunny day and for a moment you could think you were on the banks of the indus!

Certain parts of Wales were areas of that pretty poor town planning thing where they decided to group loads of a chosen minority in single areas... hence, lots of Muslims in certain towns in Wales. In fact, I think the GIS data is freely available to overlay on a map. That way you can target your demographic by overlaying census race/ religion data on top of Google earth maps. Does that make sense?

We used to rent land in leics, so can picture the whole halal customer Base thing... it's a big big deal there. I seem to remember our neighbour did a lot of work delivering sheep to a mega abattoir in Luton for eid.

I suppose as long as you've worked your logistic network out, it shouldn't be impossible... mid Wales is a long way from everywhere else though.

I like the idea that you could be just the 2nd organic halal producer in the country... that sounds like a good business idea... potentially.


Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #21 on: November 01, 2016, 05:46:06 pm »
mid Wales is a long way from everywhere else though.

Do you speak Welsh?   

hughesy

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Anglesey
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #22 on: November 01, 2016, 06:02:28 pm »
Things to consider. Distance to abattoir? Will you have /can you have processing facilities? Paying a butcher to process meat is a good way to get a wealthy local butcher and to end up skint yourself. Feed and equipment suppliers local? Poultry? If you plan on doing significant numbers for meat then be prepared for a whole shower of hassle from the FSA. Bear in mind that something that seems like a small hassle now will very likely become an onerous chore in the long term.

farmershort

  • Joined Nov 2010
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #23 on: November 01, 2016, 06:13:11 pm »
mid Wales is a long way from everywhere else though.

Do you speak Welsh?

Not much... why? Just the anthem and a few token sentences... my OH is a first language speaker though.

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #24 on: November 01, 2016, 09:34:00 pm »
But there is in BRUM & it's not such a distance either.
Birmingham is 140 miles away, with a mountain range in the way.    Journey time in Summer 3 to 4 hours, in Winter .....

 Small fridge/ freezer chiller trucks &  vans make such a distance an easy surmountable  thing . Especially if you are selling under a collected contract direct to a  slaughtering point to a bigger concern rather than doing it all your self  . If your USP is what the buyer wants you're usually quids in .

Some of my friends in Scotland had a 200 or so doe meat rabbit herd almost at Stranraer ( SP?) ,  they went as livestock into a slaughter house in Ashby by Partney in Linconshire  .
« Last Edit: November 01, 2016, 09:38:51 pm by cloddopper »
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #25 on: November 02, 2016, 10:32:50 am »
Here in the Marches there are at least three weeks over the Winter every year where it would be extremely foolish to go off-farm.  Not necessarily due to snow, but high winds bringing down trees across the roads, thick fog or icy roads.  On the subject of snow there was the Winter when it fell at the beginning of December and stayed down for six weeks, the one where it drifted a metre high, the one where the fuel tankers couldn't get out of the supplier's yard due to frozen snow, the one where all our spades and shovels were out on loan to folks whose cars got stuck on the lane..... and we don't have a mountain range nearby.

Dave C

  • Joined Aug 2014
  • Teesdale, Co Durham
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #26 on: November 02, 2016, 02:18:41 pm »
Have you been for a look?
Booked a viewing for next Monday.


Interesting venture mate, look forward to hearing how you get on.

Good luck with it  :fc:

farmershort

  • Joined Nov 2010
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #27 on: November 02, 2016, 02:26:25 pm »
Here in the Marches there are at least three weeks over the Winter every year where it would be extremely foolish to go off-farm.  Not necessarily due to snow, but high winds bringing down trees across the roads, thick fog or icy roads.  On the subject of snow there was the Winter when it fell at the beginning of December and stayed down for six weeks, the one where it drifted a metre high, the one where the fuel tankers couldn't get out of the supplier's yard due to frozen snow, the one where all our spades and shovels were out on loan to folks whose cars got stuck on the lane..... and we don't have a mountain range nearby.

I'm still no clearer about why you wanted to know if I speak welsh....

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #28 on: November 02, 2016, 06:09:11 pm »
Because a LOT of Welsh people do, some of them all of the time.  If I was moving to France I would brush up my French before I bought my beret.

farmershort

  • Joined Nov 2010
Re: 20 acres smallholding ideas
« Reply #29 on: November 02, 2016, 06:42:51 pm »
Because a LOT of Welsh people do, some of them all of the time.  If I was moving to France I would brush up my French before I bought my beret.

This is why I'm confused... I don't live in Wales.  Our smallholding is in Devon.

 

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