Smallholders Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Making a profit  (Read 6875 times)

RyanNobson

  • Joined Nov 2016
Making a profit
« on: November 30, 2016, 10:36:54 pm »
Hey I'm new here!
I have roughly an acre and a quarter and was wondering how I can make a profit from it, As it currently costs around £400 a month for the feed for the pigs, sheep and chickens.
I've thought about selling eggs, but want to make a bit more money than a couple of quid for a dozen eggs.
The pigs will be ready to breed this coming year so I can sell the piglets from them. And the sheep should be ready next year to breed, so I will also be able to sell their lambs.
But I mainly want a way to make money up until then, Anyone got any tips for what I can do to make myself enough money, just to even cover the £400 for the cost of the feed every month?
TIA! :pig: :chook: :sheep:

landroverroy

  • Joined Oct 2010
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2017, 02:32:11 pm »
An interesting question - how to make a profit from an acre and a quarter? (How many times has that been asked on this forum?)
My first thought is that you will have spent a further £800 since you posted the question and presumably got nothing back, so by the time your animals are productive you will have spent a FORTUNE.

So - you'll never make money from the sheep on that acreage. So eat them or put them in at market. Getting them slaughtered privately and selling the meat is probably the most profitable option. But DO get your meat buyers sorted out before you end up with a pile of meat and nowhere to put it.

Pigs can be profitable on that acreage. But if you want money now, then again you need to sell them now. Again for breeding or meat.

Ok - that's reduced your feed bill by about £400/month. (presumably the hens don't cost much if you only have a dozen or so eggs to sell.) So that must feel like having a profit now that you're not shelling out all that money on feed.
But if you want to make a profit, then you need to plan it. Not just plunge in and then think "Where do I go from here?"
If you fancy pigs, then take it slowly. Maybe get a few weaners, grow them and sell them fat.  Then buy some more and expand gradually.
As for poultry - I found the most profitable way was to have a few rare breeds and sell pure bred hatching eggs. Look up the price of hatching eggs - quite a nice little earner. Another alternative is to buy day old ready sexed chicks and sell them as point of lay.

But essentially I'm sure most people on here would answer your question by saying  - "YOU CAN'T"
Smallholding is more a lifestyle choice and way of life.
Easiest way to make a profit (not a fortune!) is to rent it out to someone else and let them work themselves to death 20/7 instead of you.

 

   
Rules are made:
  for the guidance of wise men
  and the obedience of fools.

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2017, 02:45:22 pm »
I agree.  If you're somewhere where farmgate sales are practical then eggs, soft fruit like raspberries and strawberries and buying in weaners and selling the pork (once you've shelled out for pig arks, drinker system, fencing and feed and have bought or can hire or borrow a trailer for transportation) might make a small profit.  That area is too small for sheep, unless you buy in hay almost all year round (another expense), and can split the land to make smaller enclosures to allow the ground to be rested (yet another expense).

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2017, 04:25:13 pm »
Landroverroy - you're such a cynic  :roflanim:  but I agree of course.


Yes, one and a quarter acres is way too small to make a worthwhile profit from smallholding activities. You can have self-supporting hens by selling their eggs - you'll get just enough to pay for their feed and have enough for you to eat too.  The same for sheep and as you can only keep a small handful on such a small area, your crops will be small. You will surely want to keep some meat for yourselves - we find what we bring in for carcasses covers our costs and pays the slaughter charge for the few sheep we send off each year (we breed breeding stock so it's mostly males which are eaten), and we get the ones we put in our own freezer for free.


I don't know about pigs on a small scale, but I'm assuming it's the pig feed which is flooring you.


Selling veg at the gate will earn you pennies and take a lot of hard work to produce, as will jam, chutney etc.  I have heard of people setting up small businesses based on home preserves, in which case you would need to plant all your land with orchards.  Hens, pigs and sheep can graze and scuff about under trees once the trees are big enough, and if you choose the appropriate breeds of sheep and pig which won't destroy the trees. Pigs rooting about will help fertility, and eating fallen fruit will provide a tiny bite to livestock.


If you take a look at the farming statistics, large numbers of small family farms (depending on where you live, that would mean from about 100 acres to about 300 or more, even more in the LFAs) have been going out of business for many years, because they can't make a profit from that acreage, even with one or both adults working off farm.
I think what most of us end up doing is having full time jobs to bring in the wages, and enjoying our land and animals without expecting to make a profit.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

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Sbom

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Staffordshire
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2017, 04:42:10 pm »
Out of interest how many pigs, sheep and chickens do you already have on you acre and quarter to cost 400 a month?

Victorian Farmer

  • Guest
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2017, 05:22:16 pm »
We have 75 acre since 2009 haven't broke even 2009 and 2010 snow 11 and 12 late spring 13 14 no summer 15 16 floods and in dept paid out november and flooded Christmas day dept due to water damage and this season 3 sales dawn bird flue. So if I contract lamb and fabricate I make money whith the Croft I loose. IF the chickens go that's it. So I pack up iv got till 2022 to pay of the dept. Pigs cheaper to bye direct chicks better bye 1 each ewes made good money but it's my love bees failed. So the answer don't get involved poor health stress and in dept. I'm naw selling the hens to pay for the others animals  feed

bazzais

  • Joined Jan 2010
    • Allt Y Coed Farm and Campsite
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2017, 06:40:14 pm »
You wont make money from your farming by the sounds of it. If your thinking of dumping the sale value of a house in surrey into land thinking it will sustain you, then your wrong to think you can make it.

like the 'peep show' skech

The only way to make a profit from your land is tack it to next door?


waterbuffalofarmer

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Mid Wales
  • Owner of 61 Mediterranean water buffaloes
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2017, 07:16:02 pm »
The thing with farming/smallholding is that to look at it you would think it should be making money, after all there is produce you sell from off it. However the way the world has turned since the 50-60's, and travel has become more popular, there is now so much food that it has become far cheaper than it should be and because of that it is no longer valued. The short answer to this is you can't make very much out of it, we (currently) are only making enough to get by and pay the bills, hopefully this will change in the near future and we will be making a little more than we are. If you are in it for the money, which I don't think you  are due to the post you put to us, then it isn't the best way to go. If however you do it, like the rest of us, because you enjoy what you do then you will be producing enough to cover bills/costs and whatever you sell will help towards that. The attitude to take before going into keeping livestock/growing fruit/veg isn't about making loads of money, but because you enjoy doing it and the rewards which come out of that are truly brilliant. Hope this post doesn't sound too harsh :( All the best with it all and I look forward to hearing more posts from you.
All the best :thumbsup:
WBF
the most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, loving concern.

bazzais

  • Joined Jan 2010
    • Allt Y Coed Farm and Campsite
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2017, 08:18:58 pm »
Id be very interested to hear off anyone who is 'making money' - whats the catch? ;)

Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
    • Nantygroes
    • Facebook
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2017, 08:19:14 am »
Please don't feel got at Ryan.  .....  But I guess we all have numerous questions about your set up and future business plan .... Have you worked out your potential income when you have pigs and lambs?..... We are about to have our 4th lambing with 20+ ewes a d they barely pay for themselves.

Did you mean £400  month all year ?  That sounds a huge amount on just an acre of land.
Have you worked out how much land is needed when you have offspring too?   We have had to tack out our ewe lambs. How will you prevent worm problems?

There have been numerous threads on here asking how to make money smallholding .... The general consensus is the minute you get animals you don't .... You enjoy your life, eat well ,love your animals and get another job to pay the bills!
Linda

Don't wrestle with pigs, they will love it and you will just get all muddy.

Let go of who you are and become who you are meant to be.

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pharnorth

  • Joined Nov 2013
  • Cambridgeshire
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2017, 09:18:49 am »
Hello [member=166388]RyanNobson[/member] , I realise there was quite a delay in you getting a first response so maybe you have not seen these responses?

As to whether it is possible to make a profit from a smallholding your size I don't know, I guess it depends on what you mean by smallholding which is another debate altogether. I've taken the track of trying to make each enterprise, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens cost efficient and where possible break even on money in money out but of course that doesn't account for my time. To get anywhere with livestock it is critical to make sure the feed costs are covered by the benefit you are getting either by selling or add to your own larder. That can be very scale dependent, for example I can raise four weaners and keep one butchered pig which covers the outgoing as I have friends who will pay a premium for my home raised pork, but if I did 8 I would have to drop the price and would probably end out of pocket.   Tim and Dot Tyne cover this well in their new book.

Alex_

  • Joined Jul 2016
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2017, 10:35:25 am »
There is a certain plant that would make you a lot of cash  :innocent:  :roflanim:

But I agree with what other people said, Rare breeds of poultry could do you alright Maybe quail and birds people like to hunt.

If you can find a market for it Rabbits take a fraction of the space and you could sell meat, pelt and angora hair.

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2017, 02:47:51 pm »
Depends if you mean "surplus" or "living" I can't think of any legal means for you to make a living even if you have very few demands for cash.

You may be able to make a surplus of income over costs, though, while providing yourself and family with good quality food.

The proble is with small numbers and a small surplus per unit produced, it never amounts to much in total  :)

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2017, 02:59:24 pm »
The proble is with small numbers and a small surplus per unit produced, it never amounts to much in total  :)

I don't know, Rosemary.  What with the Great European Courgette Famine, I reckon our chest freezers must be worth a couple of grand by now  :)

Add in the impact of the 5p plastic bag levy on the value of our under-sink cupboard, and it's a wonder we're not retired already!  :roflanim:
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

hughesy

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Anglesey
Re: Making a profit
« Reply #14 on: February 07, 2017, 07:57:52 am »
As has often been said, the best way to make a small fortune from farming is to start off with a large fortune.
It's very easy to think that scaling up from a couple of pigs, a few chickens or whatever will also result in profit. You have to remember that you're scaling up your costs and workload at the same time. I used to be very optimistic about profitability and a generally positive outcome to my endeavours however despite six or seven years of hard graft, and what many would see as successful sales in terms of turnover, at the end of the day I'm knackered, demoralised and the pigs have eaten any profit we used to think we might make.

 

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