The Essential Guide to Hobby Farming E-Book

Carol Ekarius

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 641

Beschreibung

Six containers of heirloom tomatoes, miniature squashes, and herbs on your back patio or six acres of beets, cabbages, and strawberries? Five chickens and a honey bee hive or a small farm with three dozen sheep and a couple of quarter horses?Regardless of the size of your "field of dreams," Essential Guide to Hobby Farming is your best first step to making that hobby-farm aspiration a pleasurable and profitable reality. A hobby farmer for the past thirty years, Carol Ekarius shares the joys, challenges, and rewards of living the rural life. Hobby farming is as much a state of mind as it is an address in the country, and this instructive, beautifully photographed manual addresses every topic beginning hobby farmers need to know, from purchasing the right land and equipment to choosing and maintaining crops and livestock to marketing and selling your hobby farm's yield.TOPICS DISCUSSED INSIDE:-Assessing finances and resources—land, water, tools of the trade (trucks, tractors, various implements)-Choosing the best crops for your land, climate, hardiness, and profitability-Selecting and caring for the livestock—chickens, goats, cows, sheep, etc.—that best fits your hobby farm-Protecting crops and livestock against predators, pests, and disease-Business and marketing options for selling your "local food" directly to restaurants and farmers' markets and through CSA programs-Preserving the harvest, through canning, drying, and freezing, plus over two dozen original recipes for your homegrown produceNEW FOR THE SECOND EDITION:Expanded section on chickens, including urban and suburban accommodations; honey bee keeping; adding a barn or annex building to the farm; trends in planting, including miniature vegetables, heirloom varieties, and "hot" new vegetables and hybrids; adding flower beds to the property; getting involved with a CSA

Leseprobe

The Essential Guide to Hobby Farming

Project Team

Vice President–Content: Christopher Reggio

Design: Mary Ann Kahn

Editor: Amy Deputato

Copy Editor: Joann Woy

Index: Elizabeth Walker

Production Manager: Jessica Jaensch

Copyright © 2015 by Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

First edition: ISBN 978-1-931993-59-3 published in 2005 by i-5 Publishing, LLC™

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishers, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ekarius, Carol, author.

The essential guide to hobby farming : the how-to manual for creating a hobby farm / Carol Ekarius with Leslie J. Wyatt. -- 2nd edition.

pages cm

Title of first edition: Hobby farm: living your rural dream for pleasure and profit.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-62008-144-0 (alk. paper)

1. Agriculture--United States. 2. Farms, Small--United States. 3. Farm management--United States. I. Wyatt, Leslie J., author. II. Title.

S501.2.E37 2015

630.973--dc23

2015007137

This book has been published with the intent to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter within. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the author and publisher expressly disclaim any responsibility for any errors, omissions, or adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained herein. The techniques and suggestions are used at the reader’s discretion and are not to be considered a substitute for veterinary care. If you suspect a medical problem, consult your veterinarian.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Back to the Farm

Are You Ready for the Country?

Jumping In

Nature’s Troublemakers and Farm Safety

Gardening: The Land

Gardening: The Planting

Farm Animals

Beekeeping

Preserving the Harvest: Fruits and Vegetables

Preserving the Harvest: Dairy and Meat

Agripreneurship

Resources

Index

Photo Credits

About the Authors

Acknowledgments

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

— Henry David Thoreau

No book is the work of one person. Thanks first and foremost to Ken Woodard. He is my husband, my friend, and the one who makes everything else possible.

A number of people generously allowed me to interview them for the book and shared their personal triumphs and challenges. For their willingness to contribute their stories, I want to thank Dr. John Ikerd, David Muehleisen, Jill and Ken Giese, Jan and Tim Vala, Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler, Michele and Gustavo Huerta, Stephenie Caughlin, Judy and Sam Cavagnetto, Carol and Melvin Moon, Angel Henrie and Joseph Griffith, Susan and Stephen Robins, and Gary Dunn of the Caretaker Gazette.

1

Back to the Farm

When the United States formed “a more perfect Union, [to] establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,”* more than 90 percent of our population were farmers. They were the people who produced their own food and fiber, bartered for food, or bought food directly from someone else who produced it. Today, such a small percentage of our population is considered farmers that this group is truly a minority in our country.

At about the time Thomas Jefferson was penning the words of our Constitution, he wrote the following to President George Washington: “Agriculture . . . is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” Furthermore, “The moderate and sure income of husbandry begets permanent improvement, quiet life, and orderly conduct, both public and private.”

Jefferson’s agrarian ideal was not new; it was a viewpoint passed down by the earliest philosophers. As our population has increased and urban centers have grown apace over the past half-century or so, we’ve seen the agrarian ideal give way to an economic and social paradigm shift, resulting in fewer yet bigger agribusinesses supplying our food and fiber. Corporately controlled operations have steadily displaced midsized independent family farms, and those ex-farmers often end up moving to cities, seeking other means of livelihood. Iowa—the epitome of a farm state in many people’s minds—provides a good example: It went through a landmark change some time in the late 1950s, with more residents living in cities than on farms and in rural communities.

The USDA defines the different types of farms based on their annual income.

As remaining farmers grow their operations to try to stay in business, agriculturally induced environmental problems have increased. Runoff from agricultural production has contributed to polluted lakes and streams and is at least partially implicated in the ongoing issue of hypoxia, the lowering of oxygen levels in estuaries, waterways, and coastal waters such as the so-called dead zone found in the Gulf of Mexico.

Intermediate farms, smaller farming operations that are defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as farms with less than $250,000 per year in gross farm income, have tried to remain in the commodities game but are not finding it easy. Statistics from the US Census Bureau show that the farmers in this earning range produce an average net income that hovers not much higher than 10 percent of their gross sales. It doesn’t take a wizard with a calculator to figure out that, at this rate, a quarter-million dollars yields less than an optimal living wage. As a result, an overwhelming percentage of small farms depend on nonfarm income, including off-farm jobs, government subsidies, payments from programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), and whatever other means of additional income they are able to obtain to keep their farms operational.

Agripreneurs

Some small farmers run their operations as successful commercial enterprises, not by competing with the big farms but by taking advantage of direct marketing, organic production, and other strategies to be self-supporting on a small acreage. Many do quite well, generating net incomes as high as 50 percent of their gross. These “agripreneurs” (agricultural entrepreneurs) build successful businesses on farms and ranches ranging from postage-stamp size to hundreds of acres. They’re serious about making a profit, taking the initiative to learn about alternative production methods and making sure they are growing things they will be able sell, a requisite for making a profit. As experts will tell you, knowing your market is essential before putting anything on or in the ground!

For example, Melvin and Carol Moon, conventional berry growers in the Puyallup Valley in Washington, were selling to wholesalers, but they realized that they were going to need to do something different to survive. Thus, they launched Puyallup Valley Jam Factory, using their own berries to make jams. Their product took off, and they not only have customers lined up, waiting for their homegrown goodness-in-a-jar, they also ship worldwide.

Some farmers concentrate on a specific niche, such as growing organic produce, to earn a profit.

Another success story is that of a professional couple, Stephen and Susan Robins, who retired to San Juan Island, north of Seattle. As Susan says, “We had twenty-five acres on the island that we loved, and we had to think of something to do with it. We wanted to preserve it for open space, so our first concept was that we would start an organic farm where we would have a crop that didn’t use water, didn’t use fertilizer, and where we could make added-value products on a year-round basis so we could spread the enterprise over the entire year instead of being seasonal.”

Their vision to protect a quiet valley from residential development and share that space with other islanders and visitors while making it productive and self-sustaining has developed into an organically grown lavender farm that includes an on-site distillery for essential oils, provides jobs for local residents, and produces handcrafted lavender products. Their products include lavender sugar, pepper, and vinegar; lavender soaps, shampoos, and body lotions; and lavender lip balm and massage oil.

Together with their crew, the Robinses grow and harvest the lavender, all by hand. Next, they distill the oil and create the products. Finally, they market the products at an on-farm store, at their local farmers’ market, and through their website, www.pelindabalavender.com. Although they work with a few retailers who sell their products, Susan says, “We have discovered that our products sell best when they’re in a closed environment—that is, a dedicated store—rather than sold among a lot of machine-made products. Our products are handcrafted and they are beautiful, but they get lost among the other ones that are slick.” The direct marketing also enables them to capture a bigger portion of the consumer’s dollar.

A Lifestyle Choice

Not everyone in the small-farm realm is ready for or interested in the kind of business that the Moons and the Robinses have developed. For example, Ken and Jill Giese raise a large garden on sixteen acres in New York, mainly to feed their family of six. They also raise turkeys and chickens, which they market directly or in cooperation with other small poultry producers. They didn’t have much capital to get started, so while they were growing their business to a sustaining size, Ken worked part time on dairy farms and for construction companies in the area. The Gieses do much of their work with a draft horse, but when they need to use a tractor, they barter work for equipment use with some of the farmers Ken works for occasionally.

Judy and Sam Cavagnetto are also lifestyle farmers. Sam’s job as a full-time over-the-road trucker for a large moving-van line allowed the couple to live anywhere they chose. They chose thirty-five acres in the mountains of Colorado. Judy and Sam wanted a great place with a small-town atmosphere in which to raise their kids. They keep horses, and the kids raise animals for 4-H.

Gustavo and Michelle Huerta also chose the country for its lifestyle. They were raised in Miami, but violence became too much a part of life there, so they decided to relocate to Tennessee. Here, Gustavo, a medical doctor, could establish his surgical practice, and the family could operate a small farm. With 200 acres, they raise a garden and horses, cattle, goats, and chickens.

Although these lifestyle farms don’t have to make money for their owners, they pay with quality-of-life values that cannot be purchased. John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri and a strong supporter of sustainable agriculture says, “What would you have to earn to buy the quality of life that a farm offers, from scenic areas and recreational opportunities to personal safety and a school for your children where the teachers know them and care about them? What is it worth if you are really living a life that has meaning in terms of a place to live? What would it cost for the view, the private schools, the clubs? In real economic terms, these are costs that shouldn’t be marginalized.”

For both the Cavagnetto and the Huerta families, it is lifestyle value that they seek. They believe that their children have experiences on the farms that they wouldn’t get in the city or the suburbs. Indeed, making money is only one reason to farm, and, for many of these owners, not always the most important goal. Reflecting this evolution of focus, average farm size has dropped, reflecting an increase in small-farm operations in the 10- to 179-acre size range. Whether these farms have been in the family for a century or more or have been acquired by newcomers to rural life, small-farm owners demonstrate a variety of approaches to maintaining a diverse and vibrant agricultural community while protecting rural values, responding to consumer wants, and ensuring a healthy environment for generations to come. People are connecting with the land, with the seasons, with life around them. Thomas Jefferson would be pleased.

Small farmers reap the rewards of working the land and harvesting their homegrown bounty.

What Is a Hobby Farm?

The phrase hobby farm has become increasingly familiar in the new millennium. Although it is largely a tax-related term (more on that later), a hobby farm is basically a small farm that is operated for supplemental income or for pleasure. So how does this differ from the previously mentioned small farmers whose net sales are such that they often have to supplement their farm incomes through other means? In reality, not much. Most of the time, small farms are run by people who are trying to make a living from their property not by choice but by necessity, whereas hobby farmers tend to be people who choose to farm or live on a farm for reasons that may or may not include income. Whereas the term hobby farmer usually applies to those who leave more urban settings for their dreams of rural life, it applies equally to someone who, for example, moved to a small Montana farm or ranch forty years ago to raise his family under the wide blue sky. Cattle sales paid the mortgage, and a garden provided healthy food, but putting gas in the tractor or clothes on the kids required him to work at an outside job. Hobby farming is not a new concept. It just never had an IRS designation before.

Hobby farming is often a family affair.

The Draws

Whether you made the move before it became the popular thing to do or have always dreamed of owning your own little corner of the earth, the draw of farm life is easy to understand. In our fast-paced, industrialized society, the farm harkens back to something simpler, quieter, and more in touch with our beginnings. It provides the chance to experience nature, in both her glory and her fury. In a society where urban and even suburban living reduces necessary chores to housekeeping, making sure the trash cans make it to the curb, and possibly some yard work or cleaning the pool, farms by their very nature offer many more real-time opportunities for families to work and “do life” together.

As Jill Giese says, “The benefit to us is, as a family, we can work together and play together. Our kids have learned the rhythms of helping; they know that animals need to be fed and watered, just like they [themselves] need to eat and drink. They’re seeing how you spend the money to feed the animals, and you get the money back when you sell them. They each have some work in the afternoon: somebody feeds the turkeys, somebody does the watering. So they see responsibility and that we are depending on them and trusting them. They make their own games and run all over . . . using a pile of hay bales to play king of the hill. And they know about life, about how the male goat breeds the female goat, and that that’s a natural part of life. They have seen baby goats being born, and this year we did a hatchery and had chicks coming out of their shells; they learned about the formation of the chicks and how different reproduction is from mammals to birds. It was exciting after three weeks, when the chicks came out, so Ken had them draw pictures and write things about the experience.”

Many Baby Boomers are retiring early—often in their early to mid-fifties—and the farm offers them the chance to stay vibrant and learn new skills while they capitalize on their expertise and talents. Susan Robins says of their venture, “We weren’t insecure about the business side of it, but we just were not experienced in the horticulture and product sides of it. It took over a year of intense research to get ready.” However, now, with the business up and running, the couple takes great satisfaction in the outcome: “We’ve been gratified to have created an industry on the island, in a place where that is very hard to do, and we have created wonderful jobs for artisans and others who want to be involved in it. We think we have created a landmark on the island that is open, free of charge, to anybody who wants to come, and we get a huge amount of pleasure out of those people that come and picnic on the farm, bringing their kids and sitting in the fields when they’re in bloom.”

Farming also offers the chance to “experience the unusual or unexpected little adventure that lightens and even makes gladsome the work,” as Gene Logsdon, a small farmer from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, points out. He shares some of his own adventures, such as “a pale green luna moth fluttering in the porch light, a fungus that looks like a little pile of sand; an ant milking its own herd of aphids; a killdeer nest right in the middle of our gravel driveway. And three years after we planted paw-paw trees, the first gorgeous zebra swallowtail butterfly, which feeds only on paw-paw, landed daintily on the tractor.”

Children can share in many of the responsibilities of farm life.

These “little adventures” may seem inconsequential, but for those of us drawn to the farm, they are grand payment for our labors. I have always been grounded by nature, and I love my own little adventures. As I broke the ice off the stock tank this morning, I smiled at a donkey nuzzling my coat pocket to find a treat, watched the mountain chickadees skipping in and out of the dried leaves of the currant bushes, smelled the fine scent of pine smoke in the air from our woodstove, and listened to the wind singing through the trees. In the summer, I can sit in an aspen grove and watch adult great horned owls teach their young to hunt or enjoy the raucous fighting of a small flock of pygmy nuthatches as they bathe in the puddle where we empty the stock tank.

The Challenges

Yes, life on the farm has magical moments, but as gratifying as farm life can be, reality is that it involves a level of physical work that many escapees from urban and suburban America have never engaged in, and it often necessitates adopting new working patterns. For example, if you have livestock to take care of—feed, water, milk, gather eggs from—vacations, holidays, and weekend trips become much more challenging to plan. If you’re growing crops, you’ll need to get used to dawn-to-dark days during planting and harvesting. Dreaming of running a farmstead B&B? Make sure that you are prepared for the lack of privacy that such a venture inevitably brings.

Our dreams of farm life somehow never seem to include such things as mud and mess and midnight vigils with some farm-related crisis or another. And make no mistake, rural living also means that you’re going to have to drive a certain distance to do anything off the farm. Grocery shop. Soccer practice. Haircuts or nail appointments. School events for the kids. Whether you’re taking in a movie, hankering for a specialty coffee shop, or meeting friends for dinner or a play, it will entail driving. That’s the long and short of it. The miles and the minutes add up. You might save money by growing your own produce, but you’ll spend more in gas and time. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s something to be aware of.

By its very nature, moving into a new neighborhood means becoming acquainted with the others who live there, and this is true in rural settings, too. Integrating into a community—rural, urban, or otherwise—means investing yourself in coexisting with, interacting with, respecting, and helping your neighbors, whether they live in the apartment above you or half a mile down the gravel road.

In areas where farms are passed down through families, it can be easy to feel like a newcomer. But don’t make the mistake of stereotyping long-term residents. Few farmers will shut you out if you treat them with respect rather than condescension. No one appreciates someone who acts as if longtime country dwellers don’t care about the finer things in life or have progressive ideas. Humbleness and a genuine regard for who they are, what they know about farming and country living, and the sheer amount of hard work they do goes a long, long way toward making a place for yourself in the neighborhood.

Depending on the area to which you move, it may be hard to shed the newcomer label. When we first moved to our farm in Minnesota, we were having coffee one day with our neighbors, Bev and Willy. We had been able to break the ice quicker with them than with any of the other neighbors because Willy had been renting the fields when we bought the place, so we had an immediate business relationship with him. In their sixties at the time, the couple lived on the farm that Willy’s grandfather had homesteaded almost a hundred years earlier. We asked if the neighbors on the other side of them, Kathy and Jim, were originally from around the area. “Oh no,” Willie said, with a shake of his head, in a way that clearly indicated that Kathy and Jim were like us—foreigners. “They are from over near Deer Creek.” Deer Creek was only about twenty miles away, and despite the fact that they had lived on their farm for well over a decade, Kathy and Jim were still not locals.

Don’t take this personally. It’s a dynamic that takes place everywhere in the world, not just in rural areas. People have to get to know and trust each other, and the longer you live around someone, the better you get to know him or her. It takes some real interactions, such as helping each other in hard times or sharing the bounty from your garden or oven—along with friendly conversation—to start to know your farm neighbors and for them to get to know you as well.

A spacious suburban backyard can serve as a viable hobby farm.

Do you want to start your hobby farm in a rural area or somewhere more suburban? Consider the pros and cons of each.

When a tornado took the roof off a neighbor’s barn in rural Missouri, one family of fairly new hobby farmers joined in helping pick up sheets of tin roofing out of the adjoining fields and brought food to the family that had been hit, and, in the midst of loss, their friendship took a leap forward.

Another instance with the same hobby-farm family arose from a calving crisis with their newly acquired Jersey milk cow. A quick call to the neighbors down the road, and within minutes came the farmer, his wife, and their little granddaughter. Not only did they help deliver a healthy calf, but they also donated a bale of prime hay that they’d just cut, and, for the next few days, they drove up to check on the cow with their granddaughter in tow so she could visit the calf and some newly hatched chicks.

Stopping by for a chat in the driveway on the way to town or waving to each other as you pass—every interaction is a step toward friendship. Life together is built of such exchanges, and while you may never be viewed as a “local” of the area, you can develop some deep and long-lasting relationships built on mutual trust and respect.

There is a certain neighborly charm and support in farming communities that’s often missing in urban and suburban America, as well as a generosity that often exceeds their means. They’ll plow your driveway after a snowstorm. Help you fix your fence when your cows get out. Help you troubleshoot your air conditioner, your lawn mower, or your cistern pump. There’s something solid and enduring about those who live on the land. They don’t fight nature—they work with it and may bow under it, but they do not break. Invest some time, effort, and kindness into forming relationships with your neighbors, and you’ll soon be rewarded with a sense of belonging that goes well beyond labels.

Hot Spots for Hobby Farming

Most new small farms are in the “rurban” (that interface between urban and rural) zone: away from town, but not too far “out in the boondocks.” Rurban areas boast good roads and proximity to large groups of consumers for direct marketing. They benefited from the burst of technological innovations in communications and computing during the 1980s and early 1990s that enabled more people to work from home. These features make rurban communities most attractive for those seeking small-farm life. And because of the increase in small farms, there has been an increase in services—such as cooperative-extension programs and specialty equipment and tractor dealers—designed to meet the needs of hobby farmers. Although the majority of viable small farms are in rurban areas, other rural areas are beginning to see the transition as well. This is in part the result of ex-urbanites taking advantage of lower priced farmland that’s found in truly rural communities, but it’s also being helped by increasing numbers of farmers’ markets outside of urban centers, together with programs sponsored by the USDA that allow people with lower income to use food stamps and federal coupons at farmers’ markets. According to USDA research, the number of farmers’ markets in the United States has grown dramatically. These markets provide a crucial source of revenue for small farmers from California to Missouri and beyond.

You don’t need acres of land to set up productive growing spaces.

Last, a growing number of farms are located right in urban core areas and near suburban residential areas. Today, substantial agricultural production in the United States originates from within metropolitan areas. Some city farms are community collaboratives, sprouting up in some of the poorest and most violent neighborhoods in America through the efforts of nonprofit organizations trying to improve the quality of food and provide positive opportunities for inner-city dwellers. Small-scale agripreneurs run other city farms, seeking viable businesses in the places in which they live. Typically operated on less than five acres and using the community-supported agriculture (CSA) model, these farmers are taking advantage of their ability to build close relationships with the families who purchase from them.

Since 1991, Larry Butler and Carol Anne Sayle have built Boggy Creek Farm in East Austin, Texas, into a very successful urban farm. With five acres and a 160-year-old farmhouse located just blocks from the Texas state capitol, they market a wide variety of grown-on-site produce and flowers; value-added products, such as smoke-dried tomatoes and salsa, created from their surplus; and animal products, such as goat cheese and free-range eggs, which other farmers in the region raise.

“I was getting burned out remodeling houses and selling real estate,” Larry recalls. “We started growing vegetables on some land we owned that’s about an hour and a half outside of town. Once we grew all this stuff, it was like, ‘Well, now what are we going to do with it?’ A friend of mine had a liquor store here in Austin and let me sell from a card table in front of the store on Saturday mornings. The first Saturday, I made about forty dollars on carrots and onions and greens. The rest of the story is [that] it got nuttier every week, and now we are running four cash registers.”

In 1992, they saw the Austin property, complete with nut trees, irrigation water, and a historic house, listed in a real-estate book. Ninety days later, they were signing the papers and launching into full-time farming. They haven’t looked back and have no regrets.

Rurban

Rurban communities are those that offer a rural lifestyle and still have traditional rural populations but are strongly influenced by urban areas. They are usually located within a couple of hours’ drive from a major metropolitan area or a major resort community. They may have a fair population of telecommuters who occasionally go into the city for work, but rurban areas are just a little too far out for many day-to-day commuters.

* From the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States

2

Are You Ready for the Country?

I love this life. I wouldn’t trade it for a fashion model’s body, a vault full of money, or a best-selling book. How could you want to trade something that fits so well, like a treasured old coat that warms you to the soul? I love our compact house, nestled in a saddle between two pine-dotted ridges, overlooking Pikes Peak to the east and the Continental Divide to the west. I love that our house is charged (electrically) by rays of the sun bouncing off sparkly blue solar panels and is heated by wood from nearby beetle-killed trees, which my husband, Ken, brings home with the donkeys or with an old three-wheeler and a trailer. I love the fact that I can look out my window and see animals—both our own animals and wild ones—gamboling about, healthy and happy, as animals should be. I love the new potatoes that come from the garden and the greens that grow in pots in the living room that freshen our winter plates. I love to sit in the evening and listen to Ken serenade me with his guitar, both with wonderful songs he has written and covers of some of my favorites. I can go to the city if I need a city-type fix, but I hardly ever do. Ken and I mostly stay home, both of us working from right here, although occasionally we go to one of several nearby small towns for shopping or a night out.

But as much as I love my life, I have to be truthful: it can be really challenging, and I know that it isn’t for everyone. For example, as I write this chapter, we are coping with a frozen water service line (our first at this house after six winters, though, sadly, not our first ever—and not likely to be our last). Yesterday, we spent our Saturday fighting the water line, thawing snow on the woodstove to keep the critters watered, and unloading our midwinter delivery of hay, all while Ken was combating a cold. Since we were unable to get the line thawed, we went to bed dirty. Luckily, it was a sunny and pleasant day, but it was the tail end of a three-week spell with night temperatures dropping close to −30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Living in a rural area means being prepared for all seasons.

We have had other bad times, as have most people who relocate to a farm from a suburban or urban life, and those bad times should give you pause. Moving to a farm is a family lifestyle change, and the whole family needs to want to face a unique set of challenges that don’t exist for most urban Americans today. If your wife’s definition of a challenge is picking out a shade of nail polish that will match her silk blouse, and her idea of fun is spending a whole day cruising through Saks Fifth Avenue, she probably won’t be happy on the farm long-term. If your husband’s idea of hard physical work is mowing the 100-square-foot lawn on a Saturday morning, and he is quite proud of the fact that he has never had a blister, he may not be ready for how many hours of physical labor he’ll have to put in on a farm. If your kids don’t spend a lot of time outside, they might not feel the need for the fresh air and sunshine of farm life, and it’s pretty safe to say that the novelty of chores—feeding, watering, cleaning, milking—wears off at a speed in direct proportion to the age of the child. Little ones look on it as “playing adult,” but teens tend to view the manual labor, smells, and day-in/day-out regularity of chores as something akin to modern-day torture. However, also know that they will gain and utilize skills for which they may perhaps one day even thank you.

If in doubt about the family’s sincere commitment to the lifestyle change, consider practicing farming in your own backyard before you make a big move. The potential to grow a food-supplementing garden exists in most places. Many cities even have community gardens where residents who lack an adequate yard for a garden can acquire a small bed to work. A few backyard chickens (minus a rooster to wake up the neighborhood) are a great addition to most yards as long as local zoning laws permit chicken keeping.

There are also some other opportunities to wet your toes without drowning. Agritourism, or vacationing on a working farm or ranch, provides a temporary taste of the lifestyle. Find agritourism opportunities in areas where you think you might like to relocate by contacting that state’s department of tourism or by going online to www.farmstop.com.

Many working farms also offer opportunities to work as an intern, and if there is a community-supported agriculture (CSA) facility near you, you can usually opt to participate in farm activities such as planting, tending, and picking produce and/or animal husbandry if you become a member of the CSA. Check out websites such as the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service at attra.ncat.org or do an Internet search for “organic volunteers,” which will turn up such things as World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) and a multitude of similar opportunities.

Another approach to testing the farming life without making a final commitment is to work as a caretaker for a farmer, rancher, or rural landowner. According to the editor of the Caretaker Gazette, there are thousands of opportunities for property caretakers. Some caretaking prospects are relatively short-term commitments, like farm-sitting for a month, but others are long-term arrangements that can go on for years. Since 1983, the Caretaker Gazette has listed opportunities for property caretaking around the world, and it gives readers the option of placing situation-wanted ads as well. Visit the Caretaker Gazette for more information at www.caretaker.org.

When in Rome

One of the first things to think about with your move to the country is that you are opting for a change in culture. The further you move from the urban fringe, the wider the cultural differences may seem. These dissimilarities are not insurmountable, though. Remember the adage: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Focusing on the differences between the lifestyle you leave and the one you step into can make for a difficult transition. The problems you’ll encounter in that realm depend for the most part on how you view and interact with your new neighbors. Our experience in Kremmling, Colorado, provides a perfect example. We found ourselves neighbors to a codgerish old fellow (probably not much older than we are now) who ran a junkyard and who seemed distinctly unfriendly at first. Turns out that the people who had built the house we were living in tried to get his junkyard (which was there long before they bought the land and built the house) closed down by the county. Erwin suspected that we were more of that ilk—city slickers trying to change the countryside.

The rancher who owned a large expanse of land up behind ours began dropping cows and calves (hundreds of them at a time) down at the bottom of the valley, and he, along with his kids and hired hands, drove them up through our place to get to his land. Like Erwin, George, too, had had a run-in with the previous residents, who had hassled him about moving the cows through and left gates open when they were supposed to be closed or closed when they were supposed to be open. He eyed us with suspicion that first spring morning.

It turned out to be fairly easy to break the ice with these fellow country dwellers. We smiled at them when we saw them and followed the rural tradition of waving when we passed them on the road. We tried hard not to judge them by our “citified” criteria, and, before long, we were on good terms. They began visiting us and would offer advice and help. By late summer, George had given us permission to ride our horses on his ranch, which ran for tens of thousands of acres up behind our house.

More often than not, hard work and hard economies have shaped your new neighbors. They are dedicated to their land and their family, which is often an extended network within the community. They value tradition in work and often in worship as well. Older neighbors in particular may be uncomfortable with such things as hammering out the details of a business deal in a contract (they tend to stick to the handshake approach of doing things) or in talking about business with a woman. Accept and value your neighbors for who they are, and they will be more likely to do the same for you.

There’s much to be learned from knowledgeable farmers who have years of experience working the land.

Economics of Farm Life

People coming from towns or cities soon discover that although real estate in the country is somewhat cheaper than comparable real estate in developed areas, farm living isn’t automatically cheaper than life in the city or suburbs. Rock stars and corporate executives looking to get away from the craziness of their day-to-day lives don’t have to think much about the money, but if you don’t fall into the multimillionaire category, you may need to consciously make changes in your spending habits.

The job market in rural and rurban areas is often limited, and the pay scale can be lower than those found in cities. You may be able to commute into a city for work, especially if you have the ability to arrange flexible scheduling with your employer, but you should still think about what commuting long distances will mean to your life and your family. Technology has made telecommuting possible for many people, but some rural areas still have limited access to the Internet—and don’t expect high-speed service. Many rural communities have not yet been blessed with digital subscriber line (DSL), so if your at-home business requires a fast Internet connection, you’ll want to research network speeds.

Cell phone coverage is another issue because it’s more difficult for some carriers to transmit signals in certain areas. Even if poor cellular coverage is not a deal-breaker in the purchase of your dream farm, it’s nice to know what you’re up against before you back the moving truck up to the door.

Certain costs of living may be lower in rural and rurban areas, but remember to consider the costs of any equipment you’ll need to maintain your farm.

Sustainability and Self-Sufficiency

Farm living can be just as comfortable as city living, but sustainability and self-sufficiency are the pillars of farm life. You can raise at least some of your own food and reduce your dependence on outside resources that eat up your money. Your entertainment can be right in your own backyard.

Michelle Huerta from Tennessee says that when her family moved to the farm, they had both pleasant surprises and sticker shock about the economic differences between the city and the farm. “The first thing that struck us was that we could go out to eat a lot more often because the restaurants are so much cheaper here. The six of us could go out for a meal for [around] thirty dollars. At the same time, it is very expensive having a farm; there is no doubt about it. It’s shocking to look at the price of a tractor or farm equipment, and a lot of services, like having a plumber or an appliance repairman out, are much more expensive here than in the city.”

Selling your produce at farmers’ markets or right from your farm can be profitable.

Maybe your plan is to create a moneymaking enterprise out of your farm—to be a real farmer. You can make money off of a small farm, but it is hard work. If you aren’t starting out with some cushion of money in the bank, things can careen into a financial wreck before you know what happened. For planning purposes, assume that you won’t make money on your enterprise for at least the first couple of years. Can you get by with outlay and more outlay when there is no significant farm-generated income?

Farms and the IRS

Our accountant once told us that the surest way to find ourselves at the uncomfortable end of an IRS audit is to show a farming loss while showing significant off-farm income. The IRS considers that if farming is a business, it must be set up and run with the intention of earning a real profit. When a farm is set up and run as a profit-making endeavor, you can deduct the expenses of running the business, even if your expenses exceed your income and you have a loss—and the loss may be applied to other nonfarm income under the federal tax code. But the IRS is also wise to the fact that many people set up farms with no serious intention of making profits, yet they deduct those “farming losses” from their income. If the IRS determines that your farm is an “activity not engaged in for profit,” then you fall under section 183 of the tax code, which governs “hobby losses” (this is the IRS term that gave rise to the label “hobby farm”).

Losses incurred in connection with a hobby are generally deductible only to the extent of the income produced by the hobby. In other words, you can’t use a hobby to generate a tax loss that shelters your other income. And, all of your hobby income is supposed to be reported as “other income” on line 21 of your form 1040 income tax return, although the expenses incurred earning that income are deductible only if you itemize your deductions (they are considered “miscellaneous itemized deductions”). You can only deduct the portion of the expenses associated with your hobby income that exceeds 2 percent of your adjusted gross income.

When determining whether you are operating a business, as opposed to engaging in a hobby, the IRS considers the following points:

•The manner in which the taxpayer conducts the activity. Do you operate in a businesslike manner? Do you keep complete books and a separate business checking account? Do you advertise your products? Do you study what is going on in your industry and adopt new techniques to increase profits?

•The expertise of the taxpayer or his or her advisers. What is your background in the activity (including number of years of formal training and practical experience)? Do you consult with professionals, such as attorneys or CPAs? Do you seek advice from experts, such as county extension personnel? Can you demonstrate that you have acted on the advice offered by your advisers? For example, have you fertilized a pasture based on the extension agent’s recommendation?

•The time and effort that the taxpayer spends on the activity. Do you spend a significant amount of time on the business and its related activities? Do you actively spend time marketing your products? Do you keep any kind of time log that documents your work and efforts to make this a profitable operation?

•An expectation that assets used in the activity may appreciate in value. Do you anticipate that certain activities, like breeding purebred stock, will show a profit down the line through appreciation? Are you in an area where actively farmed land is going up in value faster than other land? Can you demonstrate that your efforts—for example, a program you have undertaken to reclaim your land from a noxious weed—will increase the value of your land?

•The taxpayer’s success in similar activities. Have you started other similar enterprises in which you did show a profit? For example, if you started and ran a successful kennel, you demonstrated the ability to create success for profit. The IRS doesn’t consider success in your primary field as proof. In other words, it doesn’t count for you to have been a successful banker, but if you were a banker who started a profitable restaurant as a secondary business, the IRS is more likely to concede that you are in farming for a positive business result and not just a hobby.

•The taxpayer’s history of income or losses with respect to the activity. Did you have a profitable farm at some other point in your life? Has your bottom line been steadily improving over several years and your losses getting smaller?

•The amount of profit from the activity. Have you had some profitable years already on the farm (even if the profit was slight)? The profit has to be legitimate farm-generated income and not from an unrelated activity.

•The taxpayer’s financial status. Where does your income come from? How much money do you have from other sources? Is the farm your only source of income?

•Elements of personal pleasure or recreation. This is probably the most interesting factor because even the IRS acknowledges that you can derive personal pleasure, beyond the profit itself, from an activity that is intended to make a profit. Yet the IRS expects that the pleasure is secondary to the profit motive.

Searching for the Ideal Farm

Farm shopping is fun, but it is best to take your time. First, make a list of what you want in a farm and your general preferences for variables such as climate, terrain (mountains, seashores, plains, forests), what you want to grow and/or raise on your farm, cultural resources, churches, schools, and hospitals, as well as proximity to your extended family, the job market, and markets for farm products you are thinking about raising. This list will initially help you target areas that meet your needs and will later help you narrow the field of farms in the area in which you’re interested. Once you identify areas or regions of the country that interest you, try to find out as much about them as you can. The Internet makes much of this kind of investigation easy. You can also research by calling state economic development and tourism offices, town and county clerks, county extension agents, school districts, and/or chambers of commerce. Realize that local personnel may not be unbiased sources, but they’re the ones who really know the good, the bad, and the ugly of a community.

A Wisconsin farm under a beautiful blue sky.

Assess how the area is doing economically—growing, stagnant, or in decline. If you have school-aged children who will be attending the public schools, research the school districts and ask questions about graduation rates and standardized test scores.

How are the local healthcare facilities? Find out about the quality of healthcare organizations by contacting the Joint Commission (JCAHO), which accredits healthcare organizations. The Joint Commission provides quality reports on most hospitals and surgical centers, nursing homes, home care services, and other types of healthcare operations. Their website, www.jcaho.org, offers a searchable database of reports, and you can purchase reports from them as well.

If you are not in a big hurry to move, consider subscribing to local newspapers of those communities that interest you. Contact numerous real estate agents in the areas that seem to meet your general preferences; they will be happy to send you information on the farms they have listed. By dealing with multiple real estate agents in the same vicinity, you’ll get a better range of properties and prices. United Country Real Estate has the largest network of rural real estate agents in the country. They publish a catalog that you can request, or you can search their online database at www.unitedcountry.com.

As you narrow your choices, plan some trips to visit the top two or three areas you have identified. While there, look at farms that are for sale, but try to resist the temptation to make an offer until you have really gotten to know each area. If possible, visit again during a different season, even if only for a short stay.

Serious farm shopping comes after you have settled on an area. Again, your initial criteria and questions will help you compare different farms, but, for this phase, you should do some preplanning to help you do an even more thorough analysis of the individual properties that interest you. We use a technique known as matrix analysis when we shop for real estate (or any other major investment). Put simply, with this approach, you set up a worksheet that allows you to “compare apples to apples.” Write down the criteria on which you will judge the properties, and establish a scoring system for each criterion. Points to consider on your matrix may include the broad categories, such as quality of schools, healthcare, and recreation. But, more importantly, remember to look at the specifics. What type of soil does the farm have? Is the land in pasture or field crops? Does the size and condition of the house and outbuildings meet your needs? If not, what will it cost to make repairs or upgrades? Are there land amenities, such as a live stream or a nice old hardwood forest? Does the well produce sufficient water and is the quality good? Does the septic tank work? Are the utilities suitable to meet your needs? How far are the buildings from roads and neighbors? Four of the most important issues to consider are water, drainage, septic systems, and utilities.

Water

I think water is the most important single issue when shopping for a farm. People living in towns and cities generally have municipal water—turn on the tap, and out comes good, safe water—but farms are almost always on private wells. Some may have cisterns to which water must be transported, either by hauling it from a community well or from some other water source. One Missouri farmhouse dating from 1885 operated on an archaic arrangement of well water pumped into the original cistern from which a shallow well pump pulled water into a pressure tank under the house. The realtor assured buyers of high-quality water, and it did taste great, but when they ran a water test after purchasing the farm, they found that the cistern leaked and that E. coli was an issue. Modernizing the system required a considerable financial outlay.

Your first concern, therefore, is water. Ask to see a current water test and well production report. A good well produces adequate quantities of safe water for your family and animals to drink and for necessary irrigation of gardens and crops.

Quantity may not be a problem if you are looking in a high-precipitation area of the country, but if you are searching in the arid West, it could be a major consideration. Judy Cavagnetto says that she and Sam learned this the hard way. “We had our house built and then moved from Wisconsin [to Colorado]. We ended up having to have a cistern put in the basement because the well wasn’t producing enough water. That’s something we found out the day we moved here, when I went to water the twelve horses [and] there wasn’t enough water; we could only get about fifty gallons. The drillers drilled to 250 feet and got water, but it was the minimum gallons per minute for a well. Now I wish they would have drilled deeper so we would have been closer to the maximum than the minimum.”

Your chosen property must have an adequate supply of good-quality water for your crops, your animals, and your family.

Check with neighbors, local well drillers, the county, or the state agency responsible for water resources to find out if there have been any dry wells or wells with poor production in the area. You can hire a well driller to test a well if there is any reason for possible concern. When purchasing bare land (especially in the West), add a condition to the contract that says you have a certain period of time before you buy to drill a well that gets sufficient water by a certain depth (well drillers, or the state water resources department, should be able to give you guidance on how deep that is). If the well driller can’t hit water, you are out the drilling cost, but you aren’t stuck with a piece of dry land.

Make it a condition of the contract for purchasing your farm that the well meets all standards set forth in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Safe Drinking Water Act. If the well doesn’t meet these standards, you don’t want to buy the place. Have your water tested for herbicides, pesticides, and nutrients, as well as bacterial contamination. Contact the county or state health department for recommended labs.

Don’t forget to taste the water because not all water is created equal, so to speak. Water carries varying minerals depending on what part of the country and which aquifer it comes from. High iron content will leave rust marks on plumbing fixtures unless a water-treatment system is installed. Mineral content also affects the water’s flavor. For example, there is an aquifer identified as the Roubidoux (called the Jordan Creek locally) that runs under Missouri and states south and east. Although plentiful, water from this strata often carries sulfur. This means nothing to someone who has never tried to drink the stuff! Although it will not hurt you or your livestock and gardens, the smell and taste leave much to be desired (although those who drink it untreated report that mosquitoes never bite them). If the farm you’re investigating has a sulfur well, and it doesn’t already have some method of outgassing to render the water drinkable, you’ll need to install one. Local water treatment companies can help you explore options.

Some areas of the country have what locals refer to as “soda” water, which contains a sort of bicarbonate that gives the water the taste of baking soda and causes it to hiss and spit as it first comes through the water lines. Such water is very “soft,” meaning that it takes very little soap to make suds as compared to “hard” water, which contains high levels of calcium and magnesium. Again, there are home water treatment systems available to correct mineral balance. What you want to avoid are unpleasant and costly surprises resulting from overlooking the existing water situation.

A farm that has a river or creek running through it offers aesthetic and recreational value, but it may be subject to flooding, and just because it hasn’t flooded yet, doesn’t mean that it won’t. Look around you. Buildings should be located away from the banks of the river or creek and on high ground. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the national agency on flooding, and it often has flood maps available. If you are in a FEMA-designated flood zone, you’ll want to check into what flood insurance will cost. For farms in floodplain areas, most lending institutions will require buyers to purchase flood insurance in order to obtain a loan.

Finally, is there the right amount of water for the kind of farming you plan to do? In some areas, crops need irrigation. In other areas, swampy pastures grow poor-quality forage. County extension personnel are the best folks to provide information on water needs and availability for crops in the area you are looking at.

Look for wet or swampy areas on the property.

Drainage

Life in a swamp can be miserable for both you and your critters. Over the years, we’ve known a number of neophyte farmers who bought farms during a dry spell only to have their dreams drown in knee-deep mud when the rains returned. Their crops weren’t good, and their animals suffered from myriad health problems, such as hoof rot and mastitis (an infection of the mammary gland found primarily in lactating animals). Their equipment spent more time stuck in the fields than operating, and their buildings had water-related problems, including wet basements. Although you can usually correct minor drainage problems through the use of French drains and grading (labor and costs should be considered), it is best to avoid low-lying areas.

Even if you are shopping for a farm during a drought, you can assess potential drainage problems in several ways. The first, and probably easiest, option is to talk to people in the area about the land. Locals will know.

Another option is to study a topographic map of the area. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) prepares these maps, which display a wealth of information about elevations, waterways, and vegetation. A topographic map will display marshy areas by showing blue dashes and blue vegetation. Also look for intermittent lake beds, which are displayed by a dashed blue line with light blue lines within its boundary. You can purchase topographic maps at stores that cater to hunters, fishermen, hikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts or through the USGS Map Store (http://store.usgs.gov or 800-ASK-USGS). Additionally, with Google Earth, you can see an aerial view of the land, which reveals vegetation and terrain very well, even if water is low at the time of the photo.

The third approach is to study vegetation. Plants that grow in wet ground have adapted to having their “feet” wet and tend to have thick, waxy-surfaced leaves.

Septic Systems

A civil engineer or health department employee designs standard, modern septic systems according to uniform design specifications. Each system consists of a tank and a drain field (also called a leach field or absorption field). These systems efficiently treat wastewater, thereby protecting groundwater, rivers and lakes, and drinking-water wells. However, in some areas of the country or for certain types of uses (such as business uses), systems may have additional components, such as effluent filters, surge tanks, grease traps, and/or lagoons. These additional requirements are sometimes needed where geology limits the effectiveness of drain fields or where water quality needs to be protected at a higher level—for example, near small streams with cold-water fish populations or where the density of development is expected to affect nearby lakes.

Maximizing Your Septic System

Here are four steps to help maximize the life and efficiency of your septic system and to protect the environment:

Inspect regularly. Have the system inspected on a regular basis (every two to three years). This extends the life of a septic system and helps avoid unnecessary and expensive repair and replacement costs.

Conserve water. Hydraulic overload is a major cause of septic-system failure. Low-flow plumbing fixtures, faucets, and showerheads will minimize the amount of water that enters the septic system. Stagger water use throughout the day to minimize the strain on your septic system.

Protect the drain field. Do not plant trees and shrubs with deep, penetrating roots near the drain field because the roots can plug the perforated pipe structure. Do not drive or park vehicles and equipment over the drain field because their weight can compact the soil and damage drain-field components.

Manage household waste. Limit the types and amounts of waste poured down the drain. A garbage disposal can double the amount of solids added to the septic system, so use a disposal sparingly, if at all. Opt for composting, disposing of waste in the trash can, or giving edible scraps and leftovers to the chickens. Cooking oils and fats harden after disposal and block the septic tank inlet, or outlet, and they can even clog the soil pores surrounding the drain field, reducing its effectiveness for filtering wastewater. In addition, never dump chemicals like paints, solvents, drugs, and pesticides down the drain because these items may kill the microorganisms that help purify wastewater, and they can potentially enter into the groundwater and contaminate the drinking-water supply. Using low-phosphate detergents can reduce phosphorous loads to surrounding lakes and streams by as much as 40 percent.

The designer of the system sizes the components according to estimated usage. A two-bedroom house will have a smaller system than a five-bedroom house, and a shop will have a smaller system than a restaurant.

Most modern tanks are concrete, although, in some areas, local authorities may permit the use of fiberglass or polymer tanks. Older tanks were often made of steel, which rusts through after twenty to forty years of use. (If you purchase a really old farm, the “tank” may actually be a buried car body.) In the tank, solids settle to the bottom and partially decompose through a biological process known as digestion, and scum from soaps and oils floats to the top.