How many acres?

What would you say is the minimum number of acres that is needed to grow your own food and create enough income to support a family?

I realize that it depends on a large number of factors. For the sake of argument, let’s say that everything is average. Average soil on average land, selling to an average market (though, of course, the best part of an average market). Farmed by your average, intelligent, hardworking goofball. I am aware of people who have done it on rather small pieces of land, but those are certainly exceptional. What size should be expected to produce sufficiently?

My wife wants dairy goats so we will be having those. Figure on chickens for eggs and meats, pigs for pig-stuff, and plant products. Plus whatever else we find a market for. And, you know, all permaculture-y.

Another way to ask this question would be: If you were buying land to support a family, what is the minimum acreage you would purchase?

I'm looking for people to hazard an opinion (not really looking for a 'this-can't-be-answered'). So go ahead, throw a number out there.

Three big caveats....do you intend to make extensive use of machinery?; and do you intend to hire (or otherwise obtain i.e. wwoofers, interns, etc.) any labor? And finally, how is the land to be obtained? By conventional mortgage? By inheritance? By some alternative, land-sharing notion? (This has a huge impact on how much income you will need to generate on the short and medium-term, in addition to the matter of whether other income-generating sources are to be retained)
During my market-growing days I found out that animal products brought more income for less labor than vegetables and fruit (with the exception of out-of-season stuff grown in a greenhouse), but that more land was required the more animal-based the system became, especially when trying to produce most of the feed on site.
Among plants, fruit usually outperformed vegetables, but the most valuable fruit (strawberries, blueberries) took the most time and labor to pick.
For subsistence purposes, in average conditions, an acre or two would seem to be able to feed a person. I'd say that food represents about $3K in cash value. So I guess you could extrapolate from that to your income target?

I have heard many estimates on this.

A common rule of thumb is that one acre, intensely planted, can feed 1 or 2 people.
BUT, that same acre is said to be about the limit of what 1 person can realistically manage properly.

Animals add another dimension. In parts of the southwest, the stocking limit is 1 cow per 25 acres.
Lush, green pasture elsewhere might support 1 cow per acre.

While I consider animals an integral part of any homestead, you must decide whether you are going to buy their feed, or grow it yourself, which will require additional land. Pigs, chickens, goats will supply plenty of high quality proteins to your diet, as well as fertilizing the soils. In harsh winter areas, or drought prone regions, these same animals could become a liability if you plan to keep them year round.

To become self reliant, you will need to have a surplus of some things that can be sold/traded for the things you cannot grow. If your region will grow apples and pears, forget about coffee beans and bananas. For a good income stream, consider those things that will grow well there, but not what everybody else is growing. If everybody in the valley is growing watermelons, don't expect to cover your expenses by growing watermelons too.

An interesting statistic is that 80% of family farms in the US have at least one family member working an off-farm job. (But, most of them have over $100,000 worth of cars in the driveway, plus huge debt.) It can be done without having to go off farm for income, if you set your expectations within reason.

I've been searching for numbers on chicken stocking myself. The numbers I've been given include a maximum of 50 chickens that can be kept per acre before beginning to destroy the land. I'm certain this number is land dependent, but let's use it for a moment. Imagine 50 chickens per acre, and one chicken dinner each night: now you need seven acres. Further, if one acre can provide the grains for 100 chickens, you are now looking at 10-11 acres. Then, if you add in any vegetable acres you might have you get up to 12 acres.

This doesn't include pasture for goats, although they might be able to share with the chickens. Neither does it include a wood lot for heating wood (about 1 acre / cord).

Dan