ideas on how to begin from square one

whats the way to officially begin a farm the right way?

Doubt you'll find an 'official' way in these parts! I would suggest the first step would be to determine your goals; what do you want out of this farm? Income, food security, community, warm fuzzies?

What do you want to spend your time on? Where do you want to live?

From there, you can move on to an inventory of skills, abilities, and assets.

After, you could begin assessing the various ways you could reach your goals, and what compromises may be advisable.

If you lay all this stuff out on the forum, I would expect some suggestions to come in, but as it stands this question is so broad that it's pretty unanswerable!

I would suggest that you narrow down your question, because depending upon your goals, there could be all sorts of different "right way" answers.

....What country? Different countries have different agricultural regulations.
....what kind of farm? Livestock? Vegetables? Grain? Orchard? Mixed?
....what size farm? One acre? 20,000 acres?
....what type? Large commercial? Small commercial? Family? Co-op? Homestead? Pick-your-own? CSA?

Are you looking for legal information? Business plan for loans or grants? Tax set up? Employee regulations? Local agricultural ordinances? Zoning and other land use issues? Fiscal planning?

Farm preparation information? --Land prep. Buildings/greenhouses. Plot layout. Contouring. Preservation plan. Surveying. Etc.

Cropping/livestock advice. Fencing advice. A local USDA office could help with suggestions, if you are in the US.

Skills? If you have none at this point, then read, read, read. Take courses at a local ag extension office or college offering at course. Or take a short term job at various farms.

I could go on, but why not give us a better idea of what you have in mind.

[Logo] Jump to bottom of page
Logout

forums » growies » small farm
ideas on how to begin from square one
Post by: cameron smith,
on May 14, 2015 11:59:21
whats the way to officially begin a farm the right way?

Post by: Dillon Nichols,
on May 14, 2015 14:06:11
Doubt you'll find an 'official' way in these parts! I would suggest the first step would be to determine your goals; what do you want out of this farm? Income, food security, community, warm fuzzies?

What do you want to spend your time on? Where do you want to live?

From there, you can move on to an inventory of skills, abilities, and assets.

After, you could begin assessing the various ways you could reach your goals, and what compromises may be advisable.



Post by: Su Ba, pollinator
on May 14, 2015 15:08:15

"I would suggest that you narrow down your question, because depending upon your goals, there could be all sorts of different "right way" answers.

....What country? Different countries have different agricultural regulations.
....what kind of farm? Livestock? Vegetables? Grain? Orchard? Mixed?
....what size farm? One acre? 20,000 acres?
....what type? Large commercial? Small commercial? Family? Co-op? Homestead? Pick-your-own? CSA? "

I am here in the US, in North Florida, small urban farm potentially, i am in talks with the owner now. yes mixed small commericial organic permaculture design.

Heres a better idea of what im working with. A landowner wants a farmer to take over a plot of land he once planned to have his house built on the property but had to move out of state, leaving the space for lease on the low. I am most concerned with being offical and doing things the right way, legally.

"Are you looking for legal information? Business plan for loans or grants? Tax set up? Employee regulations? Local agricultural ordinances? Zoning and other land use issues? Fiscal planning?"
this type of information would be most helpful!

We plan on going about things the organic route as well,

Welcome to Permies, Cameron!

cameron smith wrote: I am most concerned with being offical and doing things the right way, legally.

One way to start eating this elephant is to figure out how you would like to first sell your products: farmers' market, CSA, wholesale, etc. Everyone has a preference, although the business plan adapts as we go. Say you love interacting with the public and think farmers' markets would be a hoot. Go visit the ones in your area, talk to the market organizers about what officialness you would need to participate in their venue. Could be they want some liability insurance. Could be in your area you need a DBA business license from the town/county. Could be you need a health dept permit. At our little market, you just need to show up with some produce . But that will give you some direction on which doorstep of the government behemoth you need to darken first.

As you grow, you'll need to file sales taxes, which means registering with your state. Even if you sell all wholesale, you will still have to file those taxes. So look on your state's web page about how to start a business. Many states have a one-stop application process to seem more business friendly. You can do this as a DBA (doing business as) which means you don't need a separate federal tax id, you just use your own social security number to report income. You may or may not need to get a local business license as well. But I wouldn't rush into a whole lot of paperwork until right before you have something to sell. You don't need a permit to grow, just to sell.

A farm can mean a bunch of different things, and without knowing more about what you plan to grow and how you intend to market it, it's hard to give more specific advice.