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What to do with a farm in northwest Ohio?
Our family farm is practically falling apart.
We do not farm it ourselves, but hire someone to plant and harvest.
The income that we are left with pays for the taxes, and thats about it.
Our largeest barn has fallen down, and the other buildings are falling apart. The farm house is being used by family members, but is not energy efficient.
We had a family feud a few years ago, because the farm was not being taken care of, and people were leaving junk laying around in the yard and whatnot.
Many people suggested that we put up some greenhouses and start an organic co-op from the farm, this could generate jobs for unemployed family members, as well as people around the area.
We have little-no money to invest into the farm, what would you suggest?
Selling is not an option, because the farm has been in teh family for years, and the town will just put houses on it.
ANy help is appreciated.
3 Answers
- OhiorganicLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
The organic farm idea is not bad, though I feel getting one's farm certified organic is over rated if you are selling direct to the public. But than again you will learn how to grow organically if you go through the process. I know when I started down the path to being certified organic I soon realized i did not know anything at all about organic farm management. but after 8 year or organic certification I know a lot.
You do not need greenhouses to start. What you will need is a couple of acres for growing mixed produce and perhaps 15 acres for sweet corn. you will have to learn how to grow fruits and vegetables which is very, very different than growing row crops. You will need markets. Do not go the co-op/CSA rout until you know how to grow produce and can do succession planting. Instead find farmers markets. Go to cities or college towns, stay away from rural towns with small markets as you cannot make a profit. If I were in NW Ohio I would check out Toledo and Bowling green. You may have to travel over an hour each way to get to certain markets but if they generate good money (say over $600 per market) it is well worth the effort. you might also think about selling to restaurants.
All that said this is really hard work. expect to spend about 60 hours a week per person prepping ground, sowing seeds, weeding and selling. lazy unorganized people generally fail at this kind of endeavor in a couple of seasons.
Some resources for you
http://www.oeffa.org-this/ is the website for the Ohio Ecological Food and farming Assoc. I strongly suggest you join this group and go to the annual conference in Feb in Granville
http://www.growingformarket.com/ I strongly suggest you subscribe to this publication
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-f... This is by far the best market farming email list on the web, join and learn
Source(s): I have been selling what I grow direct to the public in SW Ohio for the past 15 years via farmers markets, CSA and farm stand. In the past I have sold to restaurants.
