What does it cost to maintain a hobby farm?

[Anonymous]

I’m curious about the cost of maintaining a rural property. Let’s say a house, a barn, some chickens and a few hay fields. I know there’s a lot of variation but just for the equipment, building upkeep, landscaping etc?

[Anonymous]

$0-$3,000,000.

[Anonymous]

All of your money. All of it.

[Anonymous]

If you do not make money, you cannot farm. A farm is a business

[Anonymous]

All of your time, so you’d better enjoy it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious about the cost of maintaining a rural property. Let’s say a house, a barn, some chickens and a few hay fields. I know there’s a lot of variation but just for the equipment, building upkeep, landscaping etc?

Nobody can answer this for you. It is impossible to know without location, acreage, etc.

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know has quit their hobby farm within 10 years.
Farming is really really really hard work. Having worked on a farm for many years, small farms don't make money. Small farms do not have any ROI. Small farms are a bit heartbreaking.
You cannot go on vacation. You cannot stay out past dark because you have to let your animals in. You have to be available during the day in the summer to "farm". You have to be willing to spend countless hours around chemicals and tending to the farm. You have to be willing to have every bone in your body hurt.

It sucks. Buy from a small local butcher and organic market instead and get yourself a few dogs.

[Anonymous]

This is OP, thanks. I’m thinking of this more as a luxury project, and 10 years feels about right. I like to daydream about moving to the country and while I was out near Round Hill recently I watched a small army of guys with mowers turning into a small farm and it made me wonder. Like I can guesstimate what it takes to maintain a big house and an acre in Bethesda, but not a small farm property. I thought maybe someone here would share a benchmark. I’m not trying to make a profit from goats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, thanks. I’m thinking of this more as a luxury project, and 10 years feels about right. I like to daydream about moving to the country and while I was out near Round Hill recently I watched a small army of guys with mowers turning into a small farm and it made me wonder. Like I can guesstimate what it takes to maintain a big house and an acre in Bethesda, but not a small farm property. I thought maybe someone here would share a benchmark. I’m not trying to make a profit from goats.

So like, as an example - let’s say you need one main employee ($75k) and maybe average $25k/year on equipment? Plus idk what else but maybe $50k? So is $150k/year a good guess? I have no idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, thanks. I’m thinking of this more as a luxury project, and 10 years feels about right. I like to daydream about moving to the country and while I was out near Round Hill recently I watched a small army of guys with mowers turning into a small farm and it made me wonder. Like I can guesstimate what it takes to maintain a big house and an acre in Bethesda, but not a small farm property. I thought maybe someone here would share a benchmark. I’m not trying to make a profit from goats.

Haha. Yes - extrapolate from your Bethesda acre

[Anonymous]

Someone gave a very detailed breakdown in this thread:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1013913.page

If you enjoy working sunup to sundown, love dirt, and have a pair of coveralls designated as “the nice ones,” go for it. If you just think it would be cute to once in a while gather your own eggs grown on your own green acres… Dahling I love you, but give me Park Avenue.

[Anonymous]

What my brother does is he rents the "land" to a farmer and the farmer farms the land for cheap.

What that means is the farmer gets to use the land to plant and harvest and sell the product and my brother does nothing.

My brother, in return get's a little "rent' (very little) but he can legally call the house a farm and on taxes that is really great. They also lived in the house so their children wrote on college application they were part of a farming family which looks good.

He has had "hobby" animals.. horses, cows, pigs, etc at times. The horse was not really a hobby... also the kids fell in love with the animals, after a few years he could not slaughter them and now they are all vegetarian. haha.

[Anonymous]

We live on 3 acres. The prior owners had goats and horses. We have a large horse barn. We do not have any animals. The upkeep of the property, including cutting grass, tree trimming, leaf removal, snow removal, and upkeep of outbuildings would cost several thousand a year if contracted out. Alternatively, you can purchase the equipment to do so, which is a big upfront cost but much less expensive amortized over the years you live in the house.

[Anonymous]

My father in law lives on an old family farm of a few hundred acres down south, and while he drives a tractor around and hunts on his land, he doesn’t raise animals or grow anything himself. He does lease the land to real farmers who plant crops and manage the fields. He doesn’t make meaningful money that way but it puts the land to use. So that is one option if you want to live in a farm but not actually become a farmer. I doubt it works with 10 acres in middleburg though. You need to live in an area that has traditional farming.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend buying a farm with land and then renting most of the land to a larger farm. The land rent likely won't cover the full cost of its ownership, but it will pay most of the taxes at least. Then, start small with whatever you can do on your own, and scale up over time as you see fit. If you decide you need more land, just stop renting the portion that you need. Don't start by hiring an employee, figure out what you want to do yourself and then only hire as you grow over time.

Farming has large fixed costs in equipment, and it's very hard to cover those fixed costs at small scale. Small (non-hobby) farms can hang on for a long time as their capital depreciates, but new investments are rarely NPV positive. That's why you see so many small farms exit when the owners retire and no one wants to take over.

The best thing you can do is make as many of your costs variable as you can. Hence the land renting scheme. It also helps a lot if you can fix up old farm equipment yourself, or know someone who can. Buy used equipment from larger farms or farms that are going out of business at auction and then keep it running.