What do with 12 acres of land.

Mgriff

Folks,
Ive had a bit of luck and have managed to find myself with 12 acres of agri land at my disposal! Only problem is im not sure what to do with it.. id like to set up something small that could supply a small second income... any suggestions??

SligoEdo

Keep rare breed pigs.
Get sheep..or cattle.
Set up a goat dairy.

It all depends really. Have you any farming/small holding experience?

Mgriff

I dont have any great experience in smallholding but everyone has to start somewhere. My brother in law keeps sheep... Can you give more details on why rare breed pigs? Goats had crossed my mind but i figured Glenisk kinda had that side of things sewn up.. Thanks.

SligoEdo wrote: »

Keep rare breed pigs.
Get sheep..or cattle.
Set up a goat dairy.

It all depends really. Have you any farming/small holding experience?

Aghoney

Mgriff wrote: »

Can you give more details on why rare breed pigs? Goats had crossed my mind but i figured Glenisk kinda had that side of things sewn up.. Thanks.

Rare breed pigs command a slightly higher price when sold young, and could be sold at a premium to high-end restaurants, but that market is disappearing fast in today's economy. Many rare breed pig farmers are closing or reducing their operation at this time, it is not a market you want to get into if you don't have already a place to sell. Furthermore, unless you have a source of nearly free feed (I heard of people feeding spent grains or whey, for example), the cost of feeding pigs with commercial grain feeds does not leave you with a lot of profit.

Milk goats are a similar story, the market for liquid milk is saturated, and unless you have a cheesemaker that is going to buy your milk, it may not be a good idea. Or you could milk your goats and use the milk to feed your rare breed pigs .

Meat goats are another option, and the market for goat meat is small but may be profitable.

In general, it all depends on how much time can you spend farming, since it will be a second job, and on how much money you will need to invest to start (for fencing, shelter, etc.) Some options are going to require less of your time, but they may give you a smaller return. And don't forget to use at least part of the land to raise or grow food four your own use. That is one of the great things of being a smallholder.

Qualitymark

What about some forestry? With wood-burning stoves getting more popular, if you grow some trees for coppicing you could do well; there are grants, though for some mysterious reason these are greater for people who have been farming for the last five years.

mullachmore man

what about hens? if you have a good area within a five mile radius with plenty of business around you, it could be a good idea . and a one man operation.

Mgriff

Qualitymark wrote: »

What about some forestry? With wood-burning stoves getting more popular, if you grow some trees for coppicing you could do well; there are grants, though for some mysterious reason these are greater for people who have been farming for the last five years.

Myself and the brother in law buy loads of logs from coillte and cut and split them ourselves, 1 load covers our burning needs for 3 winters with 2 stoves per household.. I would like to use it for something that will keep me busy..

Mgriff

Qualitymark wrote: »

What about some forestry? With wood-burning stoves getting more popular, if you grow some trees for coppicing you could do well; there are grants, though for some mysterious reason these are greater for people who have been farming for the last five years.

Do you mean keeping them for sale of eggs? or for what?I had thought about keeping chickens to do the free range option but with so much of our chicken being imported i didnt think there would be much of a market there.. would there be hope for keeping them to sell the eggs...

mullachmore man

Mgriff wrote: »

Do you mean keeping them for sale of eggs? or for what?I had thought about keeping chickens to do the free range option but with so much of our chicken being imported i didnt think there would be much of a market there.. would there be hope for keeping them to sell the eggs...

oh yes just for selling the eggs, and you only need a few acres , and you would still have about 9 acres free on the farm for something else. worth looking into

ted1

Have a look at willow there was an episode of eco eye on the other day singing its praises about how easy it is to mange and how fast it grows

Mgriff

mullachmore man wrote: »

oh yes just for selling the eggs, and you only need a few acres , and you would still have about 9 acres free on the farm for something else. worth looking into

Is there a particular breed that people keep when doing this?

Mgriff

ted1 wrote: »

Have a look at willow there was an episode of eco eye on the other day singing its praises about how easy it is to mange and how fast it grows

Ya i saw a bit of ecoeye where they were talking about eucalyptus as a renewable energy alright, but i think the likes of wood pellets and that are a bit of a flop in ireland.

ted1

Mgriff wrote: »

Ya i saw a bit of ecoeye where they were talking about eucalyptus as a renewable energy alright, but i think the likes of wood pellets and that are a bit of a flop in ireland.

There slowly catching on, but not for domestic use. Leisure centres, hotels schools etc are beginning to roll them out. I have done work on several leisure centres recently that had them fitted.

Wood pellets need to be kept dry in a housing and with an feeder. Houses genreally don't have the storage capacity required to buy pellets in bulk and so can only buy over priced low volumes

TomOnBoard

You have a hugely beneficial resource available to you. Until you are CLEAR in your mind as to how you can make the BEST USE of that resource, for right now, and for the long term future, DO NOT LOCK yourself in to any particular strategy.

In particular, avoid grant-aided Forestry, as it changes the use of the land to forestry forever.

Investigate, consider your options, and come back here every 6 months or so: You'll get a USEFUL definitive answer around July 2014.

Pat Mustard

Mgriff wrote: »

Myself and the brother in law buy loads of logs from coillte and cut and split them ourselves,

How would a fella such as myself go about approaching Coillte with a view to doing the same?

Busted Flat.

Horses are the going trend at the moment, you can pick them for little or nothing, feed them up, sell them on. Big demand at the moment, I am afraid to put down the supermarkets names that will buy them for legal reasons.

Mgriff

The Mustard wrote: »

How would a fella s.
ch as myself go about approaching Coillte with a view to doing the same?

Just ring whichever local coillte is near to and they will put you in contact with harvestor for your region. It costs us 1200 euros for truck and trailer(four bays) i think its around 30 cubic metres. I think you can get half loads
but as timber for full load only costs 800, you'll probably still end up paying 400 for haulage for the half load.
Number or the limerick coillte office is below.

061 337322

Mgriff

Busted Flat. wrote: »

Horses are the going trend at the moment, you can pick them for little or nothing, feed them up, sell them on. Big demand at the moment, I am afraid to put down the supermarkets names that will buy them for legal reasons.

I had a few horses but i sold them to some frozen food company... said something about keepin the grass down around the factory..

crackcrack30

If the land is suitable, i'd invest in some basic machinery and sow potatoes....

Check out how you would store and sell before progressing too far....

Markcheese

12 acres is a good size small holding....but a lot depends, soil type ? Drainage ? Buildings ? And location, are you near a population centre, as well as your time and your inclination .
Roughly where are you ??
Flowers are always an overlooked bet ,along with salad crops, If you're on acid soil look at blueberries and soft fruit, Market is key to make your enterprise pay...