Land and real estate thread - Dox your 10 acres here

[The best and greatest]

So I noticed the one thing missing from this section is a thread on land acquisition. The site does have a thread on the subject but its more from an investor's perspective rather than a prepper's.

 

[Pooners Paradise]

Just bought myself 8.5 acres. Planning on starting a small hobby farm with the wife and kids and maybe do some beekeeping on it. Does anyone have any good resources on water capture and storage? I live in a state that gets quite a bit of water and would like to keep some of it, I also have a creek and a spring on the property.

 

[Smoke Manmuscle]

If you are looking for land for self sufficiency make sure you talk to the local ag extension. They are a great resource as to how fertile/what grows on the land you are looking to buy. If it’s poor quality for what the local agricultural is growing it will likely be cheaper.

 

[Null]

local ag extension

what are you referring to?

 

[WhiskeyJack]

what are you referring to?

The local County Extension Office, they give advice to farmers/gardeners. Usually referred to in my area as "the Co-op". They have cheap gas and diesel for farmers (farmer diesel has red additive and legally has to be used for farming purposes), and usually E-85.

https://www.almanac.com/cooperative-extension-services
Edit, link:

In 1914, the U.S. Department of Agriculture partnered with a nationwide network of universities to create a system of “extension” services. The goal of these services was to provide farmers across the country with advice from local experts regarding all things agriculture and farming.

The program was a huge success, and today, there are extension services in all 50 states (though some are not associated with the USDA). Extension services routinely put on community events, hold lectures and courses, and answer gardening and farming questions from locals. Typically, an extension service has a “home base” located at a prominent university in the state but will often have a series of county offices, too.

 

[Null]

That's very interesting. So if I move into a swamp I can call these offices and ask "what shit grows here?" and get a real answer that's tested? Do they have seed libraries?

 

[indomitable snowman]

Check the Ag school of the state you live in as it has resources there as part of the land grant university programs. EG Florida's system is through UF and located here- https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/. Usually they have extension offices in most/every county. I like to check my states to figure out native plants.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Just bought myself 8.5 acres. Planning on starting a small hobby farm with the wife and kids and maybe do some beekeeping on it. Does anyone have any good resources on water capture and storage? I live in a state that gets quite a bit of water and would like to keep some of it, I also have a creek and a spring on the property.

The first major investment you will need is a tractor of some sort with various attachments., such as a pulled plough, trailer and a Bush Hogger. Doesn't need to be large. Hell, a Riding mower could probably do most of what you want to do. But for me, even keeping up with a single acre can be a chore and I dream sometimes of having heavier equipment. Just cannot justify the expense for what would be a once a year thing. But 8.5 Acres will be considerably more work.

Once you have it though, it can definitely make keeping the land clear and useful more easier. You could also rent out space to a local farmer to raise cattle, or use it grow Hay. If its a woodland lot, you would need the tractor full stop just so you can do the land clearing.

 

[God's strongest milkman]

That's very interesting. So if I move into a swamp I can call these offices and ask "what shit grows here?" and get a real answer that's tested? Do they have seed libraries?

I went to my local ag extension office last year and not only did the nice lady print our for me a big list of things that grow well In my area but also when to plant, in what type of soil, at what depth all the information you need.

They were also doing a soil drive and so I got my soil tested for free which told me what it had in spades and what it needed more of.

I live in a very hot area so the fruit tree section was actually most helpful because it gave me some apple types that will actually grow down here. The ag extension office rocks. They also might be able to help you with figuring out what type of mushrooms grow in the area. I'm really into small scale amateur mycology and I might start a mushroom thread.

Absolutely worth visiting if you buy land and want to use it. You might also be able to test the soil of the land you are looking at before you buy it.

 

[Topsoil]

Make sure your land is zoned for agriculture if you're planning to buy land. While you can grow a garden on most land (barring HOA restrictions) if you want to run machinery on your land or have livestock (cows, sheep, goats, horses) you may run afoul of local ordinances.
Hens (female chickens), rabbits, and quail are usually not prohibited by livestock laws, if you happen to live suburban and want to get started with meat processing.

 

[Pooners Paradise]

The first major investment you will need is a tractor of some sort with various attachments., such as a pulled plough, trailer and a Bush Hogger. Doesn't need to be large. Hell, a Riding mower could probably do most of what you want to do. But for me, even keeping up with a single acre can be a chore and I dream sometimes of having heavier equipment. Just cannot justify the expense for what would be a once a year thing. But 8.5 Acres will be considerably more work.

Once you have it though, it can definitely make keeping the land clear and useful more easier. You could also rent out space to a local farmer to raise cattle, or use it grow Hay. If its a woodland lot, you would need the tractor full stop just so you can do the land clearing.

Bought me a tractor last week for it. 28HP Compact, Kubota, only 20k with a bush hog, bucket and an auger. Wife has 2 horses so we’ll hay some we think. But I’d guess a couple acres is just woods. House that came with the property only has a wood stove for heat so got trees for days to supply that.

I’ve had 2.5 acres before but moved to the Deep South instead of high plains desert so it’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve on how to maintain the land here.

That's very interesting. So if I move into a swamp I can call these offices and ask "what shit grows here?" and get a real answer that's tested? Do they have seed libraries?

Also, check out your local 4H chapters, they tend to be really friendly and can be a good resource for farming, livestock even robotics and the like mixed with agriculture. Plus the kids that are in 4H sell their livestock after raising it and compete against each other for quality of the livestock so it’s good meat.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Bought me a tractor last week for it. 28HP Compact, Kubota, only 20k with a bush hog, bucket and an auger. Wife has 2 horses so we’ll hay some we think. But I’d guess a couple acres is just woods. House that came with the property only has a wood stove for heat so got trees for days to supply that.

Make sure you get the chimney inspected. Wood Stoves are great in the winter, but are a major fire hazard if not properly maintained. Would also recommend some window AC units and a Kerosene Heater. Your set up sounds somewhat similar to mine, though the previous owners took out the wood stove and installed a central heating and cooling system. They did a shit job though and it is expensive to run, so I use window AC units and a Kerosene heater anyway. For you, the Kerosene heater may be useful in case the wood stove can't reach other parts of the house good in the winter.

Make sure you keep up with spraying your attic and home perimeter with insecticide too. Deep South insects like carpenter ants and termites will devour a home that is left untreated.

On the subject of the thread, there is actually a very good youtube channel about this very subject.

 

[Smoke Manmuscle]

Bought me a tractor last week for it. 28HP Compact, Kubota, only 20k with a bush hog, bucket and an auger. Wife has 2 horses so we’ll hay some we think. But I’d guess a couple acres is just woods. House that came with the property only has a wood stove for heat so got trees for days to supply that.

It’s not really worth it for you to make your own hay as even used equipment will run in the mid 5 figures. You are looking at needing at minimum, a bigger tractor (50+ hp), a hay mower, a tedder, a windrower/rake, and a baler.

I have 20 acres and keep horses too. I buy my hay from my neighbor who bales about 150 acres for his cattle operation.

what are you referring to?

There are a couple of things all important but will be dependent on the state you live in. In my state ag is a major part of the economy so there are ag extension offices from the state ag school in every county. They will come out and work with you about what you want to do with your land.

The United States Department of Agriculture and the National Resource Conservation Service (a subset of the USDA) are the federal arm for ag. They too will help with stuff. In my county they have a specialty seeder you can rent for dirt cheap to seed pasture land. If you plan to make any money farming, even as a hobby. I recommend you get a farm number from them. In my state having a federal farm number automatically qualifies you for the ag sales tax exemption. They will also be the go to people if you plan on getting any grant money from the fed bois. Even though I only do the farming thing as a hobby/self sufficiency, I do make a bit of money doing it. I have gotten about $20k in cost sharing money from the USDA so the following: cross fence my pasture (for improved rotational grazing), fence off the pond (danger to livestock when it gets low, AKA the summer), add an automatic watering trough (to replace the pond for water access), gravel a high use area (place to put hay out in the winter and not turn into 2ft of muck). They are paying about 80% of the costs.

That's very interesting. So if I move into a swamp I can call these offices and ask "what shit grows here?" and get a real answer that's tested? Do they have seed libraries?

Yes. Again it varies by state so I can also only talk about mine but I get all my soil samples for super cheap through them. They send it off to the state ag school. They will also have informational packets about stuff like frost free date for your area, how to string fencing etc.

 

[Cirrhosis_of_Liver]

Great info on this thread. I'd like to plug a fantastic resource that not enough people know about.

https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

The web soil survey is inestimably valuable for finding good land. In my experience, it is very accurate.

This tool allows you to estimate yields of various crops or pasture management strategies, provides valuable insights on water holding capacity, fertility, soil depth and structure, flooding potential, minerals, and even information on the appropriate types of septic systems for different locations.

I have used it to plan crossfences to get equal forage between pastures instead of equal acres. It can let you know about your options for basements or root cellars, how well irrigation will work, permeability, and just honestly any information you could want about the land you're looking to buy.

If you're interested in any sort of agricultural enterprise, do not neglect this invaluable tool.


Also, the NRCS are pretty baste in general. They'll come out to your land with you to discuss how to improve it, and they have grants to grant. Save your loathing for the feds who deserve it. State Extension agents are also generally enthusiastic, knowledgable people who will infodump on you about how to make the most of your land.

 

[Your Girlfriend's Dad]

Check the Ag school of the state you live in as it has resources there as part of the land grant university programs. EG Florida's system is through UF and located here- https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/. Usually they have extension offices in most/every county. I like to check my states to figure out native plants.

View attachment 6154402

TIL Rutgers is NJ's ag school. Man, that school offers a ton of different shit.

 

[Rakovnik]

Bought me a tractor last week for it. 28HP Compact, Kubota, only 20k with a bush hog, bucket and an auger. Wife has 2 horses so we’ll hay some we think. But I’d guess a couple acres is just woods.

2 horses don't consume that much hay. I wouldn't suggest making hay with a 28hp compact tractor. I have used my 25hp to bale a tiny pasture and it doesn't like it. You should have a minimum of 35hp at the PTO and a machine weight around 3000 lbs. My hay tractors are all about 50 engine HP and around 4-5k lbs, I really wouldn't use any smaller.

You'd be better off fencing the area to use as a pasture or make yourself a small track to ride on. Use your brush mower to clear the pasture every once in a while to keep weeds down.

It’s not really worth it for you to make your own hay as even used equipment will run in the mid 5 figures. You are looking at needing at minimum, a bigger tractor (50+ hp), a hay mower, a tedder, a windrower/rake, and a baler.

It's easy to hit 6 figures with tractor prices nowadays. Used equipment, balers especially, you've got to know how to diagnose and fix problems without a book telling you how. I had to reweld a section of my 1960s baler this winter, there's no section of the manual with instructions on what to do when it's rusting away 60 years later.

I bale a lot less than your neighbor and can still make money, not paying off my new tractor in a year money but decent. I bale horse quality small squares so it sells for more per lb than round cow quality bales.

 

[Smoke Manmuscle]

I bale a lot less than your neighbor and can still make money, not paying off my new tractor in a year money but decent. I bale horse quality small squares so it sells for more per lb than round cow quality bales.

This is the exact reason I started feeding round bales. Luckily I have a covered hay storage area and a covered hay feeder, otherwise I wouldn’t risk it. As an added benefit the covered hay feeder paid for itself in 2 years as I have used 50% less hay a season since I built it.

 

[Cirrhosis_of_Liver]

One of my get rich quick schemes is to buy round bales of good/premium, unroll them, rake them, and square bale them.


Or if I was super smart, I could design something to unroll and fluff a round bale and conveyor belt it into the square baler.

It's gotta be possible.

 

[Rakovnik]

One of my get rich quick schemes is to buy round bales of good/premium, unroll them, rake them, and square bale them.


Or if I was super smart, I could design something to unroll and fluff a round bale and conveyor belt it into the square baler.

It's gotta be possible.

Stationary bale unrollers are a thing, I would like to do that to make bringing in bales easier and speed up baling time before the rain but don't have anywhere local that I can rent that style of unrollers, I don't bale enough to make one of those or a bale baron worth it.

 

[Uncle Tom's Condo]

But I’d guess a couple acres is just woods. House that came with the property only has a wood stove for heat so got trees for days to supply that.

Idk how cold it gets wherever you are down south or how big your place is, but a couple of acres of woods probably isn't sustainable if you're looking to only burn from your property. Trees take a long time to grow back and even if you plant some garbage fast growing southern pine it still takes a long time and softwood is generally less energy dense than hardwood.

Also think about how you plan do deal with the shoulder season when it's cooler at night but warm enough in the daytime that you don't need heat; do you really want to be fucking around with a stove in spring and fall? Like the person above said you can get a kerosene heater or look into a Toyo or Monitor stove to help bridge the gaps in the shoulder season.