6 Acres of land and what to do?

   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #1  

602466

Silver Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
106
Location
Silk Hope North Carolina
Tractor
New Holland TC40D
I just purchased 6 acres of land. I am not sure what I want to do with it yet. It is all cleared, flat and right now just pasture. What can I do with 6 acres. Is this too small to farm (Hay or Corn)? Can I make any money on the crops? I have a New Holland TC40DA with FEL is this enough HP to farm.

I have no idea on this so thats where you guys come in! Any ideas?

Thanks,

Wally
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #2  
Six acres would probably never pay out the equipment required for farming. However; a market type garden would easily be possible. :D :D
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #3  
and seeing that you live near some pretty big farmers markets you could probably do very well.
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #4  
Consider Horse boarding
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #5  
You only need an acre or two for market gardening in organic veggies. Prolly need to learn about greenhousing to continue out of season.

Ralph
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #6  
If your land is free of chemicals and water is available, I would get a rear tiller for the tractor and get the ground ready for an organic garden in the spring.
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #7  
602466 said:
I just purchased 6 acres of land. I am not sure what I want to do with it yet. It is all cleared, flat and right now just pasture. What can I do with 6 acres. Is this too small to farm (Hay or Corn)? Can I make any money on the crops? I have a New Holland TC40DA with FEL is this enough HP to farm.

I have no idea on this so thats where you guys come in! Any ideas?

Thanks,

Wally

I have 10 acres of flat pasture land of which about 7 are available for whatever. After mowing weeds for several years, I decided that I would like to learn how to hay farm. Not to make $$$, just to learn and enjoy. I'll be lucky if what I grow and bale cover the cost of consumables (fuel, fertilizer, seed). So I've been accumulating used haying equipment and traded my 2005 Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine) for a new Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto). That should give me enough tractor to go haying.

If you're hard over on making $$$$ on your 6 acres, forget about hay. Plant grapes, vegetables (organically grown?) or orchard trees. Or fatten cattle on your pasture grass.
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #8  
You already have the expensive parts (tractor and land). You could do pumpkins...easy to grow, fun, and make some dollars with little more equipment. They are also nice for donating to schools, scouts, etc. Sweet corn is nice but you have to pick it fresh and keep it cool if possible. You could do regular corn or sunflowers but will need to hire the combining. If you hire all the steps there will be little if any profit for you. Leasing the land usually only brings 50-150 dollars per acre per year...not much money and you can't "use" the land.

For profit you would be hard to beat organic veggies..but be willing to work very hard or hire those with questionable legality for being in the USA. You also have to meet the specifics of "organic" and defined by the gov.

Simplicity is pumpkins and a roadside "honor system stand." Profit is veggies or berries--but a lot of work.

Have your soil tested and talk to your local AG extension. They have amazing amounts of local knowledge and could help a lot. Oh, yeah....have fun and congrats on your purchase....keep smilin'

Peter
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do?
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Thanks for all the replys!

I am not worried about making money, I just would like to cover the cost of my new toys. The soil is that red clay and a well would have to be drilled.

I have been bush hogging the pasture to keep it clean.

Wally
 
   / 6 Acres of land and what to do? #10  
There are farmers market near you in Farrington, Pittsboro, and I'm pretty sure up in Carrboro. In Pittsboro there is Chatham Market that wants to buy localy grown foods. Not sure if Siler City has a market. More likely to get higher prices in Carrboro and Farrington. :D

A market garden would do well if you have the time. But it takes a lot of time. Our little 24x45 garden keeps me busy processing food. I guess it would be easier if I just sold the produce to someone. But we need to pick veggies at least every couple of days.

Chatham county sells mulch for $7 or $8 a yard. I think the sale starts in Feb/Mar. If you buy over 100 yards you can get it for $4 a yard. The mulch has really helped our garden this year. But it does have trash that has to be picked out. We also had to buy topsoil for our garden since we have clay and rocks for soil.

Course you will have to put up at least a six foot tall fence to keep the deer out of the garden. Most people say a eight foot tall fence is needed but so far the six footer is working for us and we are infested with deer.

There are at least two suppliers of topsoil in Pittsboro. I have read of one down in Bear Creek. Might be some out towards Siler City.

Later,
Dan
 
 
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