Farm Happenings

It's officially Spring around our little farm. Our farm has grown over the past year. We've added 16 chickens, 3 bottle calves(2 heifers and a bull), and our older heifer had a calf. The photo is our youngest bottle calf, our bull, named Lucky. It's been a pretty productive year, despite a lot of detours. However, there are a lot of changes to come.

Having a productive year, seeing our little farm grow; it has also brought the realization that we need some pretty massive changes as well. We have fencing that needs major repairs not to mention finishing our perimeter fence. Fencing is one of those necessary evils, that can get very expensive,very quickly. Thanks to some survey work, the fencing we originally put up, is not in the correct position, so it needs to be moved. Since I have decided that come hell or high water, I am never moving again, it's time to get a permanent fence in place and make some changes that will allow this farm to passed on to my children.

There is a bit of continuous argument in my home as to how best to handle a lot of the changes, and the finances of our little farm. It kind of a thing of old ways versus new ways versus the business perspective. As I am reminded about daily, this farm was not bought to be a money maker. However, from my perspective, a farm must bring in enough income to support itself at minimum. I love our little family farm, growing and raising our own food, but when something is constantly being an expense you need to adapt. In my experience, the only ones that ever get rich from a farm are those that do so because of the government or insurance. We are not a fan of either! I don't want to get rich, I want our little farm to provide an income that allows us to cover the expenses, and if there's any left over...we can continue to grow. The thing is, you can not make money without spending a little.

We have spent 8 years, constantly throwing money at this farm. Taking it from a hayfield to a homestead, no utilities to a home, several little barns, having the chemicals sprayed on surrounding fields kill off trees, grass, an entire garden, 3 acres of alfalfa destroyed by one farmer, a driveway completely destroyed by farm equipment that was not ours, fences knocked down, one shed hit because one farmer decided to farm so close, not to mention replacing or repairing all of this came out of our pocket. The county we live in, has some pretty astronomical taxes, and the insurance costs keep going up. What began as total farm expenses 8 years ago, around $6,000 annually....for the 2018 tax year, topped $12,000 and actually a bit more. We purchased several cows about 6 years ago. They were supposed to have been good, but turned out not so much. We lost all but 2 heifers, an eagle ate a calf, and the expense of that purchase ate us up. We attempted to put up extra hay to help cover some of the costs, and of course that came back to bite us as well. So, doing things in a way that had always been done, ended up costing us around $20,000. Yep, that came out of our pockets over several years. The house, we bought it reasonable enough, but after the first winter...we quickly learned why it was so reasonably priced. The windows leaked not only air, the roof leaked, the winds came in around the doors, there was mold in several carpets, the exterior wall lumber was rotting between the paneling and siding, and quite frankly...the entire thing needed massive help. We have done a lot of remodeling to make it safe for our family, and to try to help make it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer...but there's still more to do. The problem comes in when you have done repairs and you use subpar quality to make the necessary repairs a little cheaper. We spent thousands through Menards, to get materials. All 3 exterior doors leak - badly, we now have to go back and fix the walls those doors are on and the subfloor, and replace the doors so we are not having to do this again. The windows, they are not good either, but I think we can fix that. We still have 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, and the laundry room that has not been redone yet. Those will have to be done as time and money allow. Some days, I can't help but think all the money we have spent trying to make our way, make our home better for our family, and trying to do the right thing has cost us not only the money, but many arguments, many years of stress, but this little farm is part of my world.

I'm not a farmer. It's pretty simple. A country girl, absolutely through and through, but a farmer...no way. When I see $100,000, I get panicky. When most see $500,000 and keep going like it's a drop in the bucket. Here's where several issues come into play,I see a few opportunities that could potentially allow this farm to support itself within 18 months. It would take about a $35,000 investment, some efforts on the part of our family. I may never be a "farm girl" but my life, my children's lives...are centered at this little farm. Allowing the farm to become self-sustainable, would allow for a little more budget flexibility, still providing our personal food growth, increasing the income coming into the farm to allow for future expansion, and realistically allowing us to pay off the current debts we have incurred through this farm. While my husband is not really on board with most of this, my son is not sure he wants to mess with part of it; I am looking to make this farm truly ours, and make it self-sustaining so our family can continue to do what we love so much.

From the finance side, the initial investment, along with the current debts, could potentially be paid in full, in less than 10 years. Obviously, there will be expenses that come up, repairs or animal replacements that will need to be made, but 10 years is a conservative time frame. I see this as a positive goal. Which is my ultimate goal, being completely debt free. It's possible, not easy, but possible.

As for the rest of the farm, the gardens are drying out, and I'm anxious to get the dirt turned and start planting. I'm planting my typical gardens, and there will be produce for sale this year. My husband wants a smaller garden since we don't need as much this year, but I believe some produce and egg sales will just add a little extra income to help cover the rising insurance and taxes.


I'm looking into getting some trees to provide a wind break, some for shade, and making sure we have most of the food we need annually. I'm doing what I can to try to bridge some gully's but I'm also not dealing with ignorance anymore. We have some great neighbors, many have become friends through the years. We have so many get togethers in a year...and we love having so many family, friends and neighbors attend.

We have hit a transition period within our family. Our son is 18, and about to graduate. He has decided on his continuing education, and is working a job to cover that expense while helping here at the farm. His schedule gets kind of crazy to keep up with, and I personally struggle with the number of hours he puts in each week. So, we are planning yet another gathering, this time for his graduation from high school.

We are really excited for our adventure with an exchange student beginning in August. This is going to be a new adventure for us. I can not help but find so many positives about this adventure. Learning different cultures, while sharing ours with her, and I'm personally very excited. I've had the chance to visit with her, and I know she will be happy here. I think the hardest part of the whole journey has been the wait. We don't have a set time frame of when she will arrive, but know the school year begins in August, so it will be a week or so before that. I'm anxious to share 10 months of our journey through life, with her as part of our family. As a bit of a bonus, we have gotten to meet the representative locally, and I am happy to have her included into our little circle as well!

I suppose that is the latest farm happenings around our little farm. I suppose we'll see where everything goes from here, and I'll continue making my lists, and doing what I do, to try to improve my family, our lives, and our little farm.

Be a blessing, and be kind,
Salli