# How to get others to fund your farm.....



## shawnlee (Apr 13, 2010)

*Cow cuddling*



https://beyondblindfold.com/cow-cud...5rrQehkms4RZgwb2l-3en0OJ-EwzaQLsbI6U1jn5EIuiI



The Horse & Cow Experience costs $300 for a 90-minute session. However, if you’re only interested in the cow cuddling part, you can book a 60-minute session for $75. For both of the sessions, you can bring a friend.



Mountain Horse Farm in upstate New York has a program offering the ‘Horse & Cow Experience’ where individuals can spend time connecting with the large barnyard animals. You can interact with them however you want to by petting, brushing or playing. If you’re not in the mood to play with the animals, you can simply cuddle with them. “Cows have a body temperature that is slightly higher than humans and their heart rate is lower than ours. Cuddling up with a cow, feeling that lower heart rate and higher body temperature, is very relaxing,” Mountain Horse Farm wrote on their website.


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## SLADE (Feb 20, 2004)

Why do you have my picture on here? I feel violated.


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## Farmerga (May 6, 2010)

Can you leave with your very own Ribeye?


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

*which one are you ??*
* we milked cows by hand. I remember resting my head into the soft hollow just in front of the hind leg. but it was probably because it was early in the morning and I was not fully awake yet..*


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

There's a spa and glamping in Tipis as well. It's in the heart of NY wine country, and it's a stunningly beautiful area.

https://www.mountainhorsefarm.com/


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## dmm1976 (Oct 29, 2013)

Also goat yoga...

Crazy millenials...


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## ticndig (Sep 7, 2014)

first thing that comes to mind is ticks and flies,I'm not rubbing heads with a cow.


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## IndyDave (Jul 17, 2017)

I might have to try this. Jasmine would love it!


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

dmm1976 said:


> Also goat yoga...
> 
> Crazy millenials...


So... Downward dog and upwards goat?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

One of my pigs got out of his pasture area today....250lbs of mad because the dogs had been trying to round him up. Little cuddling with him would have been interesting for sure.


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

Farmerga said:


> Can you leave with your very own Ribeye?


Too funny!


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Farmerga said:


> Can you leave with your very own Ribeye?


I had one cow that most anyone would have left with a black eye! She dint cotton to being fooled with.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

My daughter would love the cow cuddling. She really, really, really (I can't stress really enough) wants a cow. And then a pet pig, and then goats. In that order. 

Seems like a deal compared to me actually having to get those animals and take care of them, not to mention buying the property to have them on


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Seems like just good business to me. Training those cows to lay there takes time and effort. Finding a way to meet a want and make money at it is great. Zoos, petting zoos, horseback riding, vacations on the ranch. All great money making ideas. A very pleasant way to make a living.


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## wdcutrsdaughter (Dec 9, 2012)

how do the cows feel about this? violated? is there consent?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

*"we milked cows by hand. I remember resting my head into the soft hollow just in front of the hind leg. but it was probably because it was early in the morning and I was not fully awake yet.."*

We milked by hand also and I have had my head in the cows flank and nearly fell asleep because it was after dark and I had did hard fram work all day. Ever sling hay bales in a 90F day in a barns hay mow?
I also remember doing it on a cold winter evening and being happy for the heat off the cow.
Most cows we owned didn't mind a hug around the neck.

 Al


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## IndyDave (Jul 17, 2017)

alleyyooper said:


> Most cows we owned didn't mind a hug around the neck.
> 
> Al


When I was a kid, my grandparents had horses. I had a few of them that would reach over the fence and give me a hug.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

alleyyooper said:


> *"we milked cows by hand. I remember resting my head into the soft hollow just in front of the hind leg. but it was probably because it was early in the morning and I was not fully awake yet.."*
> 
> We milked by hand also and I have had my head in the cows flank and nearly fell asleep because it was after dark and I had did hard fram work all day. Ever sling hay bales in a 90F day in a barns hay mow?
> I also remember doing it on a cold winter evening and being happy for the heat off the cow.
> ...


I've handled thousands of hay bales over the years. If it ain't hard work it's a mighty close cousin!


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

IndyDave said:


> When I was a kid, my grandparents had horses. I had a few of them that would reach over the fence and give me a hug.


It is a daily thing around here. My one mare rests her head on mine while I wrap my arms around her neck and scratch. She was a starving one year old when we took her in and she would sit in my lap if she could. My other mare runs across the yard so I can lean against her and scratch her tummy. Big babies.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

TnAndy said:


> One of my pigs got out of his pasture area today....250lbs of mad because the dogs had been trying to round him up. Little cuddling with him would have been interesting for sure.


Wonder how slow his heart beat was?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

mreynolds said:


> Wonder how slow his heart beat was?


When he got back in the pen, he went over to the swimming hole and lay in it like "Whew...I've had a hard afternoon"


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

Anyone with stock has handled hundreds of tons of hay bales, I have since I was 6 or 8 and could pick one up, or roll it. I usually unloaded the truck or wagon when I was young, and moved up to stacking in the mow.

It looks like a beautiful place where everything, human and stock alike, is pampered.


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## secondhandacres (Nov 6, 2017)

Sounds like a huge liability to me, have strangers to your farm to cuddle a 1200 lb cow?! And pay for this experience? There ain’t a liability release form air tight enough for this business model.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

mreynolds said:


> So... Downward dog and upwards goat?


Don't ask, don't tell.


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

moving off of the wagon into the mow is not moving up IMHO.. I hated the mow ..
I also picked rocks onto a stone boat pulled by horses.
I sat on a spring tooth harrow behind a four horse hitch.. I had two comic books which I read several times each.. I rode on a draft horse and also walked behind a draft horse with a one row corn cultivator. Often there were four sets of horses and cultivators going at the same time. I never plowed with a horse.
Once I stuck a cob of corn in my front pocket. I offered it to Billy, a riding horse.. He grabbed the cob gently and pulled. unfortunately he also clamped down on my bluejeans pocket. he shook his head up and down to try to get the cob loose. It did come loose after about the second shake. along with the whole pocket.. I weighed about 85 pounds at that age..
don't try this at home. 
.....jiminwisc......


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Don't ask, don't tell.


Yeah, I have a problem with posting before reading.


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## dmm1976 (Oct 29, 2013)

mreynolds said:


> So... Downward dog and upwards goat?


Sort of


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

dmm1976 said:


> Sort of
> View attachment 77460


I don't know how you found a picture of downward dog with a goat in it but that's pretty funny.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

secondhandacres said:


> Sounds like a huge liability to me, have strangers to your farm to cuddle a 1200 lb cow?! And pay for this experience? There ain’t a liability release form air tight enough for this business model.


It's not a farm, the OP didn't look beyond the "cow cuddling". It's a B & B, spa, glamping, and "wellness retreat" that includes cuddling cows, mini horses, horses. It's absolutely not a working farm.


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## IndyDave (Jul 17, 2017)

secondhandacres said:


> Sounds like a huge liability to me, have strangers to your farm to cuddle a 1200 lb cow?! And pay for this experience? There ain’t a liability release form air tight enough for this business model.


We have pretty much bulletproof protection under Indiana law that covers most any recreational, training, or other activity on the farm outside the realm of being an employed farmland. Your mileage may vary.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

I was thinking also about the liability issues and wondering how expensive insurance must be for that. Of course I live in California so your second thought about doing anything is whether you're going to be sued or not. The first is whether you're allowed to at all


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## dmm1976 (Oct 29, 2013)

mreynolds said:


> I don't know how you found a picture of downward dog with a goat in it but that's pretty funny.


Thats childs pose. Heres a down dog. . . 

Goat yoga is an actual thing. Lol


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

My great uncle taught me how to cuddle with his milk cow with my shoulder to keep her from side stepping the bucket as I squeezed the milk valves when it was my turn to spend two weeks of my summer vacation on the part of the old generation family farm he and my great aunt kept.

All their kids and nieces and nephews sending us younger kids to stay with them for two weeks taught us the old farm ways, gave them young temp labor, was better than going to Camp Cost too Mucha and gave our parents two weeks without kids.

Best part was there was always 5 to 8 of us there during our summer camp weeks so after chores divided among us on the 45 acre trip back in time, my uncle or grandfather who although two years older could pass as a twin and often went with me to visit his brother, one of them or both would take us kids swimming or fishing before the sun went down .


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

dmm1976 said:


> Thats childs pose. Heres a down dog. . .
> 
> Goat yoga is an actual thing. Lol
> View attachment 77462


Well you can tell I dont do Yoga then. That looks more like cats back than down dog lol. 

I'll shut up now while some of you think I have *some* intelligence


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Irish Pixie said:


> It's absolutely not a working farm.





> Mountain Horse* Farm* in upstate New York has a program offering the ‘Horse & Cow Experience’ where individuals can spend time connecting with the large barnyard animals.


They say it is.
It seems to be "working" for them.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Neah, it'll never work. You'll have to convince those city folk how to cuddle a cow without tipping it over.

geo


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Most city folks are afraid of their own shadow let alone a huge cow. After all it could stampede see it on TV growing up. 

 Al


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## SpringCrkAromas (Aug 21, 2005)

[B said:


> [/B]
> 
> 
> 
> The Horse & Cow Experience costs $300 for a 90-minute session. However, if you’re only interested in the cow cuddling part, you can book a 60-minute session for $75. For both of the sessions, you can bring a friend


you can cuddle my cows for half that amount, all day too or as long as they lay still for you.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Lol It’s very clear from asking for a definition of family farm that no one has any right to define anyone else in anyway.......


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

I will say it once again, People are CRAZY!


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## IndyDave (Jul 17, 2017)

AmericanStand said:


> Lol It’s very clear from asking for a definition of family farm that no one has any right to define anyone else in anyway.......


Good point but I believe there is enough difference betw.een a farm and a petting zoo to discern. In this case no agricultural activity appears to be happening.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I don't find it crazy to want to spend time with animals. It is relaxing, it lowers your blood pressure. I am lucky and can do that right here at home.

Years ago we attended a photo shoot for predator animals. Bear. lions, tigers, wolves and more. We paid to do this. The most memorable part of it was being able to be up close and touch baby bears. It is something that I will remember forever. I can not explain the joy I got from two baby bears playing with me and sucking on my fingers as they purred with happiness.


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## dmm1976 (Oct 29, 2013)

Not a working farm...but i bet the people working on that "farm" would beg to differ. 

Animals still poop and need to be fed and cared for even if they arent being used for the usual purpose. 

And probably these animals get extra care so they are acceptable for cuddling. 

Id say this farm produces joy and cultivates happiness.


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## IndyDave (Jul 17, 2017)

painterswife said:


> I don't find it crazy to want to spend time with animals. It is relaxing, it lowers your blood pressure. I am lucky and can do that right here at home.
> 
> Years ago we attended a photo shoot for predator animals. Bear. lions, tigers, wolves and more. We paid to do this. The most memorable part of it was being able to be up close and touch baby bears. It is something that I will remember forever. I can not explain the joy I got from two baby bears playing with me and sucking on my fingers as they purred with happiness.


Agreed. I will never forget as a small child romping on the living room floor with three lion cubs.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

I find the title of this thread confusing don’t all farms get their funding from somewhere else? I suppose in some places there is subsistence farming with neither income nor out go but for the purposes of homesteading today a farm is almost always funded by someone else .
mine seems to be funded mostly by archer Daniels Midland and Cargil.


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

Firstly, I don't expect others to fund my life/lifestyle.

Secondly, opening your place up to the idiot public means then you have to deal with idiots. Something to be avoided at all costs. Not to mention the cost of insurance to keep the idiots from suing you.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

geo in mi said:


> You'll have to convince those city folk how to cuddle a cow without tipping it over.


They're easier to cuddle after tipping.
(Much like waitresses)


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Oregon1986 said:


> I will say it once again, People are CRAZY!


Only the ones that are fun.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

There are a lot of ways to earn extra money on your farm but any that would involve the public would involve buying some sort of liability insurance. The question would always be is the outlay worth the income? Riding, wagon and sleigh rides, orchards, berry patches, pumpkin patches, Christmas trees, petting animals, hands on farming experiences etc. No one has to involve the public in their lives but many choose the money over the privacy. If well managed it can really be a boon to your economy and can allow you to be independent much sooner.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

It looks to me like a really great way of having a nice property in the country and have it paid for. It is like a bed and breakfast with extras. You don't need to have people there 7 days a week or even year round. You get privacy part of the time and the guests pay for the pleasure of spending time in the country and with the animals. It would work well here.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

painterswife said:


> It looks to me like a really great way of having a nice property in the country and have it paid for. It is like a bed and breakfast with extras. You don't need to have people there 7 days a week or even year round. You get privacy part of the time and the guests pay for the pleasure of spending time in the country and with the animals. It would work well here.


The more I check out the spa part, the more I'd like to spend a weekend. Not in a tipi tho, there's a hike to a bathroom. I have no desire to cuddle a cow either, but to each his own.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

I lived in the city that housed our Central Experimental Farm. Part of our school curriculum in grades 5 and 6 included bi-weekly trips to the farm to learn about and work with the animals, field crops, orchards, arboretum and greenhouses. Some of the best school days of my life and for most of the other students. I actually loved cuddling the calves and cows, sheep and lambs, mares and foals. The chickens and ducks were very friendly but the geese were crazy. This is probably when my desire to have a place of my own started. Many students who were terrified of the animals to begin with soon learned a lot and rode the bus home stinking to high heaven just like me. A few of us did once sneak into the bull and stallion barns but only once. Definitely not cuddle-some.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

As a child I grew up with cattle and horse ranches. It was a sad day when a rancher would go broke. Some would turn the ranch into a "dude ranch" and sell trail rides to tourists. Others just shot themselves and got it over with. Not sure who was better off.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

IndyDave said:


> In this case no agricultural activity appears to be happening.


That could be said about lots of "farms" but people say they have them.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Bearfootfarm said:


> That could be said about lots of "farms" but people say they have them.


My grandfather was a tough old Scotsman who ranched in shortgrass country, which is quite rocky. Whenever anyone got inquisitive about what he raised, how many cows he had, etc, he would always tell them that he raised rocks and other than the ones of superior quality, he used to build his stone fence, he had no idea of how many he raised annually.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Mom had a cow that was so gentle I was able to ride her when I was small. While I miss sitting in the manger and holding hay out to the calves hiding behind the old cows, I know I wouldn't pay that kind of money to cuddle a strange cow. Once upon a time you could pet them for free at the county fair.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

wr said:


> he would always tell them that he raised rocks


Rocks won't grow around here, but I can raise pretty decent sand and all the pine straw you can eat.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Rocks won't grow around here, but I can raise pretty decent sand and all the pine straw you can eat.


The original house was also built of rocks and the fence was wide enough that we could play tag or have races on the top. My cousin and I collided and I fractured my cheekbone on the way down and our grandmother concluded that we could learn about bad choices by picking weeds. 

Lucky for me, her father was visiting and he seemed to feel that forcing a child with two black eyes and an egg sized lump on her cheek to pick weeds was unacceptable. He was a bit off center by then so he'd take me geese hunting every second day so he could have his geese all cleaned, bagged and wrapped and addressed so he could send them by mail to family in Canada and the US the following day.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Alder said:


> Firstly, I don't expect others to fund my life/lifestyle.


 Really ?
Do you print your own money?


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

AmericanStand said:


> Really ?
> Do you print your own money?


I don't sell my personal life to the public. My farm and home is my personal life.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

AmericanStand said:


> Really ?
> Do you print your own money?


I've never needed to print my own money. People give me theirs. Not for prowling around my farm bothering critters though.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

So other people fund you ?


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Alder said:


> I don't sell my personal life to the public. My farm and home is my personal life.


 That of course is your choice. But the source of your funding was the real question.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

AmericanStand said:


> So other people fund you ?


In a sense, yes. Only in the fact that money exchanges occur from them to me. It's not for "free" though, in exchange I provide a service to them, usually in the form of providing them a comfortable place to store their stuff and get some sleep.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

The reality is that many small farms and family farms, orchards and vineyards just cannot compete with big ag. Rural retreats and bed and breakfast establishments can make big money for little investment, effort and limited time. If you want to keep your lifestyle you may have to make adjustments. This has been a long standing practice in Europe and it has allowed a lot of farms, orchards and vineyards not only to stay in the family and provide a suitable income but it has allowed many to even expand.

Many have separate accommodations for the tourists so as not to interfere with the running of the business or family life. We have family friends in Switzerland who have two such set-ups. One in the fall for the vineyard and wine making and another place in the alps (goats and cheese making) for Christmas. Lots of free time without any company but they have met incredible people from all over the world. They are booked years in advance and what was a temporary idea will now be passed on to their kids.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> In a sense, yes. Only in the fact that money exchanges occur from them to me. It's not for "free" though, in exchange I provide a service to them, usually in the form of providing them a comfortable place to store their stuff and get some sleep.


 Excellent. Idea ! Provide people with something they value in return for something you value !
I suspect most farms are funded that way.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

emdeengee said:


> The reality is that many small farms and family farms, orchards and vineyards just cannot compete with big ag.


 I greatly agree with you it’s never made sense to me that the guy with 40 acres tries to raise the same thing as the guy with 4000 .


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

AmericanStand said:


> Excellent. Idea ! Provide people with something they value in return for something you value !
> I suspect most farms are funded that way.


My farm pays its way via production. For years it produced beef, currently grass hay. Nearly all farms rely on production for their funding.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Oh I do value good beef! Currently I value hay in the form of beef.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

AmericanStand said:


> Oh I do value good beef! Currently I value hay in the form of beef.


Me too! It's what's for supper!


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

People who have small holdings and are not actually professional farmers often do not know about the programs available from governments and research facilities to help. 

When we had a coddling moth epidemic and had to cut down all of our apple and pear trees we received grants to plant other crops. 

We have a disease affecting wild sheep and goats and domestic sheep and goats so every farm has to have the entire herd tested - new births as well - and if contaminated they are destroyed. Grants are available to replace the herds and because this is a wildlife crisis you can apply to move your herd and receive full funding for the materials to build new fences and barns. And if the government vets say they cannot come to you in the evening (as they are supposed to do) and you have to take time off work to be available for the testing then you can claim lost wages. A co-worker found out accidentally about these programs and the grant and lost wages he has now received total nearly $3000. 

There are lots of programs to help but like so many things they are not well advertised. It pays to visit your local agriculture offices and universities.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

I get a pretty nice payment every year for all of the ground that we have in various CRP programs. I'd like to take a minute to thank all of you fine tax payers for those payments.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Are used to be a nonprofit organization made a list of government payments to farmers I found it fun to take that list to the café and throw it on the table when ever some of the local farmers start talking about being self-made men or not accepting government welfare.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

AmericanStand said:


> I greatly agree with you it’s never made sense to me that the guy with 40 acres tries to raise the same thing as the guy with 4000 .


There are years I've seen the smaller farms with a few hired hands turn a similar profit to the big ag farm with over top overhead.


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