# New farmer! :)



## Shazzam (Jul 27, 2016)

Howdy y'all! Actually i made a post regarding my "crazy dream" of starting a ranch in the US in the general forum. I'm originally from norhern europe, with some family living in Spain. When it comes to purchasing real estate i recon this is the correct forum? I'm very open minded towards what kind of ranch this could be; cattle, horses, alfalfa or anything else. I have some experience in farming and i'm an avid hobby gardener. What i want in a ranch is the feeling of freedom and space i never had "back home". So what size should i be looking at for a first timer-rancher?
I got some assets, and a monthly income of about $3000. What price range should i consider, and most important; where? I've been advised against buying in SoCal. I have some aquintances in Florida and in Texas, but totally openminded to locations. Thanks in advance for all inputs/advice!


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

The short answer is: it depends. 
Location: What type of place appeals to you? Hot with endless summers? Places with all 4 seasons? Coastal? Desert? Flat with endless plains? Rolling hills? Do you want to be near friends or do you want to branch out completely on your own? Personally, I love living in Michigan. Beautiful state, 4 seasons, great diversity of things that can be grown here.

Space: Depends on what you want to do and how much access you have to equipment/people to help you. We went with 11 acres because it will be just the 2 of us when we finally move and we're 46 and 50 so we didn't want something super big. Looking back, I wish we could have gotten 20-30 acres but there just wasn't anything like that in our price range.

Then there are all the myriad other things to consider: house or raw land you can build on, climate, water rights, whether or not the community around you is growing and so will eventually surround you with housing developments, nearness to medical, social and community activities. 

Hope some of that helps to narrow your focus.

Personally, I'd be looking in the Midwest -- Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa. Of course, I'm partial to Michigan because I think it's just the most beautiful state around. 

Good luck in your search.


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## Shazzam (Jul 27, 2016)

SLFarmMI said:


> The short answer is: it depends.
> Location: What type of place appeals to you? Hot with endless summers? Places with all 4 seasons? Coastal? Desert? Flat with endless plains? Rolling hills? Do you want to be near friends or do you want to branch out completely on your own? Personally, I love living in Michigan. Beautiful state, 4 seasons, great diversity of things that can be grown here.
> 
> Space: Depends on what you want to do and how much access you have to equipment/people to help you. We went with 11 acres because it will be just the 2 of us when we finally move and we're 46 and 50 so we didn't want something super big. Looking back, I wish we could have gotten 20-30 acres but there just wasn't anything like that in our price range.
> ...


Thanks for all the great info! Well, at first i wanted something very romantic-ranch like, growing up with Bonanza and all the western movies etc that's what i really wanted, but after looking at pictures of Michigan and the surrounding states they do have a certain appeal, looking much more like my home country. They say we all want what we don't have, the grass is greener etc... And that indeed holds some truth. The location issue is a difficult one. Today i work with real estate development and management, so i do think of all these issues like a growing city nearby etc, and looking into the future that's not a bad thing, at least financially i guess? Perhaps my inner-developer wants something not to far from a growing city, a piece of land with many possibilities, but my romantic side wants the Bonanza feeling sitting round the fireplace looking at the stars!  I do love gardening and fishing though, so i guess greener pastures would be more up my alley... There are just so much to consider. Coming from northern europe i'm a little bit tired of the super cold, dark winters. I love sun and clear skies!  I've been told that to have a "proper" cattle ranch i would have to look at hundreds of acres, and then i would definitively need some hired hands. Hmmm..... This won't be easy! Thanks for all the advice


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## Eagle1 (Jun 1, 2012)

Take a look at sites like www.landwatch.com, www.landsofamerica.com or www.landandfarm.com to get feel for the price per acre in various locations. It comes down to what your dream is. Mine was to get far cities but still have some income. So I bought a campground with enough land to start having livestock. 
I will say there is still a lot of cattle property in Missouri and the climate is similar to Germany, colder in the northern half than the south of the state. 

As for hundreds of acres depends how many head you want. If you want a dozen or so 80 acres of rich pasture with water would be more then enough here but now where close in drier or colder climates.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

In your previous thread you had mentioned a budget of around $500,000.
Start looking at some of those websites Eagle1 suggested and you will see the value of different properties. 

If you want to raise livestock and grow things, you are looking at $2,000 per acre ground on the low end. My guess is you could find yourself 60-120 acres of rough farm ground with a home and buildings somewhere in the central US for this budget.


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## Shazzam (Jul 27, 2016)

Eagle1 said:


> Take a look at sites like www.landwatch.com, www.landsofamerica.com or www.landandfarm.com to get feel for the price per acre in various locations. It comes down to what your dream is. Mine was to get far cities but still have some income. So I bought a campground with enough land to start having livestock.
> I will say there is still a lot of cattle property in Missouri and the climate is similar to Germany, colder in the northern half than the south of the state.
> 
> As for hundreds of acres depends how many head you want. If you want a dozen or so 80 acres of rich pasture with water would be more then enough here but now where close in drier or colder climates.


Thanks for all the tips! I'll sure look into those sites. Missouri, i see. I understand that there's no sea there? I'm used to seeing the sea every morning when i wake up, but i recon it would be just as fine taking a look out over vast fields  I'm open to almost anything, but it would be super if it was a maxiumum of 1 hour to a city of some kind. Because my two kids  May i ask if you have a cattle ranch yourself?


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## Shazzam (Jul 27, 2016)

Fishindude said:


> In your previous thread you had mentioned a budget of around $500,000.
> Start looking at some of those websites Eagle1 suggested and you will see the value of different properties.
> 
> If you want to raise livestock and grow things, you are looking at $2,000 per acre ground on the low end. My guess is you could find yourself 60-120 acres of rough farm ground with a home and buildings somewhere in the central US for this budget.


Yeah i'll take a look at those sites  I'm really open to anything but it would be great if a "big" city of some sorts wasn't too far away. Realistically, how much cattle could a 60-120 acre land hold? Given there was water, and i could supply grass etc. Thanks.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

*Realistically, how much cattle could a 60-120 acre land hold?*

Hard to answer this question.
In Iowa, Illinois or Indiana on good pasture, maybe a cow per acre without requiring any summer feed.
On crappy pasture in arid Wyoming, Colorado or Montana a single cow might need 50 acres or more without summer feed.


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## Eagle1 (Jun 1, 2012)

Shazzam said:


> Thanks for all the tips! I'll sure look into those sites. Missouri, i see. I understand that there's no sea there? I'm used to seeing the sea every morning when i wake up, but i recon it would be just as fine taking a look out over vast fields  I'm open to almost anything, but it would be super if it was a maximum of 1 hour to a city of some kind. Because my two kids  May i ask if you have a cattle ranch yourself?


I actually own a campground/homestead. We have 50+ spot RV/campground next our 14 acre "lake" or about 25 acres developed. The rest of the 90+ is our ranch/ farm land. Then we are surrounded by 1000's acres of national forest. Great buffer for neighbors :happy:

Currently we raise chickens, ducks, geese , rabbits and have 6 Dexter cattle as well as 4 LGDs to keep the predators at bay. I have less than your budget into the place and enough Campground business to pay the bills. Most of our traffic comes from St. Louis about 90 miles away. In the middle of the US there are pockets where land is reasonable and if you look you might find your own water, I prefer having a pond that is mine not something that I have to let everyone into. 
The links I posted can help you figure out how much you can afford in different places. I'm here after living on both coasts because I wanted some land to work on. Lots of sweat but what a life.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

There's a 36 acre farm in my area of southern IN already set up for cattle for $250,000.00. I tried to link you to it but the forum didn't like that link at all. The house could use some updating but in my opinion quite liveable while you were doing it. It's location is about an hour north of Louisville, KY and 90 minutes south of Indianapolis, IN. The town of Salem, IN would be closest and it's a fairly small, rural town. No oceans or seas nearby but there are lakes and rivers. If you're interested in seeing the listing let me know and maybe the forum would allow the link in a pm.


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## Shazzam (Jul 27, 2016)

Teej said:


> There's a 36 acre farm in my area of southern IN already set up for cattle for $250,000.00. I tried to link you to it but the forum didn't like that link at all. The house could use some updating but in my opinion quite liveable while you were doing it. It's location is about an hour north of Louisville, KY and 90 minutes south of Indianapolis, IN. The town of Salem, IN would be closest and it's a fairly small, rural town. No oceans or seas nearby but there are lakes and rivers. If you're interested in seeing the listing let me know and maybe the forum would allow the link in a pm.


I see. Interesting. May i ask how much cattle you'r land can hold? Yeah sure i'll take a look  Thanks!


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## Eagle1 (Jun 1, 2012)

Cool about IN down the road from me you can 222 acres, house with walk out basement, barn, some equipment. Has good bottom land pasture for at least 60 head but needs fence work. Does come with a lot black river (creek at this place) frontage since the center of the water is the property line. ON black top road, next to national forest. About an hour from St. Louis or 30 minutes from Farmington. Asking 330000 but I expect they would take a lot less. 

However you will have to deal with the wild pigs and deer


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

They figure an acre per head around here, more if you supplement with feed.

I'll send you a pm.


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## tree-farmer (Jul 5, 2015)

Not sure how set on the states you are, but in my part of BC, Canada that US$500,000 can get you over 1000 acres + buildings

http://www.ranchesonly.com/listings/public/show/463


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## Shazzam (Jul 27, 2016)

tree-farmer said:


> Not sure how set on the states you are, but in my part of BC, Canada that US$500,000 can get you over 1000 acres + buildings
> 
> http://www.ranchesonly.com/listings/public/show/463


Well, the prospect of owning a thousand acres is sure appealing! But i recon Canada is as least as cold as my home country (at least in the winters?) I've been to LA and NY, and although the nature around NY is much more beautiful (lush)especially during autumn, it is also very cold during the winters. I am leaning a little bit more towards a semi-arid / a warmer climate. My father lives in Spain, and i have to say the weather there is perfect compared to where we live now; in northern europe. But thanks for the tips tho!


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