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| Hey DB, You mentioned "being a 10 acre farm with 20 sheep sponging off the USDA subsidy system" How do I get me some of that? Right now these cursed sheep are all work and little money coming in. I'd LOVE to figure out how to sponge off the USDA subsidy system! Any advice? I'm new here - but I think it is a great forum compared to others I've checked. So there's only say 3-5 new topics a day in each subcategory, but by the time you check out Livestock, then Discussions, and a couple others . . . well, you've already spent more time at the computer than you probably should have  . . .but have also gotten some great new ideas or advice - and maybe even a hot argument. ALL FOR FREE! What's not to love?
Muddy Run Farm -- clean floors are highly overrated
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cweick (10/26/2009)
Pa-Pa got a new a/c tractor and yelp it's green. Just got me one of those today(not new but new to me!), and I'm going out to get aquainted with it first thing in the mornin! Feed a little silage, feed a lot of hay, bring that new calf in that was born tonight.....gonna break it in proper like!
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Dairy and Meat Goats
http://www.freewebs.com/ozarkjewels/
Also Morningland Dairy Raw Milk Cheeses. www.morninglanddairy.com
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Senior Member
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[quote]williams@uplink.net (10/26/2009)[i][b]Hey DB, You mentioned "being a 10 acre farm with 20 sheep sponging off the USDA subsidy system"
How do I get me some of that? Right now these cursed sheep are all work and little money coming in. I'd LOVE to figure out how to sponge off the USDA subsidy system! Any advice?[/i][/b][/quote]
Its pretty tough because Sheep are considered a minor breed. That is slowly changing because of the influx in Middle Eastern Nationalities where that culture has a lot of lamb in their diet. As it stands now, we import 50% of the lamb in this country because we cannot keep up.
So in years past sheep producers were placed on a waiting list for "available funding", but due to prioritization sheep producers seldom got it.
But things are changing, at least here in Maine. Farm sizes are getting smaller and slowly there is this realization that without start up farms, we will not have any farms in the future. I have watched my county go from complete dairy farm dominance, to diversified farms pretty quick and this year the "Producer of the Year" is actually a organic farmer with 4 acres of land...he happens to feed 400 people from the amazing production they get, but in years past if you were not a dairy farmer...you were not considered a farm.
But as I said things are changing and I was able to get 30,000 dollars or so in federal funding from various programs, so it can be done. You cannot rely on that funding from year to year, but there are many programs available. Just be very careful to use the programs that matches what you want to do, and not keep switching your farm plans around to match the latest Farm Bill.
The biggest way to not get treated like a person with 5 acres, 2 goats and an apple tree is to not be that kind of person. Competition for funding for these programs is high so you got to set yourself apart. I do that by getting involved. For starters I am on the County Soil and Water Conservation District and recently became a Supervisor on that board of directors. Because of that I get to see what programs are out there and get kind of an inside view on what programs are good and what are not. Many programs are NOT in the farmers best interest so you have to know what is what. But more importantly it shows that I am a young farmer, dedicated to improving farming for everyone and should be looked at with respect for that. Everyone that steps into an FSA or NRCS office is looking to get a check, give a little of your time and money back and you would be surprised at how much you stand out as a producer who cares about agriculture.
This is really huge, but takes time. Recently I went to a Sheep and Goat Nutritional Seminar and it became clear, my 2 years of sheep research, thousands of emails, and endless questions have really started to pay off. I was first names basis with most of the instructors, and being active in the Maine Sheep Breeders Association and Conservation Service has really kind of giving me this reputation for being active about sheep farming. The gov does not want to give money to farmers who are just looking for handouts...they want people that give back.
The system for funding is long to say the least, and you jump through hoops to get it, but when you do get the money, you have to act quick and do what they say right then. You can't wait until you have time...you have to make time. The way the system works is, once money becomes available, the Gov wants to see those funds used. The faster the money is used, the more money the county gets the next year. This makes the Conservation Planner look good, and if they look good, it helps the county office look good, and gets more money the following year. Again knowing the complicated and intimidating system goes a long ways to obtaining grants and funding.
I will say though, there are some things that help get funding. The fact that I am a next-generational farmer helps a lot. The Gov is reluctant to fund new farmers because the failure rate is so high. They know its more likely that a next generational farmer who knows the business, the stress and the challenges will do better and most likely use their funds to keep the farm going. Another reason why funding and grants are not so difficult for me to obtain is because I use my farm for multiple applications. The dairy farmers rent the majority of the farmland here, so grants are not just for my sheep, they help dairy farmers, my woodlot and my sheep. That ups the priority level quite a bit.
I also belong to a lot of programs like the Voluntary Scrapie Program. For instance next year I am getting a composting facility for the sheep manure, a big part of that is because the Scrapie Program requires composting infected animals and soil. You can deep bury those animals too, but in Maine when the ground is frozen that is hard to do. Because I am in that program, well its just another good reason to get a composting facility on this farm.
So I guess my only suggestion is to get active in your community and get to know how the system works. Then as you know it, you can be creative. For instance I probably would have gotten the Compost Facility anyway, but when I read the Scrapie Eradication Procedures, it enabled me to give my Conservation Planner a real reason to approve it as high priority. If his boss ever questions the reasoning behind the funding, "well Drawbar is in the USDA Voluntary Scrapie Program and a vast majority of remediation efforts to control that insidious disease requires the use of composted carcasses and soil..." Its that kind of think that gets the okay for funding.
I just touched the surface on this, but its a start!
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
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Starting Member
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| enjoy suck'n off the government. I think that people should see that lean'n on the government for everything will someday kick you in the *** when the prop is pulled out from under you. how much longer will the rich keep suporing this crap? It's not like they put a gun to there heads... but it's the next best thing.
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Hello everyone,
Our Hobby Farms forum is only as interesting as we make it. But we'd like to get info from you to find out how to help make it better.
Would you be interested if the Editors posted a weekly question or topic for you to respond on?
What types of things would you like to see happen on the Hobby Farms forum that you've perhaps seen on another forum but we haven't tried yet here? We're open to suggestions and we'll take all ideas to the table.
As for WOS, I'm sorry but as the newest moderator I gave him a clean slate and he continuously broke our forum rules. We welcome debate and we welcome seeing different sides of the story, however we do not welcome bashing other members or calling them out. That is how we keep a friendly forum here. Debate and sharing opinions is fine, however personally attacking other members is not. He was put through our warning system and is no longer welcome to post here. You break our rules, you'll be asked to leave.
Hobby Farms Community Moderator
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| Hello CoMo. I think any question may be a catalyst to discussion and you posting weekly wouldn't do any harm. Obviously you will need to post completely non political and not too subjective because you work for the mag. I enjoy reading about projects that people are doing or concidering doing especially for self sustaining or profit purposes. I like to hear what stuff costs and I like to know the "we never factored that in" qwerks of any project. I rarely have agreed with anything WOS has posted, however I do like his opinion, which is often first hand from experience. Whilst he is a bit abrasive at times I dont think he is bad enough to really raise concerns. In fact from posts here I am seriously considering getting pigs for meat and to destump a very stumpy field that I have. For an inexperienced pig person like me I can live with his agressive attitude if he is willing too advise me on aspects of pigkeeping that I cannot possibly know due to my lack of experience. For sombody that is considering or increasing there own hobby farming lifestyle having a lifelong experienced person available withing 12 hours is worth its weight in gold, and a little attitude isn't going to kill us. I also think some differentiation on your part with WOS may be helpful, I dont think any of the regular contributers are too bothered by him and can live with the barrage of posts on their posts, I think him being aggressive to newcomers with genuine questions is where the problem is. Maybe WOS2 can agree to limit his posts and perhaps we could all try to stay ontrack more with the newbies?
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ozark_jewels (10/26/2009)
cweick (10/26/2009)
Pa-Pa got a new a/c tractor and yelp it's green. Just got me one of those today(not new but new to me!), and I'm going out to get aquainted with it first thing in the mornin! Feed a little silage, feed a lot of hay, bring that new calf in that was born tonight.....gonna break it in proper like! What did you put in the tires. The manual said to use so kind of beet juice instead of water because of the freeze point of the juice vs the water? To balas (sp?) the tires.
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New Member
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| I too find WOSx's posts to be valuable. While I understand that the magazine needs to be super positive and upbeat to keep readers who probably mostly are in the fantasy stage, the forum is were the serious ones might be coming to find information they need. This is not the place to continue shoveling manure at them. There are a lot of hard things involved in farming. As was brought up in another post, many people probably really are thinking about homesteading instead of true farming. Getting some unvarnished truth about what is involved in trying to farm commercially from experienced people is a good thing. It can avoid costly mistakes like trying to raise buffalo or yaks or other very specialized high maintenance things without the experience, money, or space to not e a danger to themselves and others.
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New Member
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cweick (10/27/2009)
ozark_jewels (10/26/2009)
cweick (10/26/2009)
Pa-Pa got a new a/c tractor and yelp it's green. Just got me one of those today(not new but new to me!), and I'm going out to get aquainted with it first thing in the mornin! Feed a little silage, feed a lot of hay, bring that new calf in that was born tonight.....gonna break it in proper like! What did you put in the tires. The manual said to use so kind of beet juice instead of water because of the freeze point of the juice vs the water? To balas (sp?) the tires. Ballast (to weight down) is the word I think you mean. We use water and antifreeze in our 8N and Zetor. It gives you much more traction.
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williams@uplink.net (10/26/2009)
Hey DB, You mentioned "being a 10 acre farm with 20 sheep sponging off the USDA subsidy system" Just to put it out there, I believe DB has much much more than 10 acres and many more than 20 sheep. I think he was using that as a reference to how non traditional farms are seen on some of the large farm forums.
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