My family owns a 154 acre farm. It used to be a dairy farm, also

You would need to compare what equipment you have now vs what equipment it would take to raise a specific crop. Farm equipment is expensive and could be a major inhibitor.

Hopps and other craft beer ingredients are in demand now thanks to the craft beer trend, but that could wane.

Best bet is lease the land out, or grow a corn maze and charge for "tours" as entertainment. Either way it will need to be cleaned of any debris.

>>1692806

Sell it to China

>>1692836
We have tractors and such but the thing is our farm is very hilly and its never been a problem due to the fact that its been a ranch (animals) more than a farm (crops).

>>1692847
well with all the tariffs from god-emperor trump...........

>>1692806
Depending on how close your local city is, which state you are in, etc etc, it could be worth looking into installing solar or wind renewable sources. Lots of states have government subsidies and tax incentives to do this, banks will loan however much you want because if you do it right, you're just buying an income stream. The cost of solar per watt is dropping over a cent every quarter, and it sounds like you would buy in bulk, so even cheaper for you. Read about wind farms, I don't know about those.

Also, depending on how close to a city you are, the land can increase in value if you get it zoned for housing or offices at your local town hall. The land might not be worth much now, but with a permit to build it could be worth much more.

Speaking from experience, btw.

>>1692885
We're just west of a major metropolitan area. Most of the farms around here *have* sold out, but I'd hate to do that considering the farm's been in our family since my great grandfather who fought in World War I purchased it and I'm trying to find a way to make some money off of the place so that we can hold onto it,

How would one make money off of a solar/wind farm? sell it to the power companies?

>>1692902
In most states (I am assuming you are in the US?) there are 3 major players in getting energy to consumers. There are power plants, but there are 2 types of distributors. Small electric poles in your neighborhood are actually owned by a different entity than the enormous straight lines that they cut lines of forest down for. I don't think it is important to elaborate about the 2 distributors. You receive an electric bill from the big power line company.

If you have any means of generating electricity (i.e. a river running through your property, sunny field for solar, windy area, maybe your kids like to run on hamster wheels), then you can "sell back to the grid" (you can google that - may be helpful). Depending on how the power is generated, you will probably need a large inverter. These are details that you can sort out based on your state and a consultation with an electrical engineer.

As for making money from your farm - once its hooked up, the electric bill will reflect your power interaction with the grid. If your property put out more power than it used, the other people on the grid will have 'bought' it from you, and your 'electric bill' will actually be a payment from the line company.

This gets much more complicated when you start to see about the Dutch auction pricing of electricity, capacity payments, renewable depreciation schedules for taxes. Sorry for the long post.

Do you live around well-off baby boomers and yuppies? 154 acres would make for a bitchin' private golf course.

>>1692938
Or a lot of yuppies like buying locally grown food. You could make yogurt or cheese from your cows and goats if they give good milk. You can let people camp on your property for money

Also you could give me an acre, I'd be a nice neighbor I promise. Look into WWOOFing, you can have people work for you farming if you let them sleep there not necessarily in your house either

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>>1692902
bumpity I'd like to know the return per acre on solar. I currently can rent for cheap

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>>1695295

You'd have to check locally. Tariffs were lobbied by big oil in the US, several large dealerships were destroyed and selling energy back to the grid became less attractive. Although France prizes its nuclear industry, the solar roads meme is currently being deployed across the country. The industry has potential but is valued quite low because it's usually direct to consumer and privately owned unless dealerships start leasing land and roofs, it's always going to be dependent on selling back to the grid otherwise its just shaving off your bill or a solution in humanitarian dev projects

>>1692806

Agricultural science student reporting in.

Check with your national markets: but as we have it in AUS - cotton is a fucking winner for profits. In the off season, try chickpea, mung bean, or sorghum.

The questions to ask are: how much PRODUCTIVE land do you have, and how much work would you have to do to convert to a new crop.

My question to you: do you have any soil readings, or conductivity maps?

>>1695319
Solar sidewalks make complete sense though. Roads require far too much maintenance and tractors + weather fuck them up.

Lease the ground to another farmer. Our county average for cash rent is $240/acre. With your ground being very hilly. It will probably be lower than that. Speak with some local farmers and see what would be the best option for your area.

Also check into a government CRP program. It's a subsidy, but what the heck.

All commodities are down across the board, so todays farmer is nearly farming for free or break even.

Stock pile the scrap steel and metals and sell when the market is high again.

Any timbered ground may be leased to out of state hunters to hunt on your property.

Just some ideas.

>>1692806
Lease to another farmer or grow nut trees. Almonds take a ton of water but the profits are incredible.

build a private gun range or club, People pay like 250+ a year for a place to shoot. Wont need much just those cheap giant concrete blocks to make a pistol range, 100m rifle range, and then if you have the space lanes for 300 or even 1k.

Its good business, people pay to shoot. Some fanatics will come every weekend, and others will visit like once a month if that to shoot.

10x250=2,500 extra a year, or more if you can charge more.

Also the used brass that people live you can either clean and sell, or just sell, or scrap.

>>1692868
Look into turning your land into CRP. Basically the govt writes you a fat check for not farming shitty land.