To ask you how to achieve my farming dreams?

[cavecrystal]

All I’ve ever wanted was to start my own small (very small) farm. Enough to grow food to live off of, with a few bits to sell. I’m tired of my job but am currently renting, and was very disappointed to find small holdings cost about £400,000+

Any advice towards buying (obviously apart from saving money) and living on a piece of land?

God that's a bit negative 😄. OP take a job in a farm for a while if you can, enjoy the life, enjoy the experience then plot your next move. Might be that that's enough for you.

Or have you thought about whether there are aspects of your dream you could achieve without farming? For example, moving somewhere small out in the middle of nowhere, semi off grid, much more nature, find some kind of work from home job to keep the bills covered, and keep a couple of chickens? I'm sure I'm simplifying it but you get my point!

I'm sure you can make a change even if it doesn't end up being multi acres back breaking farming land ownership!

There are lots of Facebook sites which would help you more than mumsnet.
if you start with a small patch of land which you grow seasonal crops on ( garden/allotment) and keep a few chickens for eggs rather than go for larger farm animals you can at least start finding out if it’s viable to you. Perhaps get a pig or bees next as they need less space.
You could go lambing in the spring, take a bee keeping course and enjoy the good bits!

I farmed for 25 years for others all over the world and would love to farm myself but also now have a life outside it and better general mental health, it was very rewarding but also incredibly draining.

I had Children and could no longer do the 5 am start to 10 pm finishes or night lambing or call outs at 2 am night/ weekends when something went wrong or check you weren’t being burgled again with the alarms going off. Lots of Dog attacks losing sheep and lambs( another thread on here I could write reams about)
It’s also pretty much ( sometimes) 24 hours a day (lambing/farrowing etc) but definitely 365 days a year!
( For all my moans- I still miss it like crazy)

Other unseen or unthought about issues will be People.
Trespassing "only walking their dog" or whatever excuse you like, causing damage to fences / gates - you be suprised how much time and money this would cost you, damaging your crop, scaring whatever animals you have, which are guarenteed to either injure themselves (costing you money) or escaping through open gates and taking you hours to catch and whatever damage they do while out.
People dropping rubish - not an odd crisp packet but flytipping. Private property = your problem.
Crops are HARD to grow productively and animals will find new and interesting way of dying ( injuries and vaccinations aside ) they are a money pit.

Dream - looking out your window at the fruits of your labour, happy lambs running playing, chickens scratching around on your lush grass for food.

Reality - Looking out your window and seeing a thousand jobs, knowing what they cost and wondering how you can find the money to pay for them, or hearing an engine and your first though is what is someone stealing / dumping this time.

It is a life, not a job or side hustle.
Doom doom doom 😆😉

OP have you thought of saving up and buying somewhere much cheaper abroad - i.e. rural Ireland or Portugal - you could get much more for your money. There are a few people I follow on youtube who are doing something similar - they have a couple of acres, some chickens and maybe other animals, grow a lot of their own food, have a small cottage or farmhouse they are slowly renovating etc.

HOWEVER, the caveat is that I believe most of them have some sort of other income (even a small amount) coming in, either from renting out their property back in the UK, or from youtube itself. The smallholding on it's own isn't self sustaining. They are happy enough to live very cheaply, but they still need some money to live. But they seem content enough just enjoying the day to day chores.

But it is doable, if you found some other income stream, you could save up for a few years, buy somewhere cheap and maybe work part time from home online or something, I'm sure there is a way if you really want it. But be realistic about the level of work involved and the fact that you will probably struggle for money.

SIL has 40 acres and is completely funded by her parents. You’d be able to make a living on 40 acres through diversification, not by farming though.

If you want to do this, look for county holdings or National Trust farms, competition is incredibly fierce and realistically those tenancies usually go to young farmers who have worked incredibly hard and have the experience and business plans to back it up.

Otherwise you could rent a few acres but you’ll be up against equestrian uses. Contact your local estates, they’ll probably have scrappy fields they don’t use which they may consider renting to you.

This looks incredible, thanks for sharing!

My parents bought a small holding back when living the good life was all the rage (late 1970s). My dad retired young to do all the farming stuff but my mum had to carry on working full time. They still had to pay for fuel for heating/electric, council tax, water etc etc.

My dad to in to breeding milking sheep in the eighties and he often sold them to yoghurt weaving small holders. They were almost always downsizers from city jobs or very very posh people with family money.

I live in an area where people come and do this and it is hard work and is relentless. You can never have a day off, winter is long, you need often to hire people in to cut crops and manage land. Fencing alone is a huge expense. Vets bills huge. They all end up having to have another income source. I would really think about the practical things, do you have contingency funds, who would deal with animals if you are ill etc. however if you are passionate and hard working and have a fall back plan you could give it go.

Get an allotment (if you can - mine has a 12 year waiting list.....)

Growing food is hard work. You are at the mercy of bugs, pigeons (greedy fuckers) and of course, the weather.

There is a reason why thousands of people starved to death regularly in past times in this country - and why millions of people around the world can't grow enough food to sustain themselves even now, no matter how much work they put in.

Subsistence farming isnt really a thing in the uk as you have to service astronomical bills and land cost, but only economies of scale will get you turning a profit.

Have you actually done anything like this before? Because what you're describing is probably way, way harder than you think if you've no experience.

Keep your job save up and buy something with a decent size garden, grow your own veg and keep a few chickens, as a hobby. What you're dreaming of has no basis in reality

my sister wants to do this. she has had a sizeable allotment for many years, so she’s got a lot of those kinds of skills. Plus we grew up on a farm, our dad is from farming.

Financially though, she needs her wealthy partner to buy into the dream as in reality they will live off his large pension while she plays at farming (she wants to retire early, he’s quite a bit older. He’s been a senior software engineer for 40+years, has a great pension plus they would be selling his lovely big house that they currently live in to fund it. You need a lot of money to sustain hobby farming these days.

I dream like this sometimes. Try looking into permaculture https://www.permaculture.org.uk/ this is a link to the permaculture association which is a good place to start. It's full of inspiration for how to be a bit more self sufficient in a small space. I have an allotment and have a 'patio orchard' in my rented back garden and I realised that this fulfills most of my dreams. Growing fruit and veg is far more tedious and exhausting than I realised until I got the allotment space to go larger scale. Never thought I'd leave fruit on the bushes but I've never managed to actually pick 8 bushes worth of gooseberries so I would never cope with a field of them!

I'm living back on family farm while my father is undergoing some medical treatment. The prices for land here (Northern Ireland) are really staggering compared to a decade ago. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-land-prices-at-record-highs-in-all-counties-says-annual-report/1825349275.html

There are so many barriers if you come from outside. As others have pointed out, the expenses are very significant. You'd need an accountant that is specialized in the area to guide you, and talk you through likely scenarios, costs, grants, etc.

I'm enjoying my time doing this again, but I've grow up with it. My father has a good network of support, a lifetime of reliable contacts and contractors, and some scale in a the right area at the moment (dairy). I've been unfortunate to have encountered a lot of other troubles I'd never see in my real day job (software engineer) including trespassing, theft, some illegal dumping. Fun :(

It’s mostly inherited wealth even small holders are usually trust fund babes however hippyish they may look!?

I second the bills for animals is high.

Also as you get older it’s a tough life unless you get lucky with your health.

Large garden with veg patch and a few chickens?

I have a lot of family who do this BUT they all have other jobs too… or a partner with a decent paying regular job. They do it cos they’re from farms but don’t want to try to make a real living off or - which is almost impossible. So one cousin, for example, has 400 sheep, a dairy herd, then pigs, chickens etc but he’s a joiner/carpenter 4 days a week and his DW is a nurse.

My family are always complain about the price of hay and feed, equipment not so bad as they share bigger equipment or rent it, but they all know their way around tractor engines and can do most basic mechanics themselves.
when it comes to sheep dogs and stuff like that - they’ve all grown up in farming so they have skills that newbies can only dream about.

Lol i got offered a quarter allotment plot this morning and already panicking about sorting it out on my own.

Echoing others that it's a good idea to start small (and tbh stay small).

Would a revised version of your dream hit the spot?

I'm working towards growing and scavenging 100% of my fruit and veg, plus keeping hens. Moving to a house with around 1/2 to one acre max. (we grew a LOT in my parents much smaller garden, and had hens too, so I have experience of both)

We'd specialise a little and swap with friends and family with other crops. Reduce meat consumption and buy local, same with dairy. Not entirely self sufficient, but both aiming to consult 3 days per week.

Livestock is best left to the specialists, as are grain crops. But fruit can be surprisingly handy - relatives of ours have one large pear tree, and a local cider press take all but a few, swapping for a crate of cider.

Marry a farmer?

What about getting a job that comes with accommodation, like on a big estate? I think the lifestyle would be better and it's low risk.

A Croft?

Have you looked at crofting in the Highlands/Western Isles/Orkney/Shetland, OP?