any farmers?

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  • DCortez

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    Jan 28, 2009
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    Not sure just yet. As it is, the land has been disc'd, is in South Texas, has 25" annual rain fall, soil looks like black gold (to me, lol). Looking for generic info atm from tractors to wells to insects, etc.. Have googled my butt off for a week and still not satisfied with the info I've found. Guns are sooooo much easier to research.

    Will use the land to build a retirement home among other things.
     

    sean_bart1

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    I farm a 100 acres of hay. Not really a farmer I guess seeing how most of them I know farm 1000+ acres. But I do run a tractor for a living if that counts.
     

    DCortez

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    Poor Sean ... I'm gonna send pm's, lol

    Well, we thought about becoming slum lords here in Houston. Prices for houses dropped a bit, residual income, etc.. But, I'm not really sure I want to deal with asking people for my money, insurance issues, repairs, etc.. The wife has the temperment but I don't, and I prefer to be in charge, lol.

    We will want the usual personal crops and maybe a variety of trees also for personal consumption. I love avocado so I'm hoping to find some good grafting that is tolerant. I'm fairly certain citrus, pecan, mango, and coconut will grow down there.
     

    40Arpent

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    I am not sure what they call them in Texas, or if they even have them, but you might consider seeing if there's a local agricultural representative (we called them ag reps in S. Louisiana). Those guys were always a huge (and free) help to us back home.

    How many acres you got?
     

    DCortez

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    40 that I'm looking to do something with.

    I've been looking into it for a little while. We plan on having some bees, chickens, and a few things like that. Not looking to make a lot of money, but it would be nice to be self sufficient and cover the taxes. Ag status should drop the tax rate but there are still some ins and outs I'm not straight on.
     

    TxEMTP69

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    Well if you were looking for quite a bit smaller I'd recommend the "Square foot garden" but won't help you with the size you are looking at. good luck and if you decide to grow peppers (the hot variety) i may inquire about becoming a customer.
     

    carneyman

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    I spent my first 20 years on a farm, so fire away.

    I agree with the Ag Extension Agent. Or anyone at a local feed/grain store.

    As for equipment: used! Good stuff at actions if you can find out about them. Tractors will generally last forever (taken care of, of course)

    Wells: What part of south Texas? I'm assuming your water table is pretty high there. Electric wells are becoming the norm, mainly because of the price of natural gas, but wells can also be run off of small blocks, if you don't mind the noise.

    Insects: gas em! Seriously, spray smart and you shouldn't have a problem. Find a good local spray company and/or an agronomist and they will also help you out.
     

    kville79

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    My friend had land up in East Tx before she moved to Taiwan and she had some innovative farming ideas... like a rolling chicken coop, move it every couple of days because the chicken poop will nitrate the soil. Just an idea.
     

    randy4bb

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    hey farmer

    first you can probably forget about posting long into the night on TGT; you won't even have the time..haha
    ditto what they previously said; see your county extension agent
    most counties make so much off of taxation that to geta an ag exemption they generally have some minimums whether head of cattle or acres planted etc; if its for personal consumption they label it a "hobby farm" & don't give you much if any tax relief
    you didn't really ask about taxes but they can be considrable if you're in closer to a major city or school system. It being your retirement place you need to plan with your county extension agent; until we could afford 10 hd of cows we exempted by other ways which were timber, catfish pond, & hay fields; the pecan orchard idea i had didn't work out but the squirrels/ hogs/deer love it
    PM me if you got specific questions about beer, bait, & ammo; Or john deere, massey ferguson or kubota.
    later, randy


    ps i wanna home grown avacodo
     

    carneyman

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    My friend had land up in East Tx before she moved to Taiwan and she had some innovative farming ideas... like a rolling chicken coop, move it every couple of days because the chicken poop will nitrate the soil. Just an idea.
    Going with that approach...a couple of years ago I designed and installed a rain-water "recoverer". It basically used a chicken shed roof to collect rain water, and then piped it into the chicken waterers when they needed it. If it didn't rain enough, a water line would take over and fill the waterers.

    The owner had me do this because he was having chickens die from not getting enough water. It saved his chickens and, last I heard, cut his water usage in half.
     

    kville79

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    Going with that approach...a couple of years ago I designed and installed a rain-water "recoverer". It basically used a chicken shed roof to collect rain water, and then piped it into the chicken waterers when they needed it. If it didn't rain enough, a water line would take over and fill the waterers.

    The owner had me do this because he was having chickens die from not getting enough water. It saved his chickens and, last I heard, cut his water usage in half.


    Nice... especially since water consumption can be a huge issue.
     

    carneyman

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    Yep. If I remember correctly, his water bill used to be in the $200 range. So it paid for itself in 2-3 months. Course, this wouldn't work in west Texas. But here in east Texas, it works pretty well.
     

    JoeinTX

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    Farmed some, D.


    We keep some fields for wildlife purposes and we used to raise hay for hard times. Also, when I was younger I worked quite a bit for a neighbor who was into serious farming and needed help.


    Unless you're into irrigation, which it sounds like you're not, you will have to work with whatever can grow with limited rainfall in your part of the woods. I know they grow (or at least did) a good amount of milo down south but doesn't sound like your bag.


    What are you trying to grow? Extension agent is the person talk with but as others above have mentioned don't be afraid to talk with neighbors or old timers at the feed store to get some hard sense.

    Equipment? That's a whole other topic since there is no specific way (new vs. used) to go by.......it's more about having an eye for the machine.
     

    carneyman

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    The guy that owned the land was growing Milo. I'm still researching quite a bit. Not sure if we want to go the farm or cattle route just yet.
    Do both. A few cows (and borrowing someones bulls) will give you red meat. Plus, with a small number of them, you can keep them on any part of the land that isn't actively growing. They are a pretty good clean up crew too.

    This actually should have been asked earlier...how much land are you going to be farming?
     
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