2/ The question is good; starts with "finding employment outside the city". Yes, that's step 1 ! Step 2 is finding a farm. The classic book on this is "Finding & Buying Your Place in the Country" https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Buying-Your-Place-Country/dp/0793141095 …
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3/ Step 3 is buying it - which implies having money for a downpayment, and an income stream to pay the mortgage (unless you can swing cash ... which might be easier if you buy a small place with a small (or no!) house or barn, maybe unimproved land, etc.)
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4/ Step 4 is converting your land into the farm you want. This last step can be the work of decades! That is so involved that really my answer does have to be "buy my book". I'll try to get it finished in a year or two !
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5/ I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but ... it's very tough. Farming is mostly a commodity business. Commodity means "all corn / whatever is identical, so you're competing with EVERY farmer out there ... and most of em have experience + tools"https://twitter.com/MaxxJayGoad/status/1213169469285109760 …
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6/ HOWEVER this does point to one strategy: DON'T BE A COMMODITY Here's the price for "lean hog futures" https://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/HE/ commodity hogs sell at around $1/lb to profit at commodity prices you need * good prices on piglets * good prices on feed * low overhead * luck
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7/ But what's the price of "Anon's hand-select acorn-finished artisinally smoked old-family-recipe ultra-reserve bacon" ? Maybe $8/lb ? Maybe $15 ?
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8/ You need to vertically integrate a few things (not to shave pennies off of cost - your vertical integration is going to cost MORE, actually ... but it creates a STORY.). You need to develop a brand. You need to find your customer.
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9/ There are probably ten thousand people in the Boston area who would LOVE to throw $15 or $20/lb at you for a NARRATIVE. You know how certain vineyards have tastings, and events? People want to be part of a thing. To have a STORY. So in addition to your normal bacon >>
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10/ you also have 500 lbs - JUST 500 lbs - of 2020 "limited reserve". No, sorry, we don't sell it. But ... you know ... if you've been a consistent customer, we'll slip you a pound for free. There's a great VINwiki video on how to get access to super rare sports cars.
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11/ bc every year the big car companies do ultra limited editions, just 10 or 20 or 50 cars. They sell for more ... but the REAL profit is that to get one of these, you buy a dozen cars, you attend all of their driving camps, etc. Do the same with your 2020 paprika smoke bacon
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12/ You send your best customers a pound each, for free. They eat it and love it ... and then they tell their friends. "Sorry but I didn't save any for you. It was THAT good." Now their friends sign up for the "2 lb of bacon/month" club that you've got on your website.
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13/ You upsell these customers on a Christmas ham. Only making 100 this year. Sorry, ONLY ONE PER CUSTOMER.
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14/ You're doing two things: (a) creating a brand (b) RESTRICTING supply both of those make you EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of lean pork futures. Look at craft beer manufacturers. Limited time, seasonal brews. Brewery tours. Etc.
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15/ So, anyway, yes, you can turn a profit on farming. But you've got to do something special. And you really should pick an elite customer base who can afford to spend more. Peter Thiel talks about the secret to wealth is to NOT COMPETE.
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16/ This marmalade looks DELICIOUShttps://twitter.com/TheBigGayAl/status/1213233179349471236?s=19 …
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