Undecided

2 posts
Sun, 08/25/2013 - 20:53 #1

Member for

11 years 4 months
wmackey
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 08/25/2013 - 19:44

Undecided

Hi All,

I first want to say I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this web site. Well I'm sad to say I am yet to purchase a farm however if all goes well I plan on changing that with in the next 12 months. You see I've just been made redundant from my job of 15 years and I would like to take advantage of the situation by investigating the possibility of owning my own small farm business. 

What I'd like to do is purchase a 40 - 50 acre farm on or near the Gold Coast Hinterland so I can breed 40 or so Dexters and/or Galloways. Do you think this is a good idea considering the current financial status of many farmers and the only farming experience I've had consists of holidaying on a few farms over the years?

The thing is I've been fortunate enough to receive a substantial severance payout and I would like to retier and combine it with my superannuation payout and buy a farm outright so I don't have a mortgage to contend with.

I hope this will allow me to work on the farm full time looking after the heard as well as other run of the mill farm yard animals that will help me achieve a largely self sufficient lifestyle for my wife, 13 year old daughter and I.

If we are able to find a suitable farm within 1 hours drive of Southport then my wife would continue working which would provide around $30k a year. Do you think I'll be able to make a profit from a farm of this type or do you think we will end up living off my wife's income?

I'll have to leave it at that for now because my phone is running out of charge, any advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

kinedest regards

Wayne

 

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Thu, 09/12/2013 - 18:05 #2
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi Wayne,

First let me say I am not an accountant.However I do have a fair amount of experience breeding livestock.

Regarding Dexter and Low Line cattle. Yes, they are smaller than standard cattle, but this doesn't make them any easier to handle and they can be just as sulky or difficult to handle as regular cattle. Full grown they will weigh around 200-300 kg + and are always much stronger than a human male of the same wieght. The market for them is fairly limited and they are mostly sold to hobby farmers with very small holdings. I have friends who breed them both for meat and for show- they have found that butchers and abbotoirs are reluctant to buy them at  sales because the carcasse yield is so small- a T bone is about twice the size of a lamb cutlet.

 It may be possible to make a living from live stock on a small property of 40-50 acres, but it is most likely that your wife or yourself would still have to work outside of the property to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.

I don't want to put you off, as the country lifestyle is much better than the hurley burley of the city and I would never consider selling up and moving. However, I just thought that you should be aware that it is probably unlikely that you will make a fortune. You may just grow to love it though, as I do.

cheers,

Barb

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