Hi All - A new Guy Here

5 posts
Mon, 04/06/2015 - 17:10 #1

Member for

9 years
cowboy bob
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 04/06/2015 - 15:53

Hi All - A new Guy Here

Hello,

I've been reading this wonderful site for a while and will now take the plunge to be a member. I am 64 years old and very fit. I grew up on a ranch in Texas in the US. I'm divorced now and my children have decided to desert me so I'm on my own. I have no one now. I have been employed in International Construction Management at a senior professional level and have decided to retire about a year ago. No one wants someone like me I guess. Well.....I'm selling my large home on acerage north of Sydney because I want to free up capital and I'm bored to tears and miss the life that I grew up with. I really miss the life I had on the ranch. So Ive decided to sell up and buy a small farm of 100 or 200 acres. I'll be paying cash so I'm not needing finance.  I plan to sell my home and rent a place for a year to check out everything I can prior to buying on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

I don't need an income from the property but it would be great to realise something for my labours. My biggest problem I see is that my farming skills are Texan and are quite different from Australian. So I think I'm going to have some issues. I look at it as that I just have another slant on the way to do things.

Once I find a place I want to raise some chooks, fruit trees, veggies and raise a few weaners. I might have to improve my pastures and will plan on doing so. I'll be asking for advice here. Sorry if my questions may appear stupid.

Well now you have the info on me. I can't tell you how much I've wanted to get back to this lifestyle. I see that there are some professional consultants here and I plan on using them.

Talk again soon and cheers,

Bob

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Tue, 04/07/2015 - 13:49 #2
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi Bob,

welcome to the site. If you ever need advice on small ruminants such as sheep, goats or alpacas, I'm your girl. We will be only too happy to help with advice on most of the every day things that come up on a property, and even some of the more unususual things.

 

I notice that you are considering buying a property of between 100 and 200 acres. From my experience, I would suggest that the bigger property you can afford the better. We are prone to a lot of droughts here in Australia, so it is good to have as much grazing available as possible. The other thing to consider, is availability of water, Which is vital, in the form of artesian water, creeks (many are only summer creeks in Australia), rivers, dams and so on. I know at the present time they are in the middle of a dreadful drought in California for instance. I feel for the graziers and croppers there as I know how awful it is to have no water and no feed, having been through one of the worst droughts on record here in the past few years.  

 

DPI NSW will be able to tell you which grasses and legumes grow best in the area where you buy your property. A word of caution: I suggest that before or, when you buy your property, you have a soil test done because many old grazing/agricultural properties had either cattle dips that used Arsenic in them or, when growing crops they used DDT to control insects. These persist in the soil for many, many years. Crops grown on, contaminated land or livestock sent for slaughter from contaminated land, will be rejected and destroyed, and a producer faces a big fine and costs for doing so.  

 

Good luck with your new property, I know that I could not live in town, where I am, I can't even see a neighbours house; just how I like it.

 

Cheers,

Barb      PS. no such thing as a stupid question. If you don't ask, you can't know.

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Thu, 04/09/2015 - 16:56 #3
cowboy bob
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 04/06/2015 - 15:53

Hi Barb,

 

You've brought up some very importnt issues that I must keep in mind. Thanks!. I've called Australia my home for about 30 years and don't relate to the goings on in the US any more. Believe me thats a good thing. I note your advise about the size of the property that I an buying and will have to consider my age age and the reduced time that I know that I can really productive on my place. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew so that's why I put a high end limit on the 200 acres. I plan to really investigate things and take it easy at the beginning. I'm taking advantage of Tocal University programmes and courses and plan to get to know my prospective neighbors to learn their best practice. This is a whole new profesion for me and I an I'm enjoying learning. Thanks for offering me your knowledge. BTW I've had a hard time in replying to your kind reply to my message so I hope that all works out.

 

Cheers,

Bob

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Thu, 04/09/2015 - 16:57 #4
cowboy bob
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 04/06/2015 - 15:53

Hi Barb,

 

You've brought up some very importnt issues that I must keep in mind. Thanks!. I've called Australia my home for about 30 years and don't relate to the goings on in the US any more. Believe me thats a good thing. I note your advise about the size of the property that I an buying and will have to consider my age age and the reduced time that I know that I can really productive on my place. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew so that's why I put a high end limit on the 200 acres. I plan to really investigate things and take it easy at the beginning. I'm taking advantage of Tocal University programmes and courses and plan to get to know my prospective neighbors to learn their best practice. This is a whole new profesion for me and I an I'm enjoying learning. Thanks for offering me your knowledge. BTW I've had a hard time in replying to your kind reply to my message so I hope that all works out.

 

Cheers,

Bob

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Mon, 04/13/2015 - 20:10 #5
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi bob,

glad you are doing all the research before jumping in. You can never do too much. Advice: make sure you check up on the water availability on the property and what water licences you may have to get as each state varies. I would also check up on the average rainfall in the area where you might like to buy.

 

If it is an area with poor winter rain, like mine, I would also advise you to get a store of hay in each atumn when it is cheaper, as it is really expensive to buy in winter. That is of course, if you intend to run stock on the property.

 

Please let us all know at Farmstyle, how you get on.

 

Cheers,

 

Barb

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