New migrants thinking about farming life

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Fri, 10/10/2014 - 22:41 #1

Member for

9 years 7 months
damiduran
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 09/25/2014 - 11:53

New migrants thinking about farming life

Hi,
My wife and I are new migrants to Australia. We come from Argentina and although being brought up in the city, we always longed a life in the country. We think Australia might be the place to finally make it happen. I'd like to know where I can get advise to start planning our move to build a farm

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Sun, 10/19/2014 - 12:45 #2
charlie
Last seen: 12/26/2018 - 09:21
Joined: 05/31/2011 - 09:44

Hi Damiduran,

Welcome to Farmstyle and the forum. Great to hear of your move to Australia and dream to live in the country.

First things first, you will need to decide if a move to the country and dream of farming is for a:
- hobby or lifestyle
- supplemntary income (plan to keep you existing employment), or
- sole income

If you plan to farm full time and have it as your sole income you will need to work on a plan of developing your farming skills and knowledge. Farmers are often described as a jack of all trades, you need to be a mechanic, book keeper, business man/women, vet, shearer etc. Therefore a diverse range of skills are required to make a farm successful.  You can do this via number of means, including books and short farming courses. Personally I would look at doing some work experience on a working farm, this will give you a real taste of farming, what's involved and if it is still for you.

Having the financial backing will also be important. Most banks will only lend 60% of the purchase price of a farm and therefore you will need the remaining 40% as cash or other security. You will also need working capital, most farms pay out a large amount of money prior to receiving it back some months later.

For further information you might consider readfing our article, Buying a small farm - starting out
http://farmstyle.com.au/news/buying-small-farm-%E2%80%93-starting-out

Hope this has provided you some food for thought, I'm sure others also have some valuable advice for you.

Charlie

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Tue, 10/28/2014 - 20:50 #3
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi Damiduran,

Welcome to Australia. I don't know what state you are in at present, but here in Qld. There are some TAFE (Technical and Further Education College's) that run many courses for  people considering starting small businesses. Also, as suggested by Charlie, you can ask some local farmers if you can volunteer to help out so that you can get some hands on experience. I have had great pleasure in training many young people in live stock husbandry over the years and have been only to happy to do so. You haven't said if you want to run livestock such as cattle or sheep- I know Argentina is one of the biggest producers of both, or whether you want to grow fruit and vegetables or perhaps have an orchard. The possibilites are endless really.

The only thing that is a problem for most of Australia at present is the drought, because whatever you want to do, a good water supply is vital. So the availability of water is probably one of the most important things to consider before deciding to purchase a property. Also the distance that you will need to transport livestock or produce  to sales or Markets from your property. Transport costs can add significant costs to your overhead.

My advice to you is, research, research and research. You can never do too much. This forum is a great place to start as there is a wealth of free information available on it. The Farmstyle book shop also has many very useful books available for purchase too.

My very best wishes and good luck to you for the future.

regards,

Barb

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