What can I grow?

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Sun, 02/12/2012 - 12:56 #1

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12 years 10 months
nirvana
Last seen: 02/12/2012 - 12:56
Joined: 02/12/2012 - 12:10

What can I grow?

I have 100 acres east of Crows Nest Qld, mainly natural bushland, am looking for a viable venture to make use of some the land, prefer to grow something rather than have animals, can you give advice?

thanks,

Sue

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Wed, 02/29/2012 - 10:12 #2
charlie
Last seen: 12/26/2018 - 09:21
Joined: 05/31/2011 - 09:44

Hi Sue,

Welcome to Farmstyle, thanks for your question. The main reason why many small farmers run livestock (particularly cattle) is that they don't require a large investment to get started, have minimal running costs and work load. They also however provide minimal returns ($100-$300/ha).

The questions you will need to ask yourself, include:

  • Do you want to carry out a hobby? 
  • Or, are your goals to supplement, provide all of your income from the farm?

If it is the later you will need to seriously consider the amount of time, money and skills that you have available. Starting a business on a small farm is a serious matter and should be treated as just that, thorough business planning and preparation should be undertaken. 

For your enterprise to be classed as a business you will need to turnover $20,000, at which point you will also need to register for an Australian Business Number (ABN). 

Finding a enterprise that can make acceptable returns, with minimal investment and work is all but impossible. If you take growing wild flowers as an example, this industry has expanded rapidly in Australia over the past 5-10 years. Most wildflowers are native and are grown for foliage and flowers. Growing wildflowers is a specialist business that requires a high level of horticulture or background experience. In general flower growing is capital intensive (requires a large amount of money to set up and keep running), labour intensive, high risk and is at the whim of external market forces (similar to other agricultural industries).

It will be important to decide exactly what you would like to achieve and conduct a feasibility study before you invest any funds and time.

I hope this information is helpful and I look forward to hearing back regarding your goals for the farm.

Charlie

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