3 ms·

No one is pulling $100k profit from 100 acres, that’s basically impossible

kickout 4y ago
Oh its possible, just not with non organic corn/soy. 100 acres of pumpkins might clear $1M though (yes, decorative pumpkins)
- legitster 4y ago
  Pumpkins man! I helped out a guy from church once who had just switched over two acres to pumpkins. He said he netted 10k an acre that year selling them to local pumpkin patches with almost no work. Next year he had 20 acres.
  - temporarara 4y ago
    Good for him, but I highly doubt the "with almost no work" statement. And besides, having just an acre of pumpkins and noone to buy them can be hazardous. Specialty crops can offer good profits on good years if everything goes right (which usually requires a ton of work, though you can get lucky for a few years), but the risks are significantly higher even if you did everything right.
    - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
      I grew a dozen pumpkins last year in my backyard. “Almost no work” makes no sense unless he’s got everything automated.
    - brewtide 4y ago
      My first job when about 14 was working a pumpkin field/farm, every day, for the entire summer with (debatable) 2 other people. It's non-stop work. Eventually, it folded and became ... A development.
helij 4y ago
Of course they are. Raspberries[0]. [0]https://www.canr.msu.edu/foodsystems/uploads/files/Economics_of_High_Tunnel_Raspberry_Production.pdf https://www.canr.msu.edu/foodsystems/uploads/files/Economics...
bluGill 4y ago
Many of them are - because the land is long paid off (often been in the family for 100+ years). If you have to make payments (other than taxes) then you need a lot more land to extract a living wage.
shagie 4y ago
As an aside, you can some browse supporting information at https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/ https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/ For example, Wisconsin - https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Wisconsin/Publications/Miscellaneous/2022/WI-Farms-02-22.pdf https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Wisconsin/Publ... > The number of farms in the United States for 2021 is estimated at 2,012,050, down 6,950 farms from 2020. The number of farms increased in all sales classes except $1,000-$9,999, $100,000-$249,999, and $1,000,000 or more. In 2021, 51.0 percent of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales and 81.5 percent of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. In 2021, 7.4 percent of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more. That 51% with less than $10k sales suggests a lot of hobby farms.
Alex3917 4y ago
You can with cheese. Think of something like Jasper Hill.

Oh its possible, just not with non organic corn/soy. 100 acres of pumpkins might clear $1M though (yes, decorative pumpkins)

legitster 4y ago
Pumpkins man! I helped out a guy from church once who had just switched over two acres to pumpkins. He said he netted 10k an acre that year selling them to local pumpkin patches with almost no work. Next year he had 20 acres.
- temporarara 4y ago
  Good for him, but I highly doubt the "with almost no work" statement. And besides, having just an acre of pumpkins and noone to buy them can be hazardous. Specialty crops can offer good profits on good years if everything goes right (which usually requires a ton of work, though you can get lucky for a few years), but the risks are significantly higher even if you did everything right.
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    I grew a dozen pumpkins last year in my backyard. “Almost no work” makes no sense unless he’s got everything automated.
  - brewtide 4y ago
    My first job when about 14 was working a pumpkin field/farm, every day, for the entire summer with (debatable) 2 other people. It's non-stop work. Eventually, it folded and became ... A development.

helij 4y ago

Of course they are. Raspberries[0]. [0]https://www.canr.msu.edu/foodsystems/uploads/files/Economics_of_High_Tunnel_Raspberry_Production.pdf https://www.canr.msu.edu/foodsystems/uploads/files/Economics...

bluGill 4y ago

Many of them are - because the land is long paid off (often been in the family for 100+ years). If you have to make payments (other than taxes) then you need a lot more land to extract a living wage.

shagie 4y ago

As an aside, you can some browse supporting information at https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/ https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/ For example, Wisconsin - https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Wisconsin/Publications/Miscellaneous/2022/WI-Farms-02-22.pdf https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Wisconsin/Publ... > The number of farms in the United States for 2021 is estimated at 2,012,050, down 6,950 farms from 2020. The number of farms increased in all sales classes except $1,000-$9,999, $100,000-$249,999, and $1,000,000 or more. In 2021, 51.0 percent of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales and 81.5 percent of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. In 2021, 7.4 percent of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more. That 51% with less than $10k sales suggests a lot of hobby farms.

Alex3917 4y ago

You can with cheese. Think of something like Jasper Hill.