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I didn't say you cannot run anything. As a side project, sure - 1 Acre is quite a piece of land. But it's impossible to rely on it as your only source of income
by postexitus 2y ago
I didn't say you cannot run anything. As a side project, sure - 1 Acre is quite a piece of land. But it's impossible to rely on it as your only source of income (i.e. definition of being a farmer). Even in the wine example - let's say they make 2$/liter, that's $5k/acre/year. Pigs actually make very little profit on average, when you combine all the other costs associated with raising livestock. I would be very surprised if they make more than $100/pig/year (averages have been <0 for the last few years).
- cryptonector 2y agoIf you live off the land then you don't need much income, and the income you get from selling your surplus can be sufficient. Take a trip through rural America sometime and look around. You'll see lots of very poor-looking households, but if you look carefully you might notice that they keep chickens and have a garden, and larger properties have more in the way of animals. Many are dirt poor, but they live off the land, and can afford to be dirt poor. Not romanticizing it or anything -- the homesteadies I know are not into being dirt poor, but they are into being more independent and living off the land so as to stretch their savings.
- swiftcoder 2y agoIn this case the wine is being sold directly to restaurants, removing any middlemen. The pigs are being made into artisanal chorizo onsite, and direct-to-consumer sales allows the farmer to capture most of the markup. Similar goes for the market gardener selling fresh and washed vegetables directly at markets and to CSA box subscribers. I'm not suggesting everyone can be Jean-Martin Fortier, but with sufficiently low overheads and access to somewhat affluent markets, it is possible to make a living on an acre.