Buying a farm, updated

When I was little I wanted to be the first to volunteer to colonize other planets. Yes, I am dissappointed that now I am older, the chance has passed me by. Even if they were to open up a space station on a moon tomorrow, I am a proven risky breeder and too old. Bah.

But the daily chores on our farm made me realize that we are still colonizing THIS planet. Yesterday, I decided that sheep chores in February in Iowa is like sheep chores on Hoth. I need better gear or I am going to end up frozen and stranded with no Han Solo to rescue me.

Then my friend Jenny asked me for advice about buying a farm.

So I pointed her to this post.

But you know what? There's more. More that I know now.

#1 advice: Go slow.

If you build all your fences first, without knowing what you will need, you'll regret it. Same thing applies to buildings and business. As you grow, you'll see with experience what you will actually need. If you buy all your stuff up front, you'll have a lot of waste.

If something is hard, go slower. Running faster will only wear you out and ruin your common sense. Work smarter.

That said, other issues that I learned along the way:

11 acres or more=ag tax. HUGE difference over residential property tax. HUGE.

5 miles or less from fire department= insurance cost is significantly cheaper than if you are 5+ miles away. Not only that, 5 miles is a long way when your house is on fire or your kid is stuck in a hole.

Water. If your well is contaminated it is annoying. When you use that water to water livestock? Yeah. Rural water is expensive to pipe in, but still reasonable for people water. EXPENSIVE to water your livestock with. Just saying, because that's what we do. Don't even ask me about the bill when someone left the hose on overnight. Sigh.

Septic. Composting toilets are nice and all, but most people want a regular flushing toilet and sewer pipes that don't freeze.

Meth labs. Just trust me and walk the woods and pastures thoroughly before you buy. Our place is meth lab free, but I saw a few farms that were not.

Old abandoned wells. Know where they are.

Sensitive crop registery. Iowa has one. If you plan on not having all your bees killed and your livestock covered in soybean bug spray chemical hell, then register your farm.

Be prepared for your neighbors to hate you. Especially if you are doing things organically or naturally. More so if you register as a sensitive crop. Double that if you end up shooting their dog that is killing your livestock (didn't happen to me, but my aunt said to add that bit.....).  

More to come.....