You can definitely start a farm. I know people who, like you, were not exactly farmers. They bought some land and started a garden. They sell to all the locals, with whom they keep a close relationship. The trick with organic is the paperwork and waiting. You have to wait 3 years for the land to be certified unless it is already. These people I know were able to develop such a close relationship with their customers that they completely bypassed USDA. They raise organic produce, it just can’t be labeled that way. They also sell other natural items (they contract with other farmers). This is the couple’s only job by the way. And they have a child. It just takes a lot of work.

Hi, This really depends on what you are planning to grow. If you are planning to grow crops like vegetables like lettuce and other salad greens, then your first harvest may be in around 2 months depending on the type. If you will be growing other crops such as tomatoes, it may take longer before you realize harvest. All the more if you are going in to long term crops such as fruit trees. So the first thing you should consider is what your cash crop would be. Cash crops are crops that you will plant together with the main crop that you want to produce. Cash crops will give you some funds to cover your loan payment until such time that your main crop will start producing. Remember also, that in organic farming, you use natural stuff in fertilization and pest control so a most likely choice will be some livestock (chicken probably) which you can source your manure which you could apply directly or use in decomposing other materials. Then you can sell some of the livestock and add up to your funds. So if you go into pure plants, costs involved will be the soil preparation, seeds, irrigation/water supply. If you go into mixed livestock and plants, you will have cost of your livestock, seeds, equipment. So find out what your main crop would be and what cash crops you may like to grow. Just make sure that your cash crop and your main crop do not have the same pests or you may have a big problem

Good luck

What a lot of people do is intern on someone else’s organic farm for a few years to learn the ropes than they go on to manage a farm before they buy. That way they know what they are doing and if the stay in the same are already have a customer base, know what kind of land to buy along with what equipment they will need.

I got my start renting a farm and over 12 year learning how to farm organically via trial and error (with the help of books, nearby organic farmers, workshops, farm tours and conferences). After 12 years it was time to either get out of farming or buy a farm. I opted to buy a farm. Got together a huge down payment than a farm mortgage (you don’t get a business loan for a farm, you go to the farm credit service people to get such loans as farming is not really considered a business by the government which is why there is a USDA). Another thing is you have to be carrying zero debt going into this. if you carry debt you will not make it. yes a mortgage is debt but it is a loan on an entity that in theory is generating income unlike credit card debt which is basically burning money.

Since I bought a farm in the same area that I have been farming I already had good markets and a big customer base so getting the loan payed off has not been a problem and I am nowhere near foreclosure after 3 years

Once you buy the farm it takes 3 years for it to transition into being able to qualify for organic certification. During that 3 years you must make a choice-do you use that time to build the soil (which is what you should do) but make little or no money so you are forced into working full time off the farm. Or do you go ahead and plant and start selling ASAP which can be bad for the soil if you are not good at soil building but generates money so you can work on the farm and have it support you.

I was lucky with my farm in that it had been in pastured for the past 55 years and had good lively soils so we could go ahead and start production that first year and start generating money fast