What Are some Of The Best Agriculture Opportunities - Part 2

5. MARKET GARDEN

• This can be done on land that you do not own. This eliminates a huge capital cost.
• People have been able to generate a full-time income  from doing this.
• Speaking from personal experience, deer have been a huge problem for us. we're still working on a solution to this problem. Make sure you have high enough fencing for them. They can easily jump a 5 foot fence. Pie pans, plastic bags hanging on the fence, none of that works. Trust me on this one! We had to get some deer damage permits last summer.
• Check with your state. We live in WV and belong to the Farmer's Market Nutritional Program. This program provides fresh unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and herbs to eligible participants. (Senior citizens and those who qualify for Wic) The program contracts with farmers, farmer's markets & farm stands to distribute locally grown produce to eligible participants. The participants take their coupons to the certified markets or farm stands and redeem them for produce. The farmer deposits the redeemed coupons into their bank for payment. Each coupon submitted for payment is stamped with a unique stamp that will be provided to you by the program. This is something we had to be certified for and had to sit through a face-to-face training at our local extension office. This training is good for 3 years.

6. Home Bakery

• A home bakery can add value to several things that the farm produces. 
• If you are a person who enjoys baking of any kind, and especially if you are good at marketing, there is a good possibility that you can make this a successful enterprise.
• It should be noted that a commercial kitchen (inspected) may cost $10,000 and up, but if you think about it, that is the cost of a good used car.
• Baked items can be in high demand, particularly if you sell to restaurants or to customers around the holidays. Think of a pumpkin roll around thanksgiving.,Homemade sugar cookies in the month of December, and breads, jelly, and cakes year round for any special occasion.
• A bakery has the advantage of allowing you to make several things from a single product. for example, apples can be made into pies, pie filling, cakes, applesauce, apple butter, apple turnovers,  jelly etc...
• Children & other family members can assist you in this area.
• A home bakery can assist you in the area of homeschooling your children; they can assist them in math because they can learn to measure, multiply, add, subtract, divide. It helps in reading (the recipes)

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7. Band Saw Mill

• People with band saws make a good amount of money doing custom milling for friends and neighbors than they do milling their own logs.
• Just a few logs can be turned into hundreds of boards.
• Storing the lumber in a rough made she is cheap and it adds value as the boards are air-drying.

8. U-Pick (Small fruits - Strawberries, Black berries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Seedless table grapes)  I would add to this pumpkins in the fall time.

• Because shipping & handling can destroy these tender fruits, highly perishable fruits can command a premium price.
• Adding fruit & nuts tress can round out this enterprise nicely. (apples, pear, peaches, plum, black walnuts)
• Offer multiple types of fruit since the harvest window is pretty narrow, this will allow you to spread the harvest throughout the season.
• People are willing to pay high prices for quality fruit.
• U-pick enterprises have the advantage of creating a-day-at-the-farm country experience and recreation to the food.

*** This was some advice I obtained from the book You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise// written by Joel Salatin; plus I added my two-cents worth!