Ways to make ends meet on a small farm or ranch

These suggestions may seem far-fetched, but they have worked for some. They take some work up front, but could provide lasting benefits for years.

Internships

Could you use a hand around the farm, without having to hire? You may even know someone unemployed or partly employed in your community, with a good work ethic and useful skills, who you would hire if you could afford to. There are many members of society for whom fitting in to a normal workplace is difficult or impossible. They may lack skills and education that would allow them to live comfortably within modern society, but still have a capacity and willingness to learn. Register with the Jobs Creation Program if you’re in Canada, to allow interested workers to apply; their funding can pay for a farm hand’s wages while you help them gain skills and knowledge. Check with related non-profit programs in your area to see if they can pay for a farm hand’s wages. Contact your nearest university’s agriculture department to discuss options (see below). This gives the community a way to help preserve and pass on your valuable resources and traditional way of life.

Universities may have their own funding, or they may have grant-writing resources. Here is one example of funding for agricultural research: Southern SARE Systems Research Project

Homestays in exchange for chores

The following platforms can connect you with volunteers. For these programs, the hosting farm provides food, lodging, and opportunities to learn, in exchange for assistance with farming or gardening activities. Wwoofers have first-hand experience in ecologically sound growing methods and prefer organic farming.

Farm tours

It might surprise you that a lot of parents would rather take their kids to visit a farm for a weekend instead of Disneyland. Some farms have started doing tours so city kids can see animals up close. You might even let them help work on a tree house, milk a goat, help with a harvest, or help make cheese. It is important to have visitors sign a liability waiver, even though your property insurance and their health insurance should cover any accidents. Be sure to have someone accompany guests on tours, because what may be safe to you could be dangerous for people unfamiliar with animals and equipment.

Farm overnight stays

Some farms have used Airbnb, or HipCamp to make a side income. It might at first seem uncomfortable to have strangers spending the night on your property, but it might be worth a try. You can see if your prospective guests have a good rating from other hosts. Check to see how other farmers are managing it and what they are charging per night. If you have an extra house, trailer, or cabin on the property, this could be more comfortable, but you can also rent out a room in your main house. You might want to have visitors sign a liability waiver, even though your property insurance and their health insurance should cover any accidents. Increase your chances of everything going well by writing clear instructions about where guests are welcome to go and where they shouldn’t go.

Farm event hosting

Some small farms, if they have some pretty areas on their property such as a creek side or meadow, are making extra income from letting others host dinner parties or weddings on their property. You might have a bit of hassle from letting guests use your kitchen or bathroom for the time they’re there, but the event planners should handle everything else. You could even go to town that day or away for a visit, to not have to be inconvenienced by the event. Just take some photos and send to local wedding planners. If you find some interested folks who don’t have a wedding planner, you’ll want to make sure they know what you are and aren’t offering to do or provide. Here’s a wedding planning article that can give a couple a place to start planning.

Grants for Farms

You might search online for any type of farm grant in your area.

Grants for emergency preparedness

If the government thinks of your farm as a food resource that can be accessed for the public in times of a national disaster, shouldn’t it be treating you like an emergency preparedness partner? Look into the local laws and talk to related non-profits who might have partnership potential. You offer an important source of food security to your community, so they should be supporting you for this potential. If someone in your family is willing to take a First Responder course, that could increase your value as a disaster planning partner. If you’re in a place with known earthquake or flood risk, you could partner as a place for displaced people to camp out temporarily if their homes are destroyed. It might mean building some outhouses and talking with town planners about zoning laws.

Grants for food security in the U.S.

The bug-out farm

Offer contracts to friends and acquaintances who might want to know they have a place they’d be welcome to go in an emergency. Some people spend a surprising amount of money on land and a building for a bug-out shelter, and they don’t even have a way to grow food, just some storage. A farm is a much more workable place to be in a disaster, if you can get along with other people and help with chores. You might also find a group of city-dwelling friends you can get along with who want to individually invest in side-by-side plots, lease them the land, and help them develop it. Both the farmer and city dwellers would be benefitting from the arrangement. Make clear agreements about how decisions would be made in a disaster situation. It also is important to build relationships over time, which could be as simple as an invitation to have a weekend visit once a year with you as the host.

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