permaculture

[Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>]

At 10:55 AM 8/8/02 +0000, you wrote:
> hi Frank - been following this thread - there's many who share the same
> dilemma as you and not only those aspiring to pc. I've found it's an all
> too common situation of (city) folk buying land that's too much to cope
> with - too much land to manage and not the resources (skills, machinery,
> labour and capital) to really make it work. A frequent error is buying
> cheap land (large acerage at low per acre cost) often marginal or
> degraded, and/or remote from markets and service centres. Generally one
> should anticipate spending the equivalent of the cost of the land on it's
> development but few calculate that into the equation when purchasing the
> rural dream that can too easily become an ovewhelming nightmare.
>
> As a consultant I am regularly faced with this issue when asked to look
> at land, and have often advised folk to seriously reconsider their
> situation and explore options including selling and buying something
> smaller, less fraught with problems and more achievable in terms of the
> resources they have to invest, in which case it should not be seen as a
> failure but a valuable lesson gained as to the reality of land ownership
> and farming aspirations. I also advise doing a PDC before looking for
> land so that one's eyes are more discerning regarding the implications
> and potential (positive and negative), the 2 weeks and cost of a course
> can save many thousands of dollars down the track and can be the best
> investment one makes before taking on  such a major committment.
> Robyn

All good thinking Robyn.  The question of course becomes how to proceed.  I 
would encourage Frank or others in such situations to build potable equity, 
best done through livestock IMO as it replicates as it depreciates unlike 
machines.  The other thing you get of course is skill.  Sounds like Frank 
had sunk some serious money into fences, waterlines etc, which is frankly 
very difficult to recoup unless an unusual buyer can be found.  The other 
thing I see in the current situation is that the cattle will not generate 
enough income to support more than one family, maybe two if a dairy went in 
, but that involves $30-100,000 of capital investment which again would be 
hard to recoup at sale.  IMO situation like this need to have some distinct 
enterprises viewed as having different functions; cattle for land 
management and base income, perhaps crops like herbs or wild crafted forest 
products, dried tomatoes, smoked peppers...what ever.  Maybe some kind of 
manufactured good based on forest products, drum sticks, pen barrels, cane 
chairs etc.  Think of things that could be made over time and sold without 
too much effort.  To make time for those other enterprises the cattle care 
must get very efficient, and it sounds like Frank is getting there.


Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
608-262-1730 WK
608-846-7125 HM