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
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