Wanna be a farmer

I would like to be a small farmer. What would be the most profitable way to farm and still most consistently make a little money. Plan to do in the evenings and weekends. Insurance too high not to work else where also. I have just always wanted to be a farmer even if it ain't anything big. Thoughts/ ideas? Or am I just crazy?

Congratulations on wanting to farm. First, you need to establish just what type farming is suitable for your circumstances and location. Evenings and weekend availability obviously limits what's possible.  Any suggestion I would have would be wild guess and perhaps not very productive.  Some factors to consider are the amount of land owned/available, proximity to a concentration of people/cliental. Amount of start-up/seed money available. Condition of the acreage targeted. In general, I would stay away from commodity farming, expensive equipment and costly inputs. Perhaps a niche market is possible... dealing with customers directly... organic or locally raised vegetables/fruits, pasture raised chickens, grass-fed pork/beef if you have enough acreage. Select something that interests you and is possible, read/educate yourself, using your local Ag extension folks/programs. Develop a multi-year business plan and then run it by a farmer that has been or is successful in the area/market you choose.  In the final analysis, listen to your own head and heart and don't be swayed by the ideological idiots on either side.  

Well I guess working for a farmer part time may not be a bad idea. How would you advertise or communicate that out in an area?

I agree that Longmeadow's advice is an excellent place to start. 

The local food movement has created many new opportunities for small scale farming that didn't exist even a decade ago.  We have several local farms in our area of upstate NY that have CSA programs.  Even though we have a small farm ourselves, we still buy an annual contract with our local CSA, since they grow under hoops and provide an additional variety of vegetables we don't have in our garden, plus it helps support them.  Local food of any type is a selling point, including grass fed beef and poultry.  One local farmer raises about 15 head of beef, and sells everything he can raise for $2/lb on the hoof to a local butcher that slaughters and butchers them, and markets the meat in NY City at probably $8/lb.  We have only a small flock of chickens, but sell all their eggs for $3+/dozen.  We are planning to expand a bit, and want to end up with a small flock of about 200 birds.  It's tiny compared to corporate farms, but fits into our small farm and the time we have available.  There are many excellent books out there giving advice.  One thing that I always read and that makes sense is one will never make money trying to compete with commodity crops such as corn or wheat - even at today's high grain prices.  It seems for a small farm, if you are near any type of population center, that vegetables and specialty crops or meats would be the only way to go on a small farm, assuming the goal is to actually make some money, rather than just have fun keeping up the land.  I was thinking of putting in hops for a while.  Central NY used to be a major hop region of the country until a blight hit in the late 1800's, then Oregon/Washington took over.  They are coming back to our area again though, supported by local breweries, and can bring in as much as $10,000 per acre or more gross.  However, they are very labor intensive and wouldn't work for us.  But there are all kinds on emerging new opportunities like that for a small operation. 

On a planet that just hit 7 billion people, and is headed towards 10 billion within many of our lifetimes, farming is changing, and definitely has a future!  Most studies that I see indicate we will need to nearly double food production over the next few decades just to keep up with demand.  Doubling food production in such a short time is unprecedented in history.  Corporate farms won't go away for sure.  However, I think rising food prices and new interest in local, fresh foods is creating opportunities again for small, diversified farms, similar to those typical back at the turn of the century. 

Whatever you do though, don't quit your day job! - At least not for a while.

AJ wrote: Well I guess working for a farmer part time may not be a bad idea. How would you advertise or communicate that out in an area?

Land... can't be a farmer without it. Do you have some? Can you rent some? What kind and how many acres you can control will make the answers to your other questions easier.

 Why would you want to join us that the general public think are dumb, lazy, and just looking for a gov. handout???  Would get into waaaaaay to much trouble with just a 40 hour work week myself. A lot of good advice has been given here, hop in and get your feet wet. If it continues as it has the last 5 years the longer you wait the more it will cost. To sum it up in a nutshell it dosen't matter if it's 5 acres or 5000 acres management is the key!!!

Again -- good advice from Longmeadow. Do some looking and research -- use the resources available -- check out the Government loan now availble for beginning farmers.

good luck with the loan program. Cronyism at it's best in my area. I know from personal experience hence why my main job is in town.