Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: Smertrios on August 01, 2015, 03:39:35 pm
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I dont know how farm rentals work but something I've wanted to do is succession plant a field with phacelia tanacetifolia and find out how profitable it can be. With bees, pollen, honey, wax, propolis and flower seeds how could this fail?
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How could this fail, its farming. I don't know where you are, but around here you can rent fields. I rent mine to a neighbor for so much a year. I had an understanding with him before he got it, I have Crimson Clover and Hairy Fetch along with some other clovers and things planted, and I wanted him to let it get through the bloom stage and have some seeds before he cut it for hay. That way it reseeds itself. You would just have to see what you have to do where you are. You may have to get the field prepared for the planting and fertilizer. Check on the price of rent, seed, fertilizer, and other equipment you may need. Another thing some beeks here do is talk to a local farmer and get farmer to let them to put hives on his land for a fee, money or honey.
Good Luck
Joe D
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I have a hunting club that plants 57 acares of clover for deer and turkeys. That found out that I had bees and asked if I would put bees out so that they could cut their costs of reseeding. We wrote up a contract that I would maintain the hives and that they would protect my hives by not shooting towards my hives . works out great becuase during cold weather and deer and turkey season they can place a group level blind in the same area as my hives and the game walks right up to them and they get clean quick kills. I have 35 hives there so far and roomfor150 more. I have another private preserve that is wanting hives to .
John
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Okay another question about renting farmland. I am looking at 36 acres of tillable land in Florida and the owner wants $299 as rent per month which works out to be $99.67 per tillable acre per year. He is saying its pasture that can be used for growing crops *but* according the the USDA thats $39.64 more than non-irrigated cropland and is $88.6 higher per acre than pasture land.
The dollar amounts I am using are in the spreadsheet at the link below for the 2015 year. Double click on Florida in one of the columns and the spreadsheet reloads to only show Florida.
http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/58B27A06-F574-315B-A854-9BF568F17652#7878272B-A9F3-3BC2-960D-5F03B7DF4826
The parcel I am talking about
http://www.farmlandsearch.com/8748082/43-4-Acres-Ponds-Well-for-Farming-or-Grazing
That area of Florida has 2 prisons, 1 correctional facility, nuclear power plant, drinking water stations and fines for businesses serving ground water! Anyone have any comments about the price and location? Just looking for input incase someone has any.
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$300/month seems high to me... I rent a house, garage and 88 acres with a 3/4 acre pond for $450/month.... Then again... My parents are my land lords...
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Why not find a farmer that grows hay and work out a deal that you pay for the seed of the plants that you want and he lets it grow to full bloom and he gets to harvest it. I would let him pay for the fertilizer and tilling/planting. Maybe just over seeding. Clover runs around $275.00 a 50# bag. Make sure that there is to be no grazing.
Jim
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At the present I get 600 dollars a year for 25 acres. Will probably go up a little next year. He puts out the fertilizer, cuts the hay, bales and hauls it off. I had the clover, hairy fetch and etc planted for years. If it get to go to seed, some mature, it will reseed itself for the next year.
Joe D
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The property owner has not seen it in years and says there is only 28 acres of tillable land because of the water and trees. Found another website listing the same property with some more recent (and real) pics and its a mess of tall weeds! Good news is I could use it the way I want.
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Are the weeds all the same? Or is there the possibility of a more continuous bloom?
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Too much money and work to rent, till, seed, fertilizer and then wait to seeif you get a honey crop, too risky, best thing to do is find a farmer and put your bees on his place, this time of year cotton should be going. Jmho
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Hope your not right TwT because I am going to try if I can get a good location and enough money.
Eric Bosworth - I wish I knew
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Anyone have experience with FloridaFarmFinder.org? I registered an account several days ago but still waiting for confirmation.
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Why not find a farmer that grows hay and work out a deal that you pay for the seed of the plants that you want and he lets it grow to full bloom and he gets to harvest it. I would let him pay for the fertilizer and tilling/planting. Maybe just over seeding. Clover runs around $275.00 a 50# bag. Make sure that there is to be no grazing.
Jim
That is something I will try if its possible where I end up getting land to plant but I want/need something that I can keep in continuous bloom. I like the idea of a consistent nectar and pollen source.
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I plant about 12 acres with Sainfoin, Borage, Crimson clover, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Hubam clover, and a bit of Buckwheat.. That mix works out well, there is always something in the field blooming and the bees take adantage of it..
Having said that.. I make two hundred dollars an Acre cash leasing my land, and thats a bit less than the going rate from neighbors lands.. I cant afford to plant more for the bees at that price..
I think it was Larry Conner that said 5 WELL planted acres could support 20 hives... I keep 20 to 30 hives in my home yard and wanted to make sure, so planted 12 acres..
It requires money to do it.. Round up to burn down what ever is already there, then a good disking to break it all up. A spreader to broadcast the seed, or a Drill to drill the seed. If broadcasting it takes a clod buster or a disk to incorporate the seed, and of course, it takes a tractor and fuel to do all of that, not to mention the cost of the seed mix...
With the mix I mentioned above, I cut it and bale it, and use it for cows and horses, so I can recoup some of the money spent. Otherwise it would not be worth it..
If you try to cheap out and plant with something already standing, most of those cover crops will be crowded out within a couple of years. It will also require mowing more often due to the weeds that will crowd out and shade the desired bee forage.. Oh yeah, did I mention mowing it once or twice a year to keep the weeds down?? You also need to re disk and re plant at 5 or 6 years to keep the optimum forage growing.. at least here, if you dont the Fescue and other grasses will crowd out your preferred growth, even when you do mow it once in a while..
I consider it very worthwhile, my honey crop HAS improved dramatically, and my critters seem to like the mix as hay, and it also sells well as hay. If you have no secondary purpose or income from it, then no, its not worth it, not even close.
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The trees and shrubs in and around the water can also bee a good place to find nectar and pollen. Check them out places in the spring, for what is there or around the area.
Joe D
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I have had my gmail address for nearly 8 years and have never checked the spam folder... really nice to only see 16 messages in there. For whatever reason google decided to put my floridafarmfinder registration email in there.
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I can't see buying property for the exclusive use of beekeeping as profitable.
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I'm kicking around the idea of buying 5 acres across the road from me. It's an open field with about 15-20 young pines on it. My thinking was I could keep something going year round, except winter, and it would help boost my bee numbers. The asking price is either $25k or $27k. If I have a good year like I did last summer it would take about 5 to 7 years for the investment to pay off.
On the other hand.., there's the new tractor/bush hog, front loader, and tiller that's been on my mind for a couple of years..,
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>On the other hand.., there's the new tractor/bush hog, front loader, and tiller that's been on my mind for a couple of years..,
And if you buy the extra 5 acres you'll probably need the tractor...
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"On the other hand.., there's the new tractor/bush hog, front loader, and tiller that's been on my mind for a couple of years..,"
On the other hand, the value of those items drops every year while the value of the land goes up. :grin:
Jim
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Yep.. LAND is an investment that they just dont make more of.. I keep a few acres dedicated to forage and it does make a difference. I have found Borage in this area seems to always have flowers somewhere... Crimson clover, Sainfoin, and Buckwheat are my (the bees) favorites so far..
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jim, what kind of clover seed are you paying that much for? i planted 50 pounds of crimson this year and it cost me something like 60 dollars. last year it was closer to 100.00 for crimson, though. i planted some ball clover 2 years ago that cost something like 175.00 for 25 pounds but it has reseeded and increased coverage every year. if it doesn't get rained out in 2016 i'm expecting a decent clover crop at my home yard.
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I just planted 100# of hubam, 100# of ladino, 50# of white dutch, 50# of alfalfa, 50# of crimsom, 100# yellow sweet, 100# chicory. I have a few ounces of various colored anise hyssop I'll plant after I get a chance to mow the grass down really short. That should add some color. There is already chicory, birdsfoot trefoil, white and yellow sweet clover, echinacea, asters, ironweed, goldenrod, alfalfa. Two years ago I planted 60 trees including peach, pear, apple, cherry, plum, basswood, beebee tree. I already have a lot of black locust. What I want to master is WHEN and how high to mow the grass to optimize the clover and the chicory and minimize the grass and the weeds (pigweed, dock, poison hemlock etc.). Any suggestions? Considering the cost of seed I've been considering buying a drill (I've been broadcasting it with a 3 point hitch rig).
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jim, what kind of clover seed are you paying that much for? i planted 50 pounds of crimson this year and it cost me something like 60 dollars. last year it was closer to 100.00 for crimson, though. i planted some ball clover 2 years ago that cost something like 175.00 for 25 pounds but it has reseeded and increased coverage every year. if it doesn't get rained out in 2016 i'm expecting a decent clover crop at my home yard.
10,
It was white clover, I bought it last year. I have to spread it by hand. I tried to mix it with rye last year and use my 5' Brillion to spread it but very little grew, most grew in a small area like the clover seed dropped to the bottom. My soil is very acidic which may inhibit it
Jim.
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i mixed the ball clover with chicory. my soil is pretty acidic too. the ball clover has re-seeded really well every year so far but the chicory hasn't at all.
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okay, okay, yall talked me into it. My son and I put a binder down on the 5 acres across the street. Now all yall got to do is help me pay for it, since it's your fault :grin:
This is part of an old cotton field. Lots of golden rod, field sage, and a few pine trees. A friend of mine told me to lime the sage to get rid of it. I'm not talking garden sage but what the old folks use to make yard/porch brooms out of. It'll sure ruin grazing land.
The property comes with a Covenant(sp?). Pretty limited covenant. No sub dividing, no multiple family dwellings, no business, no big dogs, ect. Pretty good.