Can you make a living from farming?
If you are not willing to put in that kind of intensive management work and focus on return-on-investment, you can still make a living on your farm, but you'll likely still need some off-farm income. Despite popular thinking, farming can be enormously profitable.
Average Farmer Pay
Farmers earned an average $37.71 per hour or $78,440 per year as of May 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compensation could sink below $18.37 per hour or $38,200 per year, or rise above $60.74 per hour or $126,330 per year.
A person needs about 5 to 6 acres of land to live comfortably, producing their own food.
- Farm On It.
- Sell Portions Of The Land.
- Offer Storage Facilities.
- Rent The Land for Festivals.
- Rent Your Land to Mobile and Tiny Homes.
- Start A Shooting Range.
- Lease The Land.
There is no hard-and-fast land requirement. However, the farmers I spoke with said that someone would need at least 500 owned acres and 1,000 leased acres to make a living.
Though soybeans are the most profitable crop for large farms, fruit trees and berries generate the most profit of all farm sizes. As farm size increases, labor costs to tend and harvest fruit trees and berries become too high to maintain profits. Berries often produce multiple harvests in one growing season.
Farm operator households have more wealth than the average U.S. household because significant capital assets, like farmland and equipment, are generally necessary to operate a successful farm business. In 2020, the average U.S. farm household had $1,714,559 in wealth.
Salary Ranges for Farm Owner Operators
The salaries of Farm Owner Operators in the US range from $33,110 to $113,140 , with a median salary of $45,930 . The middle 50% of Farm Owner Operators makes between $41,731 and $45,924, with the top 83% making $113,140.
According to the USDA , small family farms average 231 acres; large family farms average 1,421 acres and the very large farm average acreage is 2,086.
1 football field is roughly 1 acre. (The exact measurements of football fields vary.) 1 hectare = 2.47 acres. 2.47 football fields in 1 hectare.
How much land do you need to live off the grid?
How many acres do you need to live off the land? A self-sustainable home that grows its own food can be built on as little as 1/4 acre. If you plan on harvesting fire wood from your own land, then 5 – 10 acres of mostly forested land is plenty to live on.
Studying farming gives you the opportunity to own and operate your own business. Farmers can manage their time and resources independently while still having the opportunity to profit. There are plenty of opportunities in the field outside of owning and operating a farm.
Although farming was once primarily an activity to sustain the farmer and his family, farming can be a money-making enterprise. The two major avenues of income for a farm business are using the farm land and leasing the land to another farmer.
Salary Ranges for Farm Owner Operators
The salaries of Farm Owner Operators in the US range from $33,110 to $113,140 , with a median salary of $45,930 . The middle 50% of Farm Owner Operators makes between $41,731 and $45,924, with the top 83% making $113,140.
How to Make Money on a Small Farm - YouTube
