So I'm looking at buying a block of grazing land in the New England area. It's pretty good grazing country, good water, well-fenced and all that. Smaller than a typical full size farm though - we're talking hundreds of acres not thousands. The plan is to some day move onto the place run it myself, but in the interim I want to lease/agist it for cattle grazing so I can generate a little income to help with the repayments. It seems to me like a fairly easy way to generate an small income stream from the land with virtually no work on my part. So I've worked out the realistic carrying capacity, what the typical agistment rates are in the area, subtracted my annual rates and insurance costs, and arrived an a figure of - let's say - $10,000/year for the sake of discussion. So it looks like without me doing much at all, except perhaps driving out to check on the property a few times a year....and barring any major droughts (like the one on at the moment!)...I can expect to receive $10,000 in my pocket each year from this block to put towards my repayments. Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing? Am I missing anything? Can I really expect to see this money year after year? Are there any other challenges associated with being an absentee farmer which I should be aware of?
Where in NE ? Give us a call im in the phonebook! I may be interested or know most folk you need to deal with! We have the number one recearch facility in NE or probably temperate OZ!
I would make sure you are insured and the agistee has insurance public liability at a minimum have a writen contract outlining who is responsible for what etc
I wouldn't borrow money to buy land right now. Maybe lease to own or an instrument that requires little or no down payment...
