can i hand deliver a case of fine california wine next deer season? my brother and i will drive it out, towing a nice camper..just to keep the wine safe.

i should probably google the mileage...

That sounds about right.

I bought a used New Holland TC30 + loader two years ago for 12.5K It had 198 hours on it.
It runs a New Holland square baler while towing a wagon behind. (Rear tires are loaded). It also gets used for manure spreading, mowing, teddering, post hole auguring and snow blowing

+1 on the advice about talking to your local agricultural rep. Think outside the box regarding crops. Slow food is labor intensive, but a rising market. A lot will depend upon the soil type and drainage.

Good luck
Les

As someone that grew up around ag.... There are much easier ways to make a living. Unless you grow a few oil wells....

East of there, La Grange area, North Maybe, maybe as far east as Dime Box.

1) Land with some surface water
2) Land with some woods up to 75%
3) At least 200 acres, prefer full section
4) Outside the humidity belt, so west of Brenham.

I'd like it to be no more than 2 hours from Houston so that we could use it as a weekend place. I don't care if it has utilties, since I plan to make it as self sufficent as possible. I expect to stay with a "Tiny House" dropped in place with 2K of PV solar and wind pumped water.

Austin has been growing towards La Grange and Bastrop. It's not what it was even 5 years ago. It's outside of the hill country so you'll do a lot better out there. Lots more options in terms of things to do with the land and natural resources. Don't forget about mineral rights; a guy I went to A&M with has done pretty well by buying up and operating small time oil wells in the Caldwell area.

Definitely want mineral rights.

You might take a look at growing blueberries. Its a lot of work but can be lucrative. Blueberries up in Northern Michigan are picked from about July on and thru Aug. Biggest problem is you don't make anything for at least 3-4 years waiting on the plants to grow. But, once they do, they produce blueberries for 20-30 years. You would be planting Northern Highbush blueberry plants and after a couple of years should be picking 6000 to 8000 pounds per acre. At a min of 1.00 per pound after a while it add up. Gives you a good write off as well. You will need either a well or lake for irrigation and low ph in both water and soil.

Champ,

Bloobs grow like crazy along southern 1/2 of the west coast of MI in well-drained sand. Cranberries in the wetter areas with and apples higher and further inland. Cherries north with even some peaches farthest north along Gitchegumee (Eng. translation: Lake Michigan). I am in the thumb: heavy, black, well to poor drainage. I don't know the pH. I'm thinking the mega farms know what grows best there so I'd copy them on a much smaller scale. This farm is meant to be a legacy to survive as a bridge over what lies in the very short term future. Good to know there are so many aghead Pelicans. Yet another treasure trove of useful info. BTW, mineral rights are like a liquor license around there-unpossible to afford even of they went up for sale at auction. I have never seen an oil rig or test bore. Nothing but silos and elevators dot the horizon on clear nights during the harvest moon!

When you're a farmer, a lot of things can happen during the year. And they are all bad.

in OREGON the real cash crop is grown in areas the size of ping pong tables. so im told

I think 12 plants is legal in MI if you have a Medical Marijuana Care-Taker card and documented clientelle. The medical marijuana prop. passed in November and the legislature promptly f'd it up. At this point, nobody really knows what is legal and what ain't. LE's err on the illegal side, I'm told. A real disjointed mess at present.

The Weekly Standard had a really good article where one of the reporters went to the Medical MJ school in MI. I loved the code names...