Starting agriculture business - idea validation

[CONAN]

Hi, some time ago I bought 9000 square meters of agriculture land (approx 2.2 acres for people accross the pond ) because it was a bargain in comparison to normal land prices here.
I've always wanted to start a business outside my profession (programming) and here I saw the next possibility.
I need a second pair of eyes to validate the plan and maybe judge if it has a fastlane potencial. This would be my first attempt in this area and I'd try it out with a smaller sized bite.

Idea: Growing and selling greens and/or products in todays rising food price markets.
First attempt: Selling Arugula to restaurants.

Action plan:

1. Prepare the field
2. Cultivate the land
3. Find buyers
4. Plant part of the field each weekend (for 5 weekends)
5. Start harvesting first crops (5 weeks should be timeframe for Arugula) for the next 5 weekends
6. Start selling arugula after each harvest

Expenses:

• Tool shed to store tools - not yet calculated
• Trips to and from the land
  • 80km (cca 6L x 1.5€ = 9€) per trip
• Seeds - not yet calculated
• Watering - not yet calculated
• Fertilizer - not yet calculated

Pricing:
Arugula is selling in stores for cca 10€ per kg.
Wholesale price (not sure yet) but lets say 5€ per kg.

Dilemma:

1. I add up all the one time expanses, calculate needed surface (with expected yield in mind) and add up operating cost for calculated surface and get a figure X. Everything beyond that surface X (minus the operating costs for it) should be a profit. Right?
2. Right now I'm just trying to start a business venture with no worries about much profit but of course if this proves to be a valid idea, could it have some fastlane indicators?
   1. My idea is to use cultures that don't require much of my time
   2. Anything that can be automated - should be
   3. Go there as rarely as posible
   4. Start with creating added value products instead of selling only raw materials

What do you generally think of the plan? Should I pursue it?

 

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[Subsonic]

Hi, some time ago I bought 9000 square meters of agriculture land (approx 2.2 acres for people accross the pond ) because it was a bargain in comparison to normal land prices here.
I've always wanted to start a business outside my profession (programming) and here I saw the next possibility.
I need a second pair of eyes to validate the plan and maybe judge if it has a fastlane potencial. This would be my first attempt in this area and I'd try it out with a smaller sized bite.

Idea: Growing and selling greens and/or products in todays rising food price markets.
First attempt: Selling Arugula to restaurants.

Action plan:

1. Prepare the field
2. Cultivate the land
3. Find buyers
4. Plant part of the field each weekend (for 5 weekends)
5. Start harvesting first crops (5 weeks should be timeframe for Arugula) for the next 5 weekends
6. Start selling arugula after each harvest

Expenses:

• Tool shed to store tools - not yet calculated
• Trips to and from the land
  • 80km (cca 6L x 1.5€ = 9€) per trip
• Seeds - not yet calculated
• Watering - not yet calculated
• Fertilizer - not yet calculated

Pricing:
Arugula is selling in stores for cca 10€ per kg.
Wholesale price (not sure yet) but lets say 5€ per kg.

Dilemma:

1. I add up all the one time expanses, calculate needed surface (with expected yield in mind) and add up operating cost for calculated surface and get a figure X. Everything beyond that surface X (minus the operating costs for it) should be a profit. Right?
2. Right now I'm just trying to start a business venture with no worries about much profit but of course if this proves to be a valid idea, could it have some fastlane indicators?
   1. My idea is to use cultures that don't require much of my time
   2. Anything that can be automated - should be
   3. Go there as rarely as posible
   4. Start with creating added value products instead of selling only raw materials

What do you generally think of the plan? Should I pursue it?

If you have farmland then use it. Find some greens or other stuff with which the numbers make sense. If nothing else works you can sell it yourself on a farmers market.

What I would be looking at though is renting out this farmland to people who want to grow their own veggies.
Something like $3 per m² a month should be a great deal for you and the other person. Offer to take care of their plants for them for an extra $5-10 per m² a month.

 

[CONAN]

If you have farmland then use it. Find some greens or other stuff with which the numbers make sense. If nothing else works you can sell it yourself on a farmers market.

What I would be looking at though is renting out this farmland to people who want to grow their own veggies.
Something like $3 per m² a month should be a great deal for you and the other person. Offer to take care of their plants for them for an extra $5-10 per m² a month.

Thanks!
About renting the land, I like the idea (definitely more fastlane) but I'd first like to try farming myself for the sake of knowledge and experience.

 

[Cybershay]

Wishing you the best of luck in your new agricultural endeavor!

 

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[Vntonio]

Agriculture can be anything else but not a fastlane.

I still don't get your reason of thinking about farming, instead of programming, as a fastlane (you could go freelancing/SaaS/consulting if you want a fastlane). Tho, if you don't like programming anymore, you can take in consideration agriculture. But not the way you think.

Growing any kind of greens takes time and care. 80 km from the land?! You barely can make a good culture when you would have been 5 km away. Also, you need time to spray, water, and visual inspection. Just weekends are not enough

Something can happen (there are more than 12 diseases that can destroy your Eruca sativa: disease, pest, too much heat, too much rain. All these conditions make your desire to make a fastlane income-delusional.

To be a fastlane would be: thinking of hiring people to grow them for you; having either a lot of land to grow cereals with machines or some land, but a premium price of outcome to be worth it.

Or...

1. Rent the place for other people to grow (you won't make big bucks, but it won't be tied to your time).
2. Grow Paulownia for the wood. Minimum needs. Take years to grow then just sell it. (some irrigation, but it won't take much attention.
3. Grow Walnut. It will take years until the first harvest, but minimal attention and good prices.
4. Any fruit: apples/kiwi (sunny places)/plums but have a position like making some beverages/sauces. Just don't sell the harvest as raw materials.

There could be other ways of making money in your circumstances (really far away from that specific land and having a job/no time to take care of). But thinking of growing something as Eruca vesicaria/lettuce/vegetables.

One true fastlane is to build a market-deposit where you hire people to package all the vegetables/fruits from the surrounding and then get them to the local stores (lidl/walmart or what you have in your country). Basically, you leverage people and money, buying vegetables for a really low price, packaging and selling them to the stores for big bucks.

I have been a farmer since I was 10 years old, growing anything you can think of, except cereals/fruits/mushrooms also I have my degree in horticulture and ex-researcher in vegetables and started from not being able to afford a 0.5$ icecream now to having some decent 10 years old cars and some money to scale my farming business. But it took me 20 years.

 

[Awakened2022]

Agriculture is can be anything else but not a fastlane.

I still don't get your reason for thinking about farming, instead of programming, as a Fastlane (you could go freelancing/SaaS/consulting if you want a Fastlane). However, if you don't like programming anymore, you can take in consideration agriculture. But not the way you think.

Growing any kind of greens takes time and care. 80 km from the land?! You barely can make a good culture when you would have been 5 km away. Also, you need time for spray, water, and visual inspection. Just weekends are not enough

Something can happen (there are more than 12 diseases that can destroy your Eruca sativa: disease, pest, too much heat, too much rain. All these conditions make your desire to make a Fastlane income-delusional.

To be a fastlane would be: thinking of hiring people to grow them for you; having either a lot of land to grow cereals with machines or some land, but a premium price of outcome to be worth it.

Or...

1. Rent the place for other people to grow (you won't make big bucks, but it won't be tied to your time).
2. Grow Paulownia for the wood. Minimum needs. Take years to grow then just sell it. (some irrigation, but it won't take much attention.
3. Grow Walnut. It will take years until the first harvest, but minimal attention and good prices.
4. Any fruit: apples/kiwi (sunny places)/plums but have a position like making some beverages/sauces. Just don't sell the harvest as raw materials.

There could be other ways of making money in your circumstances (really far away from that specific land and having a job/no time to take care of). But thinking of growing something as Eruca vesicaria/lettuce/vegetables.

One true fastlane is to build a market-deposit where you hire people to package all the vegetables/fruits from the surrounding and then get them to the local stores (lidl/walmart or what you have in your country). Basically, you leverage people and money, buying vegetables for a really low price, packaging and selling them to the stores for big bucks.

I have been a farmer since I was 10 years old, growing anything you can think of, except cereals/fruits/mushrooms also I have my degree in horticulture and ex-researcher in vegetables and started from not being able to afford a 0.5$ icecream now to having some decent 10 years old cars and some money to scale my farming business. But it took me 20 years.

Glad to meet another farmer here.

My advice to OP is to rent out the land because that distance is insane. Our people here say that the best tool on a farm is the farmer's legs. Vegetables are needy plants and spending even three days without checking on them can harm them irreversibly.

If you were in my country, I would advise you to plant coffee, bananas, or cassava which don't need constant supervision. The first two are perennial which gives you some kind of compound effect.
Alternatively, you could hire out the land to sharecroppers so that you get part of the harvest without doing any work.

However, if you feel a strong pull towards agriculture,(I believe it is a calling that the few of us who are chosen to do it have no alternative but to comply), kindly start something and consider the whole venture a course in learning what works and what doesn't.

Let us know what you decide and good luck.