Agriculture and Natural Resources
Brett Chedzoy, [email protected]
Small-Scale Farming for Pleasure and Profit
Two common questions that come my way are: “How do I become a farmer?” and, “What kind of farming can I do on my land?” When I dig a little deeper, I find that the real interest is how to do something productive with the land to “get more out of it than is put into it”. In economics, this is known as a “cost: benefit analysis” where the benefits are things like income, enjoyment, useful products for personal use and enhancing the value of the farm, and the costs would include financial investments, time and losses from the many perils of farming (weather, pests, predators, etc.)
I also find that few of those getting started in farming do the paper and pencil exercise to see if they’re really going to make money at it, but most have done at least some sort of internal calculation to justify what they’re doing and why. With small-scale farms and homesteads, it’s difficult to measure financial success in the traditional terms of revenues exceeding costs. We grow things on our own land for a variety of reasons, not least of which is enjoyment. But the list of benefits is much greater: self-reliance; knowledge of how the food is grown and where it comes from; lifestyle and life skills for families; a land stewardship ethic; and not least of which is the “I’m paying taxes on it so I might as well use it for something” mentality. All solid reasons to do something productive with our backyards - however large or small they may be.
It may be mere coincidence, but spurts of phone calls and emails along the lines of “what can I do with my land?” usually come around about the same time as property tax bills. No one should lose a lot of money farming just to save a little in taxes, but there are
certain tax benefits for farms and farm businesses. In New York, these include:
* Eligibility for tax abatement programs like Ag Assessment and Farm School Tax Credit
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Click the picture below to view the Guide to Farming