• Is the farmhouse up to your standards? Many farm homes are older and may need upgrades to heating, electricity, plumbing, and structure. The cost of fixes in the first few years could add significantly to your overall price.
• Is the house’s foundation strong? Does the basement leak? Is the roof in good shape? Hire a good home inspector.
• Are the outbuildings in need of repair? A barn, shed, greenhouse, and any other structures that need work will add to your financial burden.
• Is the property fenced and is the fencing adequate? If you’re keeping livestock on a large piece of land, fencing can become a big expense.
• Does the climate suit you? If it’s snowy and you’re located at the end of a private road, your most valuable piece of equipment may be a four-wheel–drive truck with a plow.
• Beyond irrigation needs, how is the water? Is it potable or are there too many minerals? Have the wells been tainted by fertilizer or chemical runoff? Check municipal water records.
• Is the community to your liking? Consider your proximity to neighbors, shopping, good schools, hospital, and your place of worship.
Your land may have everything you need for an organic hobby farm. Check zoning regulations to find out if you can build a chicken coop and raise layer hens.
Assessing New Property
One sure way to get information on a piece of farm property is to interview previous owners, who should be able to tell you everything from the approximate date of the first frost to the spot-on location of each submerged boulder in the fields.
Organic farmer John Mitchell, owner of Heirloom Harvest CSA in Westborough, Massachusetts, says there is no substitute for the information you can glean from a farmer who has worked the land before you. Mitchell leases his farmland from a church parish and says he is fortunate that the previous lessee was also a certified organic farmer. To maintain their certification, organic farmers must keep records of crop rotations, soil tests, and types of fertilizers used, along with information on weeds, pests, and diseases and how each problem encountered during the growing season was solved organically. Such meticulous records are like having a two-way crystal ball that looks into a property’s past and can help you divine its future.
Even without records, the previous owner should have answers to the following critical questions.
Is the Acreage Right?
This is more a question about you and your ambitions than the actual size of the property. Many new farmers find that too much land turns into too much work. Maybe you should look for 5 acres (2 ha) instead of 20 (8 ha).
How Was the Land Farmed?
If the land wasn’t farmed organically and you want to market your produce as organic, you’ll need a three-year transitional period before you can legally advertise your goods as USDA Certified Organic. In addition, land that has been farmed with conventional practices may need cover cropping and repeated applications of manure or compost to eliminate weeds and regenerate the soil microbes that play such a crucial role in sustainable agriculture.
When looking at a new piece of land, find out how it was farmed. Repeated use of machinery could mean compacted soils. If chemicals were used to control insects, weeds, or diseases, you will have to farm organically for three years before you can legally call your goods organic.
Has Anyone Plowed the Land Before?
A field that has been used for pasture may not have been plowed or renovated. If so, boulders or even ledge may be lurking just beneath the surface. One indication that rocks have already been cleared is the presence of stone walls. The picturesque walls around New England that date back to colonial times were built more out of necessity than for aesthetics. Rocks in the field were lugged to the perimeter and stacked in rows to create those now-scenic walls.
How Frequently Was the Land Tilled?
There are good and bad answers to this question. Land that has been cleared, plowed, and tilled should be relatively free of rocks. But a long history of being worked by farm machinery could mean compacted soil, erosion, and the loss of nutrients and humus. The ideal field is one that has been used in a regular crop rotation, with minimal tilling performed to incorporate cover crops and organic matter into the topsoil.
Are Any Diseases Lingering in the Soil?
Knowing about past diseases will help you prevent them in the future—or could give you pause about whether the land is right for your purpose. For example, one of the worst diseases for a vegetable farmer is clubroot, which affects cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, mustards, and other Brassicas, severely stunting their growth and even wiping out the crop. Once clubroot is in the soil, its spores can live for a decade. And if it’s in one field, a farmer must clean and disinfect equipment before working another field to prevent the disease from spreading. The bottom line, says Mitchell, “You don’t want soil that has been contaminated with clubroot.”
What Kinds of Weeds Are Present?
Perennial weeds like bindweed, quackgrass, and yellow nutsedge are difficult to eradicate because broken bits of roots and plant material can sprout new weeds. One of the most pernicious of annual weeds, Galinsoga, can spread thousands of seeds that germinate, grow to maturity, and release more seeds in a matter of weeks. If the previous farmer has controlled the weed-seed banks (eliminated weeds before they went to seed), crops will be easier to grow. And if weed-killing cover crops were planted and the fields were mowed around the perimeter to prevent incursions into growing areas, fewer unwanted seeds will be waiting to be raked to the surface where they can germinate.
Weeds that go to flower and seed near your vegetable fields can create a nuisance for years to come. But a well-planned meadow garden somewhere on the property will increase diversity and encourage beneficial insects.
Did the Previous Owner. Sell the Topsoil?
I once looked at farm property that had been stripped of its topsoil. The farmer or previous owner had sold the loam from his unused fields to a developer, leaving mostly sandy subsoil with little organic matter. A farm that is missing much of its topsoil would create a serious setback for future farmers, potentially requiring seasons of cover cropping and tons of manure, compost, or other organic matter. Finding out general information on a property is helpful, but a site inspection should reveal more details.
After you’ve received all the information you can get from the previous landowner, public records, and local historians, you can look for more answers online.
Creative Ways to Find Farmland
Want to farm but can’t afford to buy land? One solution may be to hook up with a farmer who wants to sell or lease his land with a creative financing option. Some retiring farmers will offer flexible terms and financing options just to ensure that their properties are passed on to others who want to continue the farm.
Land Link programs in many states look to pair young and old
