HOBBY FARMS

This month we would like to talk about the problem of actually buying your farm.

There are many aspects to consider. 

• How far is it from the nearest public transport?  Now you may not think this matters too much, if you are giving up your jobs to "go on the land".  This can have a huge impact on your outcome.  What happens if your dreams of  being self sufficent don't work out.  Someone in the family is going to have to find work.

• Okay, okay, you have two cars, you don't need the public transport system.  You can get there under your own steam.  Well, what if you decided that the way to bring in more money was to run a B & B.  How do your prospective guests get there.  Yes, most people do have a car, but some like the elderly do not and rely heavily on public transport to get to where they are going.  That could be a source of revenue, you have just eliminated.

• What are the roads like?  Sealed or dirt.  If dirt, do they have bridges that flood.  Does that pretty creek down the bottom of your property near the front gate ever flood?  If so, and you are wanting to transport stock to market, how do you get through.  In fact, how on earth do you get to town for food? 

• Can you cope with being cut off from everyone if it floods?  Do you keep a well stocked larder.  You will need to.  You would need to have either tinned, preserved or frozen food that you can rely on.  Otherwise, you may have a house cow that gives you milk, cream and butter, some chooks that give you eggs and quantities of flour to make bread with.  Some staples like spreads in the pantry and meat and vegetables in the freezer, you will be able to survive, quite well. 

• These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself.  If you have fallen in love with the place, then you won't consider any of these problems.  However, if you are going off to buy a place, then there should be a check list of things that the place must have and things you really CAN'T cope with. 

• One really critical one is does it have plenty of water.  Bore, rainwater tanks, dams etc.  This may not be as crucial if you are in a high rainfall area.

• Try not to buy a parcel of land that you have to travel through another persons property to get to your front gate.  Everything could be great in the beginning but if people fall out, it can get ugly.  We have seen where large logs have been put across the entrance gate to stop people going through.  Some have padlocked the gate and the people couldn't get in to their home.  Not very nice and certainly doesn't lead to a happy carefree existence that you may have dreamed of by going to the country.