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Starting a farm is an exciting opportunity for people of all ages and experience levels. And if you are looking to use your land as a way to earn an income, you might just be in luck. There are plenty of ways that you can put your property to work for you… if you don’t mind putting in a little work yourself! Today’s tips are brought to you by The Egg Carton Store as just some of many resources to help you get started.
What’s A Farm?
If you only have an acre of land, you may wonder if you are actually considered a farm. Legally, the USDA classifies a farm as anything that produces (or normally produces) just $1000 or more of agricultural products, according to the Hello Homestead blog. This underscores the fact that you don’t have to have a sprawling piece of land to consider yourself a bona fide farmer.
Forming Your Business
As you get started, there are a few things you want to keep in mind. First, you’ll want to create a business structure. For most people, an LLC makes sense. An LLC in Washington comes with some tax advantages, and there is not a lot of paperwork involved in creating this flexible management structure. Do your research first so you know local regulations, and then use an online formation service instead of paying for an attorney.
Get Organized
Unless you’re one of the 14% of people who claim to be perfectly organized, now’s the time to learn great organization habits. When you run a business, you have to be able to access things, like paperwork and records, quickly. Fortunately, we live in the digital age, and you can use this free tool in order to rotate a PDF to suit your needs, then easily share and save to the cloud. PDFs come in handy when you need to save files but don’t want to take up a ton of memory, and they can even be renamed to help you find them easier later on.
Look For Unique Learning Opportunities
When you think of a farm, you probably think of selling fresh vegetables or meat. But a farm can be many things. You might offer unique experiences, such as sleeping in a tree house, fly fishing, or rustic weddings. Cheat Sheet gives you a sneak peek into a few fun campsites that might serve as inspiration.
Get To Know The Laws
There are many laws that dictate what you can and can’t do as a farmer. Cottage Laws are a great example. These types of regulations allow people to produce certain types of foods for sale without a commercial kitchen or food handling license. Even if you do get a commercial license to produce perishable foods, you’ll need to understand basic food safety, handling, and storage procedures. Ohio State University extension offers some great information on that topic.
Stay In The Loop Of Industry News
Farming as an industry is a wide net that encompasses many different areas. Think about what area you’re most closely aligned with, and stay up to date on news that may affect the way that you work and operate your business. You can use online resources, such as the Beginning Farmers website, or reach out to your local co-op or agricultural extension to find out if there are new sources that might help.
Once you have the fundamentals in place, which include the above advice of getting organized, forming an LLC, and understanding local laws, you can then get to work on marketing, pricing, and product development. While the combination of all of these actions may seem overwhelming at first, remember to take things one step at a time. After all, a seed does not grow in a day, and you have to nurture it to bloom, just like you’ll nurture your business to success.
With more than 40 years of experience, The Egg Carton Store can help you find the products you need. Call 866-333-1132.