Absolutely fantastic! This is how a small farm starts, grows, and does not fail. Only thing I have to add be flexible, you might need to move around goals if opportunities arise. My largest money saving part of my start up is old tractors. I buy them cheap needing repairs, I put the effort into fixing them over time instead of all at once. The nice thing is they were not designed to wear out. They were designed to be rebuilt and repaired over and over again. I've got $5,000 into a tractor that does everything I need except loader work. To buy the same tractor size, horse power, and ability wise new would be $40,000+. I see this as I saved $35,000 on starting my farm.
Evan - I know you've gone over your goals for 2023. I'd love to see you review your 5 year plan and tell us what's changed, if you're ahead/behind schedule, etc. Peace
A wise man said, "If you fail to plan then you plan to fail". You and Rebekka are both intelligent and industrious and I have little doubt your plans will be successful.
One thing I did when I had my company. I got a credit card that was used only for business purchases. It was paid off monthly so there was no debt. Everything was bought with that card and there were always reciepts.
57 now. Had our farm for 27 years. Much of your progression is what I have just been through. I like the idea of white building for hay storage. we don't let our round bales get wet ever. goes from the ground and transported 2 at a time by tractor to our barn, stacked 3 high, or for fields further away, we load 10 onto a hay wagon(75hp tractor) and transport to the barn and unload. If we store on a concrete or dirt floor shed, we have to use pallets as the concrete and ground both will draw moisture and the bottom of the bales can spoil.
I have the same plans but are about 4 years ahead. I’ve been selling all my hay and haven’t gotten any cattle; mostly due to my job. Now, it looks like my job is ending, I’m 52 and ready to stop working a regular job anyways. I would very much enjoy working at farming and raising about 15 head of cattle. I was raised farming and want to get back to it!!!
Set up an expenses email account for the business and as you buy/sell things take a picture of the receipt to email to that account so you always have a copy of it. Pay for a receipt book with the business letterhead on it for when you sell things so you both have the paper trail and make it harder for someone to fake something.
@@southwestwifarm3516 The problem with using an app for it is unless it is a huge name one ($$$) they can vanish overnight taking all the stored data with them when they shut down like a number of failed businesses have done in the past. Setting up a gmail account for the business or even building an email server and buying a website mean you have a lot more control over what you have archived.
Evan, you have a great plan in place for the next five years and you have come a long way from when you and Rebecca started. If you keep on the pace you have been going, you will make your dream come true and I admire both of you for having full time jobs and making the farm a success. Both of you have worked hard to make this happen and you deserve the best, Good luck.
I find you to be a wise young man you will do well ! As you have said with your 5 year plan . Do these thing while your young because it just gets harder after 50 . Best wishes and GOD bless
Keep up on all the hard work you two do and it will work out. Life always changes, so adjust your plans as you need to. What you want now may not be what you will want next year. Always love watching your show.
I grew up on a farm and my dad always mention "the darn BANK" and I knew from a very young age to stay clean of Debt and you will be fine. I am planning on retirement when I wake up dead one morning. A farmers job is never done, NEVER!. Good luck!
I enjoyed your post at several levels; first your own positive attitude, second your commitment to forward planning and strong convictions at the beginning, and your clear demonstration that farm reality is always different from original optimistic plans. I waited till retirement before building up farm assets and farming-that is an uphill battle. New farmers tend to overestimate the incomes and underestimate the costs-perhaps it is psychological.
Enjoyed watching this. Great business insight. My plan stretches out 7 yrs. I like to put my bigger infrastructure expenses (fencing and handling systems, etc) on a separate sheet that factors in that 7 years. I then divide those expenses by 7 and spread the load over 7 years. This helps me to not get discouraged by the fact that year one will be so bulky expense-wise for me. Keep up the great work. Excited to be watching someone else building a farm business too. Let’s see where it goes! 😄 -the Shepherdess
The roof is by far the most important part of any farm building. Make sure you get a good one on that bank barn and check the sills all the way around as they are the first places to rot.
Thanks for an opening that either encourages us that spring is near or makes us feel bad because it is cold and we have a lot of snow on the ground. It is not really cold.
Hi You're are doing pretty good from what I can see. I was surprised you are 44! It is an age where things can start to wear out knees etc and you can get injured easily doing ordinary things. You will need to take care of your health from now on in. Life is hard with injuries, I know that myself. Good luck.
Sounds like a great plan to me. I'm 59 and was planning on a early retirement too. Went to work in the gas and oil industry at 19 years old and thank God my health is still pretty good. My plans have changed, so now I'm hoping to retire at 63 wiith 44 years in the same business I think that will be a great time to hang it up. Wish you all the best.
I’ll be right here. 5, 10, 15 years. I frikin love what you’re doing. And actually kind of jealous. I wish I could do the same thing. You have shit figured out. Your farm is going to be absolutely beautiful. I’ll patiently wait for the journey. Quite awesome.
I am Polish, I have been living and working in England for 7 years. We live in a time of highly developed digitization and for me it is amazing that while drinking coffee in the morning I can watch a man across the ocean. When I was 6, my brother and I only had an old bicycle. There are also a lot of small farms in my country of origin, so watching you I understand your plans and problems. greetings
Seen from Joel Salatin where he would contain his cows through the winter to collect up the manure mixed with the hay they didn't eat. Then in the spring spread it through the fields. Could help tremendously on producing your own compost. I believe he also worked the pigs through it also. Cows produce a lot of gold for soil amending. Great to see another's way of planning. Helps the community see how others are doing things, could be something the next may need to run their farm more efficiently.
Great plan and impressive how much you've already accomplished without going into debt and busting your butt. Keep chipping away at it, you'll be amazed when you look back in 5 years.
Gosh, I remember the first video's I watched. All you had was a coop and some chicken's. It jas been fun watching you build your property and channel! I'm in it for the long run 🤣
I have faith that you can do it!! Looking forward to following you and Rebekah on your homestead/farming journey ❤️ As always, thanks for sharing. It's always a great morning when I get to watch one of your videos
Making a good business plan is also the most important part here in south-west Germany. Lots of farmers here with plenty of land and knowledge how to grow etc.. But they lack the business part. Since the 1980s, universities support the farmers here, in return the students can work there as part of their study. Since then, most of the farmers live just like you plan to live. Debt free, living from what they have, the land.
Wow, fantastic! I love how simple yet well thought out your plan is. Can hardly wait to see it all come true. I watch your channel consistently. It's one of the best.
I have been so enjoying your path to early retirement! You have clearly given it a lot of thought and we have been watching you work toward your goals. I wish you all the best in achieving your debt-free small farm! Debt free is the way to go!
We set up our vineyard in a similar fashion. Our biggest mistake was letting our daughter get horses. The horses now take up all of the land and every bit of extra cash. It makes our daughter very happy, but is very bad for business. We plan to raise sheep and cattle some day and expand the vineyard, but to do that the horses need to go.
You omitted your driveshed build. Really looking forward to following your build on that one. All in all great job on all of your record keeping, goals and projections. Still the best channel on RUclips!
Awesome plans Even You and Rebekah work so hard and I know and seen what you have already achieved. Your both will do well forfilling your future goals.. God bless you both.
GREAT VIDEO setting out your achievements and your future 5 year goal in so much detail. Did I miss it ? as i did nor hear you mention the New Pole Barn/Workshop etc which in earlier video was happening this spring. Wishing you both success in you goals and dream.
It sounds like a good plan. Good luck. I went back and looked at the video of what the farm looked like when you purchased it. You have made a lot of progress.
The shop you have up front and to turn it into a live sock barn. you will have to dig down until you get below all chemical spillage because of the huge problem!!. Also the drive way to the barn up front. You will alot of work and money!!!
Good that you have goals. "Where there is no vision, the people perish...". I quit with livestock two years ago and only do hay now. My suggestion is when you get your round baler try to get one with netwrap as well as string. With netwrap your hay can be stored outdoors end to end if need-be with little to no waste. I kept a spreadsheet every year on the farm, it helps at tax time.
Looks like a good plan. I retired at the age of 54 (three years ago), bought a little land (5.5 acres), house and a tractor. Just remember, the body isn't as young as it was ten years ago. I hope you were able to take your losses off on your taxes? Best to you and your family. Cheers from Central Oregon
Sounds like a good plan well thought out. Good luck with it. Just from my experience with farming in our area, 40 acres is a very small farm with very small profits. At the end of your 5th calendar year, can you really sustain without a second job ? That's why small family farms are now in the 200 to 500 acre farms.
You have laid out a nice long term plan that shows a lot of thought. I didn’t hear you mention the new pole barn project. Is that still in the plans for this year? Lots of work in front of you but having a plan in place helps you set attainable goals. Looking forward to following along on the journey. Thanks for including us. God bless. Stay safe. Bruce from Mason Michigan
Inspirational! I'm working towards the same goal as we transition from suburban life in MO to our new ranch in Ohio. You've given me some great thoughts about what I should be working on regarding the business plan. Thanks!
I like your goals and the approach you have taken to achieve them. I know you can do all of those things with help from your family. My goal is to follow you all the way through to completion. Good luck, I’ll be watching and cheering you on all the way.
Wow. Honestly, as I've been following your channel, I truly thought you were just rounding 30 years old. When you said several episodes back that you don't do Christmas the same since the kids are grown, it kinda threw me! You two do look young and I thought you were all just starting out, and I'm thinking you started out young with the kids, too! I'll just say I'm in my late 40's and my oldest is nearing 23. I was 26 when we had the first one. I guess your kids didn't cause you too much grief since you look young. 😁
Sounds like a good plan. I wish that I had got started at your age (or even younger). I'm 10 years older than you and just getting the new "retirement home" built on our 35 acres. God willing we will be moving in by June or July. Our "farming" is going to be on a very scaled down basis with a garden, fruit/nut trees and a few animals (goats, chickens and maybe pigs). I originally wanted to retire by 55 (this year), but it looks like I might have to work a few more years. Good luck and I look forward to following along.
admire your planning my friend and may God bless you on your endeavor ,,,,,did not see where the new building you were planning was included,,,,have I missed something????
Absolutely fantastic! This is how a small farm starts, grows, and does not fail. Only thing I have to add be flexible, you might need to move around goals if opportunities arise. My largest money saving part of my start up is old tractors. I buy them cheap needing repairs, I put the effort into fixing them over time instead of all at once. The nice thing is they were not designed to wear out. They were designed to be rebuilt and repaired over and over again. I've got $5,000 into a tractor that does everything I need except loader work. To buy the same tractor size, horse power, and ability wise new would be $40,000+. I see this as I saved $35,000 on starting my farm.
Evan - I know you've gone over your goals for 2023. I'd love to see you review your 5 year plan and tell us what's changed, if you're ahead/behind schedule, etc. Peace
I was gonna say that, maybe I missed a video somewhere but I'm very curious !
Trust in the Lord and keep him in your life and your dreams will come true . God bless you both.
A wise man said, "If you fail to plan then you plan to fail". You and Rebekka are both intelligent and industrious and I have little doubt your plans will be successful.
Ah yes... 'The Pheonix' said that.
He's VERY mysterious ;)
Plans sometimes fail though. It's a 50 50 chance
One thing I did when I had my company. I got a credit card that was used only for business purchases. It was paid off monthly so there was no debt. Everything was bought with that card and there were always reciepts.
Plans: God willing and the Creek don't rise"" as my Grampa used to say. I wish you success!
57 now. Had our farm for 27 years. Much of your progression is what I have just been through. I like the idea of white building for hay storage. we don't let our round bales get wet ever. goes from the ground and transported 2 at a time by tractor to our barn, stacked 3 high, or for fields further away, we load 10 onto a hay wagon(75hp tractor) and transport to the barn and unload. If we store on a concrete or dirt floor shed, we have to use pallets as the concrete and ground both will draw moisture and the bottom of the bales can spoil.
I have the same plans but are about 4 years ahead. I’ve been selling all my hay and haven’t gotten any cattle; mostly due to my job. Now, it looks like my job is ending, I’m 52 and ready to stop working a regular job anyways. I would very much enjoy working at farming and raising about 15 head of cattle. I was raised farming and want to get back to it!!!
Set up an expenses email account for the business and as you buy/sell things take a picture of the receipt to email to that account so you always have a copy of it.
Pay for a receipt book with the business letterhead on it for when you sell things so you both have the paper trail and make it harder for someone to fake something.
Actually lots of apps that would streamline that idea
@@southwestwifarm3516 The problem with using an app for it is unless it is a huge name one ($$$) they can vanish overnight taking all the stored data with them when they shut down like a number of failed businesses have done in the past.
Setting up a gmail account for the business or even building an email server and buying a website mean you have a lot more control over what you have archived.
@@TheUserid82 I use the free adobe scanner and save to Google Drive. Easy, digital, and organized by date.
Evan, you have a great plan in place for the next five years and you have come a long way from when you and Rebecca started. If you keep on the pace you have been going, you will make your dream come true and I admire both of you for having full time jobs and making the farm a success. Both of you have worked hard to make this happen and you deserve the best, Good luck.
There goes the man with a Master Plan, I wish you good luck.
I find you to be a wise young man you will do well ! As you have said with your 5 year plan . Do these thing while your young because it just gets harder after 50 . Best wishes and GOD bless
Keep up on all the hard work you two do and it will work out.
Life always changes, so adjust your plans as you need to.
What you want now may not be what you will want next year.
Always love watching your show.
I grew up on a farm and my dad always mention "the darn BANK" and I knew from a very young age to stay clean of Debt and you will be fine. I am planning on retirement when I wake up dead one morning. A farmers job is never done, NEVER!. Good luck!
U can't fault a man with a plan. Keep up the great work, l will be watching.
I enjoyed your post at several levels; first your own positive attitude, second your commitment to forward planning and strong convictions at the beginning, and your clear demonstration that farm reality is always different from original optimistic plans. I waited till retirement before building up farm assets and farming-that is an uphill battle. New farmers tend to overestimate the incomes and underestimate the costs-perhaps it is psychological.
Enjoyed watching this. Great business insight. My plan stretches out 7 yrs. I like to put my bigger infrastructure expenses (fencing and handling systems, etc) on a separate sheet that factors in that 7 years. I then divide those expenses by 7 and spread the load over 7 years.
This helps me to not get discouraged by the fact that year one will be so bulky expense-wise for me.
Keep up the great work. Excited to be watching someone else building a farm business too. Let’s see where it goes! 😄
-the Shepherdess
The roof is by far the most important part of any farm building. Make sure you get a good one on that bank barn and check the sills all the way around as they are the first places to rot.
Right ? If the roof is sound, then the rest usually follows !
I love your shows....they are the one show my wife and I watch all of the time!!!
I’m exactly two years behind you in age & I like where you are heading. Keep it up!!
You are my entertainment every day.Every day i watch your videoś.
Thanks for an opening that either encourages us that spring is near or makes us feel bad because it is cold and we have a lot of snow on the ground. It is not really cold.
Keep it coming for the next 5 yrs
Hi You're are doing pretty good from what I can see.
I was surprised you are 44! It is an age where things can start to wear out knees etc and you can get injured easily doing ordinary things. You will need to take care of your health from now on in. Life is hard with injuries, I know that myself. Good luck.
Can’t wait to see it come together!
Sounds like a great plan to me. I'm 59 and was planning on a early retirement too. Went to work in the gas and oil industry at 19 years old and thank God my health is still pretty good. My plans have changed, so now I'm hoping to retire at 63 wiith 44 years in the same business I think that will be a great time to hang it up. Wish you all the best.
I’ll be right here. 5, 10, 15 years. I frikin love what you’re doing. And actually kind of jealous. I wish I could do the same thing. You have shit figured out. Your farm is going to be absolutely beautiful. I’ll patiently wait for the journey. Quite awesome.
A good, solid plan. I’ll be with you along the way as you work toward your goals. My husband and I truly enjoy your channel.🐄
I am Polish, I have been living and working in England for 7 years. We live in a time of highly developed digitization and for me it is amazing that while drinking coffee in the morning I can watch a man across the ocean. When I was 6, my brother and I only had an old bicycle. There are also a lot of small farms in my country of origin, so watching you I understand your plans and problems. greetings
😊 Good morning.
Way to go!!! 👏👏👏
It's always Good to have a plan. God bless you folks. 🙏☝️ I shall see you in the next video. 💞💞
Seen from Joel Salatin where he would contain his cows through the winter to collect up the manure mixed with the hay they didn't eat. Then in the spring spread it through the fields. Could help tremendously on producing your own compost. I believe he also worked the pigs through it also. Cows produce a lot of gold for soil amending. Great to see another's way of planning. Helps the community see how others are doing things, could be something the next may need to run their farm more efficiently.
Great guy! Wish you have a big success! Will stay with you for the next five years!!!
Great plan and impressive how much you've already accomplished without going into debt and busting your butt. Keep chipping away at it, you'll be amazed when you look back in 5 years.
You got big goals! I wish you all the luck in the world.
Gosh, I remember the first video's I watched. All you had was a coop and some chicken's. It jas been fun watching you build your property and channel! I'm in it for the long run 🤣
Love your plans. I only wish I had those desires when I was your age. Really enjoy watching you build your future.
And we will all be there right along with you, great plan
I really liked this video. I think your plan is top-notch! Good luck!
I’ll be following for at least the next five years
Good to have goals and a plan! I enjoy watching your progress.
I love watching your videos. Good luck with all your goals.
I have faith that you can do it!! Looking forward to following you and Rebekah on your homestead/farming journey ❤️ As always, thanks for sharing. It's always a great morning when I get to watch one of your videos
44 years old? I would have guessed 28. Love your videos. I learn a lot.
Making a good business plan is also the most important part here in south-west Germany. Lots of farmers here with plenty of land and knowledge how to grow etc.. But they lack the business part. Since the 1980s, universities support the farmers here, in return the students can work there as part of their study. Since then, most of the farmers live just like you plan to live. Debt free, living from what they have, the land.
You are a smart man ,I know you will accomplish ,Lord Willing , what you go out to do love you guys
Sounds like a solid plan. I wish you all the luck and look forward to watching your dream become a reality.
You both have done so well this far! Keep the positive thoughts, plan and work hard, it'll all happen for you👍❤
A great man once said "I have a dream." I hope yours comes to fruition without too many stumbles, Pete from Downunder
Wow, fantastic! I love how simple yet well thought out your plan is. Can hardly wait to see it all come true. I watch your channel consistently. It's one of the best.
Good luck and look forward to watching your dream become a reality.
I have been so enjoying your path to early retirement! You have clearly given it a lot of thought and we have been watching you work toward your goals. I wish you all the best in achieving your debt-free small farm! Debt free is the way to go!
We set up our vineyard in a similar fashion. Our biggest mistake was letting our daughter get horses. The horses now take up all of the land and every bit of extra cash. It makes our daughter very happy, but is very bad for business. We plan to raise sheep and cattle some day and expand the vineyard, but to do that the horses need to go.
It might be cheaper to board them. I feel your pain though.
This was well explained. A realistic plan in my view. All the best from Kingsville Ontario.
Good video, very interesting to see how other farms plan and budget, keep building that farm while you have the golden chain of a “city job”!
Great plan! Good info for anyone else wanting to start a farm. Can't wait to see how this all works out.
I appreciate you sharing your expenses. Most don’t do that and it doesn’t really help
"We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it." Proverbs 16:9
Good luck Evan and best wishes from Romania been a long time since i started folowing you and your journey .
Great work last year! Looking forward to seeing your 2021!
I'm 34 and going back to school for a new career. Hang tough and your farm will succeed. It's never too late to pursue your dreams.
You omitted your driveshed build. Really looking forward to following your build on that one. All in all great job on all of your record keeping, goals and projections. Still the best channel on RUclips!
Very exciting! Looking forward to seeing you reach your goals.
I like the plan. Good luck & keep all your receipts 😁
You're well on your way and have a solid plan.
Good luck with all you plans! 😊👍🏻
I'm SO excited to see how your plan progresses! A plan makes it so much clearer. Good Luck!
Awesome plans Even You and Rebekah work so hard and I know and seen what you have already achieved. Your both will do well forfilling your future goals.. God bless you both.
Well I'd say you did really well this year. Congratulations!
GREAT VIDEO setting out your achievements and your future 5 year goal in so much detail. Did I miss it ? as i did nor hear you mention the New Pole Barn/Workshop etc which in earlier video was happening this spring.
Wishing you both success in you goals and dream.
How exciting!! Thanks for sharing the vision for your farm. Can’t wait to see the progress.
Sounds great! Praying all goes well!
Great video. Right up my alley since I'm about to try and do something similar in the next few years.
It sounds like a good plan. Good luck. I went back and looked at the video of what the farm looked like when you purchased it. You have made a lot of progress.
The shop you have up front and to turn it into a live sock barn. you will have to dig down until you get below all chemical spillage because of the huge problem!!. Also the drive way to the barn up front. You will alot of work and money!!!
Wow you are committed to reaching your goals and I wish you much success. Keep to achieving what you want to do. Hopefully your wife can retire too.
You have a great plan, good luck to you reaching your goals.
Good that you have goals. "Where there is no vision, the people perish...". I quit with livestock two years ago and only do hay now. My suggestion is when you get your round baler try to get one with netwrap as well as string. With netwrap your hay can be stored outdoors end to end if need-be with little to no waste. I kept a spreadsheet every year on the farm, it helps at tax time.
Looks like a good plan. I retired at the age of 54 (three years ago), bought a little land (5.5 acres), house and a tractor. Just remember, the body isn't as young as it was ten years ago. I hope you were able to take your losses off on your taxes? Best to you and your family. Cheers from Central Oregon
Working a day job along with building a small farm is a lot of work, great job on the budget. Round bales make sense. Thanks from Georgian Bay.
Awesome goals. Gods blessings to you and your farm.
Goodness, you had your children at a young age! Here in Britain a lot of men have their first child at your age!
I was 45 when I had my first. Now I'm 50 with two. Still want to farm, but the window of opportunity is getting smaller... But first, a vasectomy.
Thanks for sharing your aspirations with us. I'll be watching you!
What great goals. You are keeping things realistic. Praying for much success for you!
I envy those like yourself who can make a long term plan and stick with it. I'm lacking in that department, lol.
Sounds like a good plan well thought out. Good luck with it. Just from my experience with farming in our area, 40 acres is a very small farm with very small profits.
At the end of your 5th calendar year, can you really sustain without a second job ?
That's why small family farms are now in the 200 to 500 acre farms.
Way to go, enjoyed the video, planning and looking to the future, we're with you. Good luck.
I look forward to seeing your round baler.
I wish you the best! I enjoyed watching your videos. Thank you
You have laid out a nice long term plan that shows a lot of thought. I didn’t hear you mention the new pole barn project. Is that still in the plans for this year? Lots of work in front of you but having a plan in place helps you set attainable goals.
Looking forward to following along on the journey. Thanks for including us.
God bless. Stay safe.
Bruce from Mason Michigan
Inspirational! I'm working towards the same goal as we transition from suburban life in MO to our new ranch in Ohio. You've given me some great thoughts about what I should be working on regarding the business plan. Thanks!
I just bought a farm in Ohio
Very best of luck Evan, keep yourself fit as injury or serious illness can seriously mess up plans
,,good idea to have a plan, good one, stay safe...
1st thing is to square up that hay field ! It's too much work to bale up a triangle field !
Takes great courage to put your business out there like that! I wish you continued success!
I like your goals and the approach you have taken to achieve them. I know you can do all of those things with help from your family. My goal is to follow you all the way through to completion. Good luck, I’ll be watching and cheering you on all the way.
Wow. Honestly, as I've been following your channel, I truly thought you were just rounding 30 years old. When you said several episodes back that you don't do Christmas the same since the kids are grown, it kinda threw me! You two do look young and I thought you were all just starting out, and I'm thinking you started out young with the kids, too! I'll just say I'm in my late 40's and my oldest is nearing 23. I was 26 when we had the first one. I guess your kids didn't cause you too much grief since you look young. 😁
Good luck with your plans stay positive.
And healthy !
A John deere 335 round baler are easy to run with the amount of horse power you have and are simple to fix
Yes, that is one on my list to look for.
Sounds like a good plan. I wish that I had got started at your age (or even younger). I'm 10 years older than you and just getting the new "retirement home" built on our 35 acres. God willing we will be moving in by June or July. Our "farming" is going to be on a very scaled down basis with a garden, fruit/nut trees and a few animals (goats, chickens and maybe pigs). I originally wanted to retire by 55 (this year), but it looks like I might have to work a few more years. Good luck and I look forward to following along.
admire your planning my friend and may God bless you on your endeavor ,,,,,did not see where the new building you were planning was included,,,,have I missed something????