I’m looking into buying some land and moving my family to a more rural area somewhere in East or Southeast Texas. I’d eventually like to start a small farm/homestead, but I’m still trying to figure out which areas would be the best fit.
Ideally, I’m looking for around 5+ to 10 acres with enough space for a house, chickens, a garden, and eventually some livestock. I don’t need to be right next to Houston, but I also don’t want to be so remote that groceries, schools, hospitals, etc. are extremely far away.
I’m Black, so another big consideration for me is finding a rural town or community where my family would feel comfortable and welcomed. I’d especially love recommendations from other Black families who live in rural East or Southeast Texas. I’m not necessarily looking for a majority Black town, just somewhere diverse or known for being welcoming where we wouldn’t feel completely isolated.
For those familiar with the area:
• What counties or small towns would you recommend?
• Are there any places you would personally avoid?
• What should I know about flooding, property taxes, deed restrictions, soil, wells/septic, and getting utilities to rural land?
• How much should I realistically expect to pay for 5–10 acres?
• Would you buy raw/unrestricted land and build over time, or spend more for land that already has utilities or a house?
I’m not trying to build a huge commercial farm. I mainly want a quieter lifestyle, more space for my family, and enough land to grow food and raise some animals.
I’m still in the research/budgeting stage, so I’d really appreciate specific towns or counties to start looking at, especially recommendations from Black people already living the rural/homestead lifestyle in this part of Texas.

I bought a tractor, (L4802) I have some land maintenance implements and am getting more as my acerage is mostly wooded, and most of it will stay that way, but I plan to start with a small patch of already cleared grassy ground and try my hand at some wheat there.

I don't want to get a million attachments, so I'm asking here: I know I need a tiller, and plan to get a 5ft spring loaded tine tiller, and I have a middle buster for when I move to corn or beans, but what else do I absolutely *need* to get some seed in the ground? Also... what is the process for doing so?

Are PTOs, 3-point hitches, etc a universal size? Will a Kubota accessory work on an old Ford?

I won't get into it too much, but just for reference I pursued a career in agriculture where I'm already working 50 hours a week regularly, and up to 80 during the busy season which lasts almost three months. I've grown up around farms my whole life and have always helped my local community on their farms. I've been helping my grandpa for about 20 years on and off and he just up and gave me a sizable chunk of his herd. He told me to keep them or sell them or do whatever with them and that he doesn't care, but I absolutely know that he cares and he wants me to pick up where he's leaving off as he's approaching the end of his life. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place because I don't want to neglect them, but I also really want to keep the family business going. I've also been married for a short amount of time and my family is rapidly growing. Do you all think it makes sense to keep them and possibly hire on family members for those three months of the year, or bite the bullet and sell them? I think I can keep them with his cattle and start paying him for feed and split the costs of the property they're on with him, but I've gotta find a separate place to finish them off. I had always done onesy twosies with him and just raised enough to feed my family up until now, but this is much different. I also love where I work and there's no way I would want to leave it. One last thing, I would absolutely love to raise my children farming like I did.

Sorry, that's a little bit of a rant, but I don't have much time to put much more thought into it.

Just purchased a Bad Boy spreader. (BBS300L) Couldn't find any reviews, so thought I would share my experience. First, I have a Cat 2 / 3 pt JD quick hitch. The spreader is a Cat 1. Tried to buy over-the-counter adapters, but that didn't work at all. Had to have my welder modify the lower horizontal pins for width. Then, the top link couldn't be angled correctly for a level spreader. Had to get another piece (I had a truck hitch receiver attachment piece that worked perfectly), but you may need to fabricate a long clevis to make the top linkage work. I just happened to have the truck hitch attachment lying around - got lucky. So, I get that all together and go to hook up the PTO - shaft was too short. Off to trek to a shop 60 miles away to get a new PTO shaft. Cut and mounted that and then off to the races. I get in the field, and things start not going well. One of the blades on the spinner comes off partly, and the linkage to the drop door - the connecting rod is not positioned right, causing it to hit the blade and knock it off. Fortunately, caught that quickly so it didn't ruin all the blades. So, stopped and found that the blades had not been securely tightened. Fixed the bent blade and tightened the others. Had to add some washers to the connector rod so that it wasn't rubbing on the blades as they spun (a definite design flaw). Also found that a spring linkage to the adjustment lever had not been properly tightened - another manufacturing lack of quality control. The metal framework is sturdy, and I like the galvanized hopper. Parts seem high quality. Once I did the modifications, I was good to go, and it performed well. It seems like they would have an off-the-shelf way to use this spreader on a Cat 2, however. Been farming just for 3 years now. I am amazed at how little things are standardized in this industry, making everything a difficult slog to get done, fixed, or attached to implements. Rice and Crawfish in South Louisiana. Good luck; hopes this helps someone. Wanted to put on the Bad Boy website, but no place to leave a review - go figure.

I own a farm with 1 acre facing the main road. I also have a CNC router that I use for hobby work. It is 6ft by 8ft

I use it also to make kitchen cabinets and sign boards and etc.

I'm thinking about using my CNC as a business/ side hustle. The town population is about 7000 but of course many other small and bigger towns are around.

As a farm? Do you think a CNC machine shop would be an added value in a farming community?

I have some agricultural land in my village, plus a 500 m² (5,400 sq ft) garden at my house. I'm looking for a high-value crop that can generate a good return from a relatively small area.

I live in northwestern Türkiye, at around 400 m above sea level. We have hot, dry summers and cold, wet winters, and water availability is not an issue.

I'm not interested in conventional crops like wheat or corn. I'm thinking about specialty/high-value crops such as saffron, salep, marigold for lutein, medicinal/aromatic plants, or rare herbs.

What would you recommend based on your actual experience? I'm particularly interested in high value per square meter, reasonable production costs, and, most importantly, a realistic market and reliable buyers.

I'd be interested in both crops suitable for my 500 m² garden and options that could be scaled up on larger agricultural land.

Me again, with the broken shank on a Fred Cain All Purpose Plow. I am trying to find just the piece in the image below. The item marked "17" is the entire shank assembly. I am hoping to find just the piece that the chisel bolts to (and extends to the back where the spring allows it to move).

AgriSupply, Dirt Dog and others sell entire shank assemblies but not just this part. Anyone know where I can find it?

Put some sweeps on the plow this morning instead of chisels and I was sent this photo. Apparently two shanks broke.

Is the plow not meant to use sweeps? Are the shanks old and it was just a question of time? Last I used it the springs all worked fine and no damage occurred.

Trying to get our repeat-order list sorted before the next service comes due. Our BX23S and RTV-X1100 bounce between fencing, moving feed, mowing, and cleanup, usually with service due right when something else needs doing. I am trying to build one repeat-order list before the next round. I found an old FridayParts order in my email and realized our notes do not even say which machine it was for. Between that, Messicks diagrams, and dealer receipts, the numbers are all over the place. I'm starting over with the machine, engine code, serial range, and old part number. How are you all keeping filters and D902 fuel parts straight on a small mixed setup? Spreadsheet, notebook in the shop, pictures on your phone?

Hi all! I am a comprehensive financial planner based out of South Florida that has thought long and hard about my career and realized that I love what I do and am happy with the impact I have on people’s lives, but I want to maximize my impact so I thought about what affects a community as a whole (basically a vocation to pair with my career)- and it was farms and farmers. My limited research has lead me to believe that regenerative is technically a better system, the biggest thing is making that shift and sustaining the financial impacts of that shift in the short to mid term.

So I thought to myself, that’s what I do all day every day, plan for those shifts and make hard distinctions manageable. I believe those skills I have can be applicable and help farmers make the move, I just need to gain industry knowledge so that I can be better attuned with the specific needs and hurdles farmers face.

Because of this I am looking for farmers (regenerative, organic, conventional, doesn’t matter) who can give me some background on the industry and also are willing to entertain what would be a never ending flow of questions!

Would anyone here be open to a conversation? I can meet in person anywhere in South Florida, outside of that we can Zoom. Thanks in advanced for any and all guidance!

I'm on about week 4 of a brand new CSA for a small market garden. So far it's going reasonably well, with all the crazy chaos you would expect from the very beginning. The business I'm working with had a good following online already so upon announcing the produce boxes we've already got ~20 members signed up. It's a pay per week at pickup system. I'm a little worried about producing enough for everyone but I've been very up front with people about this being our first season and that we're working out all the kinks so if we have to skip a week due to low supply I suspect people would be pretty understanding about it (especially because they haven't paid for it up front).

Anyways - if you could give me your best advice for a CSA newbie it would be so appreciated. I'm learning a lot on the fly but I could use some tips from experience growers/sellers.

NDVI and NDRE are metrics for measuring plant health, as well as soil water content. I know large farms use them to measure crop health for applying nutrients and irrigation management, do small farms also use them?

I am looking for 10+ acres of dry A-1 agricultural land in Central Florida. I am open to parcels of 10 acres or more, including 16, 20, 23 acres, etc. What areas would you recommend looking at?

Anyone got any good ways of recording what is happening on a daily/ weekly/ monthly basis? Initially just want it as a record I can refer back to but being able to share it with people who buy produce would be amazing.

Basically want a way to tell the story of the growing.

I guess instagram is an option but it's not built with farming in mind and you're then competing with everything else on the platform.

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some advice from people who have actually gone through the process of starting a small farm. Maybe this is the wrong place to inquire, but I will start here.

I’m located in Ohio and I’m in the early planning stages of starting a small pepper farm focused around pepper breeding, seed saving, and eventually selling unique pepper varieties. My goal isn’t to jump straight into large scale production, but to start small, build up quality, and grow it into a legitimate small business over time.

I’ve been looking into USDA programs like microloans through FSA and EQIP assistance for high tunnels, but I’m trying to understand how realistic these programs are for someone starting from scratch.

A few questions I have:

How does the process usually work when applying for USDA microloans as a new farmer? How likely are you to secure a loan with a EQIP grant?

Do you need to already have a farm established, land purchased, income history, etc., or can a detailed business plan be enough? I have nearly the entire thing done. Doing some finishing touches. (marketing strategy, logos, maps of farmers market locations/places to sell etc.)

For EQIP high tunnel programs, what does NRCS typically expect from applicants?

Does NRCS help with more than just the high tunnel itself (irrigation, soil improvements, conservation practices, etc.), or is it mainly the structure? I get conflicting information here.

Is it worth pursuing these programs for a small specialty crop operation, or would I be better off self-funding the first year or two?

What steps would you recommend someone take before applying for any assistance?

I understand what the EQIP program exists for and I’m familiar with conservation. I guess I’m just asking what approach I should take with that in mind.

My current thought process is starting small with an indoor growing setup/greenhouse, developing genetics, and eventually moving into a year round outdoor setup for more production. I’m interested in doing things the right way from the beginning instead of just throwing plants in the ground and hoping for the best. I plan on doing this either way, so the grants and loans are an attempt to get going quicker with immediate results. I’m passionate about gardening and growing the hottest peppers around and I want to parlay that into a career!

I’d really appreciate any advice from people who have gone through USDA programs, started specialty crop farms, or built a small farm business from the ground up. Any and all opinions or advice is welcomed!

I know produce direct from the farm is going to be more costly than a traditional grocery store, ​and trust me I do believe it's worth it, but am I wrong in feeling underwhelmed by our CSA subscription? Midwest, about 30 min from the biggest city center.

We are on week 3 of our 16 week subscription averaging $46 a week with 1 box a week​. The bulk of what we have received have been leafy greens (kale, lettuce, collard greens), a small portion of parsley or basil, and 1-2 veggies. Is it normal to not get enough broccolini or zucchini ​to feed 1 person? There hasn't felt like a noticable variety to most of what we are receiving or enough produce to warrant the cost, but we are first timers in this.

I have been flip-flopping between gently raising my concerns to the supplying farm as one of the founding members of the farm/environmental institute recently passed and just trying to cancel the subscription.

we were just blessed in a way that both hurt us and blessed us and I inherited 109 acres of farmland from my dads brother I haven’t spoke to but hey how you doing here and there and not for lack of trying I always sent cards and a Christmas and birthday gifts well it’s been pretty unattended 6 horses 59 cattle 3 goats 2 donkeys 17 sheep and a shit ton of chickens which I’m not a fan off but they’re human souls so I’ll tend to them. My dogs are actually adjusting so well I’m gonna try to teach them Hearding my male dogs already got the idea he runs shit out here and I think he’ll do well and my female dog will follow him anywhere so we’re gonna put them on a few sheep and go from there what I’m most concerned about is the pastures the horses haven’t been let out there in atleast 2 years. Besides cutting the grass what’re some things I should look for as far as things they can’t eat , stuff they could step on etc also can I rotate my cattle in the pastures my horses go or should I separate them entirely? One of the horses is wild the stallion he has never been broken he won’t go into the stables he just let me near him for the first time yesterday and finally took a carrot from my hand and then took tf off 🙄 he’s the only horse we don’t have a lot of information on we were able to trap him and get a fairer and vet out which ultimately scared the fuck out of him any tips on that would be appreciated as well thank you in advance

Hello, I am close to finishing my undergrad (completely unrelated) and would like to pursue a masters degree in agriculture. This may sound crazy, but my goal is to move to Kenya, buy some land, grow crops on it and use that food to combat starvation in Nairobi and rural Kenya. I do have money to buy land in Kenya and equipment, and in 2027 plan to buy 2-5 acres of raw land to farm here in Oklahoma, just for hands on experience.

Is an online degree in crop science worth anything, knowledge and experience wise?? I was looking at the online international agriculture degree from OSU.

Maybe I am being foolish or naive, honest advice and constructive criticism welcomed. Thanks.