Homesteady - Stories of Living off the Land

Greg Judy was on the brink of bankruptcy. 3 Yeas later he had paid off his house, 200 acre farm, and went on to buy 3 more farms and lease 12.

How did he earn enough money from grazing livestock?

Find out in this video.

CHECKOUT

GREG JUDY'S CHANNEL 

GREG JUDY'S BOOKS

Comeback Farms 

No Risk Ranching

GREG JUDY'S WEBSITE

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Greg and Jan Judy of Clark, Missouri run a grazing operation on 1620 acres of leased and owned land.

Greg and Jan went from near bankruptcy in 1999 to paying off a 200 acre farm and house in 3 years with custom grazing on leased land and are completely debt free. They own 4 farms and lease 12 farms.

They graze cattle, hair sheep, woods pigs, pastured laying hens, sawmilling and grow shitake mushrooms.

Greg wrote his first book in 2001, entitled “NO RISK RANCHING, Custom Grazing On Leased Land”, which details the methods they used to build their operation from scratch. In 2008 Greg wrote a second book “COMEBACK FARMS, Rejuvenating Soils, Pastures and Profits with Livestock Grazing Management”.

Greg’s second book covers all the methods they use with Holistic High Density Grazing, multi-species grazing, grass finishing animals, eliminating costly inputs.

Greg gives talks and schools all over the US, New Zealand, Germany, England & Canada teaching the benefits of Holistic High Density Planned Grazing, leasing land, multi-species grazing, custom grazing, agroforestry and wildlife management. The Judy’s hold an annual grazing school the first week of May each year at their farm teaching the principles of HHDG.

Greg quit his off farm job in 2009 and is now a full time rancher. The Judy’s website is: greenpasturesfarm.net.

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You can save THOUSANDS of dollars every year by raising your own meat or buying farm fresh meat in bulk and removing the expense of butchering that meat by learning to butcher yourself!

In this video we are joined by Butcher and Educator Jamie Waldron.

Together we explore the world of home butchery and how it can greatly increase your home economy by taking control of how you purchase meat and providing you with more flexibility by purchasing whole carcasses.

Jamie was born in Windsor, Ontario, and raised in the small rural town of Harrow. He started his career in a small country butcher shop as a teenager.

Since then, he has dedicated 18+ years to the art of butchery. Jamie has worked at some of the top butcher shops in Canada, helped craft menus and meat programs for restaurant groups, consulted for butcher shops, and worked with and for abattoirs in Ontario.

In 2013, he wrote the Home Butchering Handbook (Penguin/Alpha). It covers all aspects of traditional meat cutting, from whole carcass to usable cuts.

JAMIE'S BOOK - https://amzn.to/2Sbokln

JAMIE'S WEBSITE - http://www.jwaldronbutchers.com

JAMIE'S INSTAGRAM- https://www.instagram.com/j.waldron_butchers/

JAMIE'S RECOMENDED KNIVES 

6 Inch Boning - https://amzn.to/35L2g4X

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Saw - https://amzn.to/2ZcCpjJ

JAMIE'S RECOMENDED BOOKS

River Cottage Meat Book - https://amzn.to/2Sq2AlZ Meat the Ultimate Companion - https://amzn.to/2EIMlrQ

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Karin grew up on a mixed family farm in Alberta, Canada, raising and selling backgrounding stocker steers.

Her main passion since she was little was with the cattle, from handling to pasture management.

She currently works as a forage-beef extension specialist with the provincial government and is working towards getting into farming of her own some day.

She shares thoughts, and advice on all things cattle at her website 

https://www.bovinepracticum.com/

Karin is coming on the show to talk about working with Cattle. She will help us cover safety, how to make their life as comfortable as possible, and share some tips and tricks to working with cattle.

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In this episode of the Podcast, we interview Rachyl Travis, of Travis Family Farm.

At 9 years old, milking her first goat, Rachyl had no idea that someday she would be running a successful family farm business.

A pet goat given to her at 9 years old soon turned into multiple goats, and when Rachyl wound up with 15 goats in milk, and 15 gallons of milk a day to process, she had to figure out something to do with all of the milk.

Rachyl didn’t want the milk to go to waste.

She enlisted the help of her older sister and together they came up with the first goat milk product: the famous goat milk soap.

In June 2012, Rachyl’s Goat Milk Soap was born after family and friends raved about the soap they received as gifts and asked to buy it!

Now Rachyl sells her product in many stores and farmers markets through out Rhode Island with her mom and sister at her side!

Rachyl shares her story, and the secret to overcoming fear when starting your own farm business.

CHECKOUT RACHYL AND TRAVIS FAMILY FARM at Travisfamilyfarm.com

 

A new feature on our podcast will be a Q and A session, called ASK HOMESTEADY. Each episode we will feature Questions asked by our Audiance in the podcast. To have a question answered just leave a question in the comments section of our Youtube Channel with the hastag #askhomesteady. 

This episodes question... Goats Milk vs Cows Milk vs Sheeps Milk... which is best for your homestead?

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Homesteading roots began with people trying to turn their life around  by making a profit.

Signed into law in May 1862, the Homestead Act opened up settlement in the western United States, allowing any American, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land.

Modern Homesteading is similar. Google pallet homestead projects and you will know, it's often people with little, that dream big.

But dreaming and reality are 2 different things. Is it possible to run a profitable homestead? Let's see if our guest can help.

GUEST INFO : Accountant Mike

Mike currently works as a Senior Accountant at DiLeo & Charles. He has spent about a decade working providing accounting, tax, and consulting services to small business clients and high net worth families. He uses his extensive knowledge of tax and financial statements to help small business owners set and achieve business goals, both financial and otherwise. He currently specializes in strategic planning, income tax reduction, and cash flow management for small businesses. When he isn’t working Mike enjoys following Formula 1 and playing peek-a-boo with his infant daughter.

What is a profit?

Profit : a financial gain, especially the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something.

2 - advantage; benefit.

TO BE PROFITABLE SOMETHING MUST PRODUCE MORE THAN IT CONSUMES

A profitable garden produces more than it consumes.

A profitable chicken produces more than it consumes.

A profitable Homestead produces more than it consumes.

To find out if we are running a profitable homestead we need to identify what is produced, what is consumed, and see if there is a gain in the difference.

The 7 Costs Every Homestead Has to Cover

Startup Costs - land, Infrastructure, fencing (Generally Amortized Costs)

Running Costs - more than feed, Electricity, water, taxes on land,

Surprise Costs - Vet bills, storm damage

Finishing costs - butcher, packaging, storage

TIME and Labor

Opportunity Costs - time spent raising egg laying chickens could be spent driving for uber

WASTE - Veggies grown not eaten, eggs go bad

The PASTURED POULTRY PACKET is good at this.

3 Ways to Profit From Your Homestead

1. Direct Products - lettuce, eggs, milk, cheese, REPLACING WHAT YOUR BUYING
2. Indirect products - manure, land management, (BUT NOT UNLESS NEEDED, if you don’t NEED manure in your life it’s not brown gold)
3. Sales - selling excess

How much do you charge above your costs? Accountant Mike suggests a MINIMUM of 10%!

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We are settled into our new homestead. Finally. But it was a LOT of work getting to this point.

When our homestead in CT went onto the market to be sold things moved quickly. In just 10 days we had an offer on the place and accepted it.

Suddenly we needed a place to live in PA WAY FASTER than we expected. We needed to figure out what we were going to live in.

We have wanted to live in a Yurt for almost as long as we have been married.

The dream of the yurt resurfaced. We needed a inexpensive structure that could house us for at least a few months, that we could put up quickly.

The yurt seemed like a perfect idea.  But a harder look at the yurt, and the expense, made us decide otherwise.

On the family farm there was already a Pole Barn build, with insulated walls and electricity run to it. The shell was done, and upstairs above the pole barn was 1000 square feet of unfinished space. It was a no brainer.

The yurt dream had to die… once again.

Maybe someday K and I will wind up as empty nesters, living our days within the round cozy walls of a yurt. But for now, that remains just a dream.

Work began on the pole barn. Turning an unfinished pole barn into a home takes a LOT of materials!

The upstairs space was wide open. The floors were plywood, and the walls and ceilings metal. There was big LED lights on the ceiling and electric already run, but the rest of what we needed to put into the house we needed to buy or scrounge.

We purchased lumber, sheetrock, flooring, paint, and all the hardware and supplies needed to build the interior.  In addition to those supplies we needed to buy a toilett, 2 sinks, and bathtub. We put in a washer, dryer, and dishwasher. Also we added an electric hot water heater and 2 heat/AC units.

The kitchen cabinets were a steal for us, as we had a family member who was turning a home into a salon and was getting rid of an entire kitchen, cabinets, stove and fridge. That we got for FREE and it was a big savings to us! The only added expense to the kitchen was the counter tops that needed to be made to match the new layout.

We couldn’t DIY the entire project, we would need to hire some contractors.

We wanted to finish the space all ourself, but unfortunately we still had a farm in CT to run (until move out day) and so we could only dedicate 1 week to working on turning the pole barn upstairs into a living space.

We spent about $30,000 turning this unfinished space into a beautiful little living space for our large family.

When the dust settled, about 12,000 was spent on supplies and materials for the space, and between the carpenters, electricians, and plumbers we spent about 18,000 on labor.

All and all it was worth it.

Our family had a great space to live in for the last year while the second house on the family farm was being built, and now that we are out of the pole barn, we have a great guest space for visitors, and I have a awesome office to run my business out of.

Once the place we need to live in was built we could move onto the new homestead.

Since we had moved onto a homestead once before we had a good idea of what NOT to do and what we should spend our time doing on our new homestead.

 3 Things You Don’t Want To Do On Your New Homestead

1. DON’T Invest a Whole Bunch Of Time and Money On Infrastructure. 
2. DON’T Get New Animals Right Away. 
3. DON’T Expect to Make Money Right Away. 

You are going to make mistakes the first year.  Mistakes are a natural way we learn. The first time you burned your hand on something hot you learned not to touch hot things in the future.

If you avoid these 3 mistakes you will be ahead of us when we were new homesteaders, and you will get to learn your own lessons the hard way 😉

So what should you spend time doing on your new homestead?

Take walks daily on your new property.

Get to know it. Spend some time learning it. Whatever you see on those walks… capture it. Photos, journals, videos, whatever way you can capture what you are observing on your walks.

Setup temporary movable infrastructure.

If you have animals or are getting a few new ones, don’t setup permanent fences and waterlines yet… use moveable electric, hoses, and whatever other moveable infrastructure you can to learn your property before investing in permanent changes.

Fix what is broke. 

If you don’t spend a bunch of time and money on new permanent infrastructure you will be saving it for the things that are going to break on you.

Our first year on our new PA homestead is done. We have settled in. What is in store for us? What farm plans do we have in our future? Find out in the next episode of the Homesteady Podcast.

 

Sign up to our email list so you don't miss any of our videos here -  https://www.thisishomesteady.com/join-homesteady-movement/   SUBSCRIBE to our PODCAST HERE -  https://www.thisishomesteady.com/subscribe-podcast/   LOVE HOMESTEADY? Help us keep it going! Becoming a Pioneer - You get instant access to the new forum, discounts, and homesteading classes and podcasts!   https://www.thisishomesteady.com/head-west-become-pioneer/   Shopping at Amazon through our Amsteady Link -  http://www.amsteady.com Just click that link then do your regular shopping, we get a bonus!   AFFILIATE LINKS  To The HOMESTEADING GEAR I use everyday -https://www.thisishomesteady.com/gear-use/   Get Homesteady Tee Shirts (and other clothing) Here - https://shop.spreadshirt.com/homesteady/

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A year ago this podcast disappeared. We announced we were moving,

selling our homestead in CT, and headed to a new farm in PA. We said that you would be getting updates from us as we went on this journey to our new home in the state of PA. 

Then silence. 

In our official Season 2 of Homesteady, we start to fill you in on what happened, where we went, and what is going to happen going forward.

In this first episode, brought to you by the Homesteady Pioneers (BECOME ONE HERE) we talk about selling Squash Hollow Farm, our farm in CT and Moving to PA.

The truth is we have been talking about doing this for years. K's Dad has been trying to get us to move to PA for the last decade. 

K grew up on the 100 acre family farm, and her dad wanted us to take it over.

K loved the land, the location, and was excited about the idea of being close to her family again. I was the hold out. 

My entire life was spent in CT. My friends, family, all my roots were there. The older a tree gets the HARDER it is to uproot it. 

Every year K's dad would pitch us the idea to move back home, and farm off the family farm. And every year I had an easy out. My business, my clients, the means of feeding my family, all of that was located in CT. Honestly it was too scary to shake that up.

The idea of building a new business in a new place, searching for new clients, with a ever growing family to feed, that was too scary for me.

But over the last few years something was slowly changing... As Homesteady grew, K and I started pushing towards making it our full time work and means of income. My business went from a local client based operation, to an internet business that allowed us to earn a living anywhere.

Last winter K and I decided it was time to try to jump into doing Homesteady full time.  This meant we were now making all our money off our online show, and no longer did it matter where we lived, as long as we could homestead and produce our show.

We started discussing the idea of moving to a new place with a lower cost of living than Connecticut, and where we could own a larger farm.

About that time K's Dad made his annual pitch to take over the family farm. Suddenly it all made sense. Taking over the family farm in PA would be the perfect move. Still, it was scary, and I needed a nudge.

So I called the guy I always call when making big decisions... Accountant Mike. 

After a long discussion of goals, what we wanted in life, and looking at the hard logic of it all, it became clearer. PA was the right move for us. 10 Years of saying no, it was time to say yes to taking over the family farm. 

Before we could move to PA we needed to sell our farm in CT. Selling a farm is not easy, but we were able to get the offer we wanted in just 10 days. HOW? 

STEP 1 - CLEAN YOUR PROPERTY UP

The first thing we did to our farm to sell it was to CLEAN IT! 

As a homesteader, we save a lot of random things that we think we could use to build infrastructure. These random things included random old metal bunk beds, lots of plastic barrels, pallets, pallets and more pallets....

These junk piles make your property look less valuable to a potential customer, and should be removed. 

SETP 2 - FIX WHAT'S BROKE

You don't want potential buyers to see glaring issues. So walk your property, see what is broken, cracked, etc, and fix it. This does NOT mean remodel your farm, just find cracks in drywall, broken windows, or unfinished projects and make finish and fix them! 

STEP 3 - STAGE YOUR PLACE TO SELL

Once the property is clean and fixed up, you want it to look like a place anyone could see themselves living in. This means removing your personality from your home and property, and make it a more blank pallet. We took down bunk beds, family photos, and even changed the sheets on beds to bright white sheets. The goal was to make the home look bright, white and warm, and the property big, beautiful and clean. 

STEP 4 - TAKE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES (and Marketing Materials)

When your property is all staged and ready to be seen, help more people see it online with beautiful pictures. This does NOT mean snap a couple quick pics on your phone. We bought a lighting kit ($90 kit like THIS one) and used a wide angle lens - ( LIKE THIS ONE ) on our canon camera to get the best looking photos.

Good lighting and a wide angle lens makes your rooms look large, bright and beautiful.

Then we put these in a brochure with our story and history of the property. 

Once the house was sold it was time to start packing up. This was NO small feat, with all the animals, farm equipment, feed, etc. 

But the hardest part of it all was saying goodbye to the homestead we loved so much... 

After spending years building a beautiful little homestead from the ground up, we were leaving Squash Hollow Farm forever. While we were excited to go to our new home, leaving the place with so many memories, a home we brought 3 little babies home to, was very hard to do.

Selling and Moving was just the beginning, stay tuned to a future episode of the Homesteady Podcast, which will talk about Day 1 in PA, and living in a tiny home for 9 months.

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WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HOMESTEADY PODCAST?

It has been almost 1 year since we released a podcast. What happened? We talk about that in this little announcement episode...

I have been busy working on our Podcast studio! The studio is almost done, and now we are taking submissions to get you on our show!

Do you have a homesteading story to share? Want to discuss a topic with us on the podcast? Submit an application to get on our show by
CLICKING HERE --- https://www.thisishomesteady.com/guest-application/

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A very big announcement on todays episode of the podcast! K and Aust sit down and share with you some very big news that you don't want to miss out on...

Sign up to our email list so you don't miss any of our videos here -  https://www.thisishomesteady.com/join-homesteady-movement/   In Friday’s Video we announced our big move. https://youtu.be/pMufdfVZN-A  You had a lot of questions, so we address those, and hopefully more, in todays episode!    SUBSCRIBE to our PODCAST HERE -  iTunes - https://goo.gl/oWorJB Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/homesteady   LOVE HOMESTEADY? Help us keep it going! Becoming a Pioneer - You get instant access to the new forum, discounts, and homesteading classes and podcasts!   https://www.thisishomesteady.com/head-west-become-pioneer/   Shopping at Amazon through our Amsteady Link -  http://www.amsteady.com Just click that link then do your regular shopping, we get a bonus!

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On this episode of Homesteady, we continue our Homestead Business Side Hustle Series and interview Dan Arms, of the Arms Family Homestead (Find him here and here). Dan's successful business? Goats. Would you believe that a goat solved the problems of an entire country? Believe it, and learn all about it here.

We meet Dan through the story of the loss of his mom. He cites it as a strong influence in his first career as a state trooper. He was raised by his dad on a homestead with a small cattle herd, hunting, fishing, and spending his days outside. Growing up as a homesteader was a confidence building experience for Dan, and as an adult he took over the family farm after his dad's passing. After ending his cow raising days due to cost, Dan went back to the land as a hobby gardener.

Unexpectedly, the garden grew into a small homestead business, as Dan's community started asking him for fresh fruits and vegetables from his garden. However, Dan's business growth was stymied when his work schedule as a state trooper limited the amount of time he was able to put into his garden. His schedule and logistics made the harvesting and delivery of produce for others unsustainable.

Enter the goats. You know, Aust's LEAST favorite homestead animal. You know how we feel about goats, at this point, right?

Before you think this is a sudden change of heart, a flip flop, a goat endorsement: heed the following rules:

1. Even though the baby goat is cute, DON'T BUY THE GOAT.
2. When you ignore us and buy the goat anyway: don't get more than one.
3. When you ignore rules number one AND two: Remember that BABY GOATS GROW UP. Like Gremlins.

We warned you. If you need a really solid reminder, we have some NEW goat shirts in our Homesteady swag store!

Moving on.

The third time trying a side-hustle was the charm: Dan's money maker on the farm, believe it or not, is GOATS.

Beginning with Boer Goats from South Africa, Dan then identified Kiko Goats from New Zealand as the best match for his homestead.

Kiko Goats are great goats for homesteaders. Specifically bred by Garrick and Ann Batten for the island country of New Zealand. Aust was able to interview Garrick to discuss the step. by step development of the goat breeding process in New Zealand. Using the theory of population genetics, Gerrick was able to breed the Kiko goat to meet the needs of the farmer in New Zealand.

(Extraneous Lord of the Ring Footage Here.)

But back to Dan. Dan is able to breed, raise, and sell Kiko goats on his property. They an excellent match for his lifestyle, his property, and his family. Their grazing patterns also allow Dan to simultaneously feed the goats on his pastures and hay his fields. While not without challenges, Dan is able to make approximately $3000 per year on his side homestead hustle. In addition, he is able to write off farm equipment on his taxes (which gets a check plus from Accountant Mike!).

However; is Dan truly making a profit? You may be (not) surprised to learn that...technically, no, not really. However, the value added to the experiences of Dan and his family in participating and contributing to all his homestead endeavors- goat breeding, chickens, gardening- are worth it to Dan.

Dan isn't planning on giving up his day job; as he puts it, "This lifestyle is about what makes you happy."

We have a new partner! Aust is so pleased to partner with Wildcat Outdoor Gear as they premier their collection of tents designed by and for "Outdoorsy Dads." Watch a great video of Aust, Kendra and the kids enjoying their tent here. Enter coupon code Homesteady at check-out for a discount!

Join our email list, and don't miss any of the exciting updates we have coming up in 2018!

We have a new addition to the Pioneer Program: A PIONEER ONLY FORUM! Learn from one another and get to talk with Accountant Mike, The Foraging Beard, Dave from Northeast Edible, Alexia The Suburban Escapee. Our podcast guests will also be in the forums!

If you are looking for more information about Kiko goats, we have an extended version of our interview with Garrick available in the Pioneer Library. Not a Pioneer? Join today! Instantly download twenty bonus episodes when you become a Homesteady Pioneer.

Want even more ways to support the show? Do your Amazon shopping through our affiliate link- www.amsteady.com.

The wait will be shorter than ever for the next episode, as Aust is now creating Homesteady Content FULL TIME. What does that mean? A daily YouTube Video and a NEW podcast every two weeks.

Subscribe now to make sure you don't miss part four of our Homestead Business Series.

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