How to Make Money Farming

Wondering how to make money farming? Surprisingly, one type of farm business that's growing and doing well is the micro eco-farm that feeds the trends of locally produced, locally grown, hand-crafted, sustainable eco-produced and earth-regenerating. Though old industrial era-type farms continue to struggle, the new micro eco-farm trend, accurately predicted to flourish by the Trends Institute, is actually finding markets for this business are so high, many can't keep up with the demand.

What are micro eco-farms?

These farms operate on a fraction of an acre to small acreage. They are niche farms, and make money farming by carving out their own local or shared-interest interweaving of crops and sometimes on-farm agritourism. But don't assume if you only have a tiny backyard you can't find more acreage nearby, and for free. And don't give up on how to make money farming if you have 100s of acres and don't think micro eco-farming is for you. Read on.

How to make money farming the micro farm way if you already have a large-acreage farm.

Once you learn about micro eco-farming, you can carve out a backyard or couple of acres to start your own micro farm within your larger farm. I've seen numerous larger farms survive and thrive because of this. There are many stories about such farms at the Center for the Micro Eco-Farming Movement (see link below). One dairy farmer's wife started a roadside stand from her home garden that blossomed into an on-farm store and ended up making more than the rest of their acreage combined. Another larger farm was saved with a couple of acres of u-pick pumpkins and fun autumn agritourism activities.

How to make money farming if you have a backyard to small acreage and are just starting out

Some people with small backyards do just fine making money farming, usually as a secondary stream of income, while others solicit other people's yards as well, with a trade situation where the yard owner gets some produce for free, while the farmer can sell the rest.

Start by discovering the possibilities of what you could produce. As America grows more and more towards local food independence and an artisan renaissance, you could consider gourmet herbs and vegetables from your urban backyard, healing products made from your own herbs, gourmet mushrooms from a backyard shed, or any design-your-own "micro eco-farm" you create. Others who want to make money farming specialize in health food items like wheat grass or grow rare microgreens for restaurants or houseplants in a backyard greenhouse.