Hi all, looking for some opinions and suggestions. Wife runs a 2 acre flower farm and we got the point where we are looking to buy some machinery and I was hoping some of you more experienced farmers may have some suggestions.

Here are our options:

Buy a Kubota tractor for 30k - all attachments we need included

Or

Buy a BCS manual tractor for 15k - all attachments we with need included.

Or

Continue renting equipment and paying people to do the work we need when we need it (tilling, excavation, etc)

Any help is greatly appreciated

(Noob post) Tilled the garden yesterday and now it’s like mud. Got a load of hot manure from the horses down the road and thought to myself hmm this looks a little fresh. How would someone with more experience than me deal with this? I have a week or two before I want to get my seedlings outside. Thanks guys

My neighbor has a shop with a metal roof and siding. I was a bit confused when he had lightning rods installed. I asked him about it and we had a friendly dispute. Do you think they’re needed or not?

Wondering if any other farms have needed to work on handicap access on their farms. Any of you ever come across tools, machines, or strategies that help people with disabilities navigate or work on your farm? Looking for product suggestions or ideas if there are any.

Unfortunately the previous owners planted mint directly into the field. I did not realize this. We let part of the field go to wildflowers and that of course is the section that had the mint planted in it. We normally rented the rest of the field out. Well only after 4 years did i realize the mint was there. I was thinking of renting the whole thing out including the section that mint has taken over. Normally we just rent to have it cut for hay. But i was hoping if I rent to someone who will fully till it and possibly spray that it may take the mint out?

I'm so upset that this happened. Especially as I know the previous owners and the fact that I didn't know it happened until it had spread so far. I can't have it taking over my field and then ruining my ability to create a cut flower garden in the ground. I feel so defeated because I know it's impossible to get rid of and now I feel even madder at the person who did this and made this field a mess for me. Now instead of having this acreage I have a mess.

Does anyone have a recommendation for an attachment that can help us build raised beds? I’ve seen a lot of people improvise and add attachments to the back of the Rototiller, I’ve also seen there are some commercial products out there… We’re looking for something that would work on our 50 hp tractor, ideally type 1 hitch compatible. Thank you in advance!

I know that a lot of farmers sell or kill and eat unproductive animals But what about ones that have been on your farm since the beginning or ones your really attached to ? Edit I want to be a hobby farmer and I may sell my animals children but probably not a lot of the parents as I don’t plan on having many animals anyway Edit 2 The reason I bring this up is because I watched the sequel to the biggest little farm documentary Their first pig was Emma and they I guess wanted to treat her better than her previous owners . Staring with changing her name from ugly Betty to Emma But they planned on getting rid of her because she was taking a “ vacation from being a mom “ first off that isn’t fair at all too her at to thier surprise she killed a lot of the babies ( say on them ) because she is getting older probably going deaf . I’m fine with eating animals but if you’re selling her to a slaughter auction because of this that isn’t fair at all .

For the life of me I can not find out what the proper name of this implement is or where to buy one. It's a tow-behind implement that build a small mound, lays landscape fabric from a spool on it, and covers the edges of the fabric with another small mound to keep it in place.

Any idea?

Hello to everyone. I recently started new job at farm. There are goats, sheep, greenhouses, fields with crops. The main goals is managing greenhouses (there are 13 of them) , also I need to keep record of everything, from personel working on these, to current state of every thing, what needs to be done, what have been already done etc. What tips would you give me for making reports of everything, and also keeping tracks?

Hello,

I got a CaseIH Puma tractor with a pro 700 display, 372 Reciver and a Nav controller. I have a footwitch that would engage my auto guidance (steering). I am having issues now where it will not engage when I press it. Anyone have any similar issues or know a fix?

Hey everyone, I'm interested in getting into the space of US agricultural trade & exports. What are some good sources of up-to-date information and place where I can meet experts in the field?

So my grandfather was a 3rd generation dairy farmer. I never got into the dairy farming but have a huge interest in Christmas Tree Farming. I know it’s an initial 8-12 year investment. I want to leave a farm for my kids and well in the end my family loves loves loves Christmas lol. Is starting a Christmas tree farm worth it?

I work at a bank and I overheard our lender talking about my dad. Saying that he’s deep in credit card debt and owes a lot on his loans. He said that my dad mentioned that he might sell his land to get out of it. I’d hate for him to have to do that. Him and my grandpa worked so hard for it. I want to help but I don’t know what to do. I’ve offered to help him farm but I work full time and can only do so much after work and on the weekends. I’m wanting to get out of the corporate world anyway and have thought about buying livestock and leasing from him or starting a homestead of some sort. I just don’t know where to start.

I just moved into a house (Pennsylvania) that's surrounded, this year, by a cornfiled. I was wondering what kinds of bugs I'll be encountering. Also wondering about pesticides. Should I put a pool outside my house or is that a sure way to get attacked by bugs. Main point I'm afraid of bugs. I know that they're around and nothing I can do. Just looking for some suggestions so I can prepare. Basically just wondering if there's anything in general I can expect.

Anyone have recommendations on where to find a used tractor at a fair price in central NJ? Smaller end, 10 acre farm. Was thinking of going out to PA farm equipment auctions. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

This post may be hard for some and I appologize. I am not here to argue or debate so if you don’t have anything nice to say scroll on by.

I live in a rural area. We have had many cats over the years since I was a young girl. I’m still living at home currently because of financial and health reasons. We have a farm. We have Great Pyrenees that guard our livestock. This week one of our cats suddenly disappeared. We had a bad rainstorm and she decided she wanted to be outside however she might have gotten out before the storm. My parents think that our cats should be indoor outdoor since we have many acres for them to run around on (they are sort of old fashioned). While I don’t want to hold the cats captive I wish that we didn’t have to risk losing them. At least we don’t live in an area with lots of traffic but we do live in an area with bobcats, coyotes, etc. it seems that some of our cats like to be outside more than others. The one cat that is missing is only 10 months and that’s why I’m especially worried about her. My parents don’t pay to get our cats microchipped because they told me that it only works if it’s scanned by a vet. I might look into an AirTag but I’m not sure if it would work because of the amount of land we have. Plus my mom Says the collar could get caught in a tree. When I tried to keep the cats inside in the fall for a few days, they started fighting with each other (even though they are mostly spayed and neutered) so my parents said they needed to be indoor outdoor again. (I see both sides of this argument so please don’t come at me). Tbh if it was my house alone I may just have them be indoor outdoor. Anyhow I’m just really shaken up over the missing cat because she’s only 10 Months and I don’t remember if I was the one who let her out before the storm. We also had a cat that was about a year old dissapear 10 years ago and she never returned and I’m scared this is a repeat of that. However last time I was also not home when she left. It’s been 6 days. I was curious to know if anyone has had a cat that dissapeared for over 6 days and then came home. As I said she’s only 10 months so I am extra worried. My cat that was born right before the pandemic seems to be jealous of the other cats and likes to go on what I call vacation where she leaves for 3 days and just when I think she’s never coming home she shows up. She is very spoiled. But I’m worried the one that’s missing is not as good on the instincts. So im very shaken up. Plus her “brother” (one of our cats close in age to her) is also very upset and keeps looking for her.

So far I’ve posted all over Facebook. Notified the vets, police and fire, and animal control and shelters, put a box out with a blanket and cat nip and clothes that smell like me. One neighbor let me borrow two WiFi enabled trail cameras and then another one gave me a battery enabled one but that one I am having a hard time setting up because I think my aa batteries might be bad. I might also be getting another camera from someone else. I tried putting food out but our other cats ate it. I’m afraid if I put the litter out they will just poop in it and idk if she will be able to smell her scent then. Ive also been experiencing some other personal issues with my mental health so I think that is also not helping this situation. If my post is all over the place that is partially why. I’m beside myself and I just wanted to post here because people might understand what I’m going through. I’m trying to remain optimistic that she will come home because I’ve heard stories of cats being away for weeks and then coming home but my parents say that because we live on a farm things happen to animals no matter how much we love them. I was hoping to hear some positive stories. I’m thinking if she doesn’t come home soon I may just have to get another cat because this cat was the best cat I’ve had since my pandemic era cat - if it’s possible I might have two soulmate cats at once.

I wa also wondering if anyone else had any other ideas. I’ve shaken treats outside and used a cat whistle that my cats sometimes respond too and left a blanket and my clothes outside. Is there anything else I’m not thinking about?

Thank you.