Off-farm jobs

Drew · March 10, 2009, 11:08:24 AM

Hi everybody,

My wife and I work in the SF Bay Area (Well, I used to "work" until this mess started.

) and are building a small farm in the Central Valley. We've got some balance at this level of farm involvement, and I am exploring paths to get us to the next level with more time on the farm. I would like to learn from the paths other people have taken.

I'm doing some research and I found out that about 64% of farm families have one or both spouses working off-farm jobs. That's for your "retirement" or "residential/lifestyle" farm. The numbers don't change much for the medium, large, and very large farms either. Bottom line: Farm families are about as dual-career as the rest of America.

I'd like to hear what our farm families do for off-farm work and how it fits into their farming. I don't need to know any numbers. I would like to know what kind of work you do (teaching school, construction, web design, eBay sales, etc.) and how that is working out for you.

Thanks for talking about this stuff. I appreciate it, and we might even give some other folks some pointers in these tough times.

Drew

river place · March 10, 2009, 02:05:34 PM

I worked for a company in MN for 4 years and the main head quarters was in a rural part of the state. The employed a lot of farm wives in the production area at relatively low wages. Even though wages were low they had access to insurance for the family and the ability to put extra funds away for a rainy day. Of course as technology moved forward the processes became more automated.

I would like to see more manufacturing or logistics types jobs move back to rural areas but without an overall plan to bring that ype of work back to the US it'll never happen.

March 10, 2009, 06:11:56 PM

Thanks, River Place. There are a lot of things that could be done here in the US without leaving our farms. Some of it might not be time-sensitive, meaning it could be done after the farm work is done. Without going off topic here, I wonder if some of our farm equipment/input manufacturers have work like that they could make available to farm families.

Redoverfarm · March 10, 2009, 06:39:14 PM

Drew there are several farmers here ( some full time and some part time) which have other jobs. With automation they way it is now there is less manuel labor than there was "once upon a time". Several drive school buses. It seems to be a schedule they can work with being an early morning run and then afternoon with weekends off. I guess it would depend on the area that is available to you close to your place. If you had to drive a considerable distance to get to work you wouldn't get much farming done.

The only exception to this would be a dairy farmer. I think it pretty well involves the complete day and I for one would want no parts of it. 24/7-365. Plus you have to get up too early.

Been there and done that for a couple years while going to high school.

Drew · March 10, 2009, 11:43:32 PM

My wife's Uncle Loren was a diary farmer in Iowa until he retired to take it easy as a corn farmer.

Up at our place one neighbor is a boiler maker. He gets union jobs and goes out to the coast for a few weeks. He has a bunch of dogs, a couple horses, a donkey, some chickens, a couple of pigs and a few head of cattle sometimes. He pays someone to come in and feed them when he's out of town. Another neighbor drives 30 miles to the bus station, then takes the bus into Sacramento for his job in an alternator shop. His wife works in town maybe 12 miles away. Those folks are there pretty much full time. Some others have full time jobs far away and come to their ranches on the weekends. They keep cattle and horses. I don't know who takes care of them when they aren't around, but I plan to find out.

Thanks for that, John.

March 11, 2009, 08:57:17 AM

Mexican farmers I taught to drill wells, bought their own rig and went into drilling.

Since it is a high risk business, I sold some of my stuff to them and went back into structural steel. They have done well with the farms and drilling but I could not live on beans and tortillas for 30 years. They therefore consider me extravagant - but are still friends.

tanya · March 11, 2009, 12:30:03 PM

I do whatever work I can find. Cleaning, teaching, office work. BUt it isn't always easy most places jsut want to chain me to a desk. I am to old for that now and would rather starve!!! Plus it makes me mean.

Drew · March 11, 2009, 01:40:08 PM

I know a lady here in town who is a substitute teacher. She even subs for French classes and doesn't speak the language. That's not a disparagement on the profession, but rather a reflection of the real need. I don't know if you were a permanent or substitute teacher, Tanya, but either way it makes a lot of sense.

The desk wouldn't be a good companion for farm work unless it was at your place and you could go there when you wanted to, I guess. I can see how the two don't usually go together. Thanks Tanya.

That's cool, Glenn. You outfit a crew that makes land valuable to people (And brings them in, if that's a good thing). If there's another well crew in town, the competition brings the price down. There's only one in my area and I got to pay $14/foot. I don't know if that was monopoly pricing, but I would have felt better with a second choice.

glenn kangiser · March 11, 2009, 11:07:28 PM

We were 21 when I was doing it but the rotary guys were as high or higher for a lower quality well.

March 11, 2009, 11:38:04 PM

Drew, $14 a foot would be such a bargain around here it would be suspect. Try $30+ and most holes are deep; 260+ feet. I know of one 10 miles or so east of our cabin that's 585 feet.

Some of the city wells are 1000 footers.

tanya · March 12, 2009, 12:59:08 AM

I was an instructor/career counselor at a trade school for five years and I subbed after that. I know some people around here also make money teaching workshops/classes on everything from dancing to pottery. My mother in law used to sell handmade crafts, crochet etc. and there is a big quilting and felting following here as well. Some people also caretake animals and gardens and others bake pies. Landscaping, yard work, even driving those who don't drive is a good pt occupation. My best "job ever" though is babysitting my grandbaby. My daughter and her husband always pay me at least gas money even though they don't really have to. I'll stop here because I could really go on and on about what a little sweetie she is.

Drew · March 12, 2009, 11:37:53 PM

That's quite a spread of jobs, Tanya, and more than a few deal with something people love (And I'm not even counting your granddaughter!). That's got to be more fulfilling than a lot of other things we can do for money.

Glenn and MD, you made me feel better. Our well was 400' and produces 6 gph. Looks like I'll have to find something else to complain about.

1000 feet? What ran the pump? A nuke?

glenn kangiser · March 13, 2009, 01:49:14 AM

What about self employment? I mean besides farming - making a product - Pine tables - pine boxes?

I know some farm people do a business on the side also -- if they are not independently wealthy from their farm.

Drew · March 13, 2009, 12:13:32 PM

That's what I'm getting at, Glenn. You hit it on the

. I won't be able to make my farm cover my expenses for a while yet, so I have to keep doing what I'm doing, at least part time. With two teenagers I have expenses that don't care where you live. Besides, I actually >like< what I do. My "dream scenario" is working my farm 75% to full time in the growing season (March to October out here), plant my cover crop, then get a contract in the Bay Area for the November through February piece. Maybe I overlap on both ends as the season starts up and closes down. I keep my expenses down by building my own house on the farm and expensing a studio apartment/Motel 6 hovel while I have to show my face in town. If I can do my work at the farm with a laptop and a weekly day visit into SF or San Jose, even better.

Here's a picture of the branch office.

I like the work, but it isn't always there. I like the idea of making a product and we have some ideas about that. I don't think I can build and store pine tables (Though I would sure like one!), but there are some good large margin things that could be built and sold. How about a premium pine Seat of Ease that goes over a 5 gallon bucket. Either natural wood finish or gold paint with Quality Plastic Gems...

March 13, 2009, 06:11:28 PM

Children's wood toys and furniture, candles, soap, homemade paper/stationary, herbal oils, jewelry,jams, clothes, dried soup mixes, muffin mixes, there are so many many things. What is your usual work? Is it something you can incorporate into the fame home life? In our little town most places sell the home crafted items on consignment. It's good for the artists, the merchants and the people who visit this little town actually get to shop and see some pretty cool stuff too.

Redoverfarm · March 13, 2009, 06:52:00 PM

Drew

Here is some ideas for you. Even if you made half what they are asking you would still see a 300% profit. A do at home job. Check out the rustic tables.

http://www.crowsnesttrading.com/category/furniture

tanya · March 13, 2009, 09:20:06 PM

Cut flowers, dried flowers, festival vendor, stained glass, second hand store/antiques, river rafting trips/rentals, boat rentals, painting (both artistic and homes) mechanic, fountains, garden decor, raise puppies or mini goats make cheese etc. Probably the best thing is to save money though. Make sure trips to town are limited to necessary trips, and fun has to fit into those, library cards are usually free, don't eat at resturants or buy coffees, no bars, do free stuff, hikes, swimming etc. Teenagers make great workers give lots of praise and when things go wrong just trust they are doing the best they can... no matter what... and tell them that could happen to anyone... Only go to town if you HAVE to, town is where your money sneaks away never to return... Take advantage of the free stuff available. SF Bay area has a pretty good craigs list free site. Get tools and other materials before you move to the farm. It's easier to move stuff than have to run to town for everything, remember that is where the money can get away. Save all of your old clothes you will use them on the farm, Don't wear your good work/town clothes or shoes when you are doing farm work when you get home from town take them off and put on the crappy old ones. I have ruined A LOT of clothes and shoes this way. Don't buy a damn crappy wheelbarrow either. Get one that is American made and in in the farm's town so if it breaks you can take it back. As a matter of fact buy the most expensive, often used items as close to the farm as possible so if they are crap you can return them.