RALEIGH, N.C. — We are always seeking to enhance the resources that we offer on our website. The most recent addition is the Buying a Farm page that shares considerations and resources to help move farm seekers along the path to farm ownership. For some farmers, leasing land is their preferred path for their farm business and we offer those resources on our Leasing & Renting page.
At NC FarmLink, we work hard to help all users who are seeking a farm. However, it is useful for farm seekers to consider if they want to farm full time producing veggies, flowers, or livestock products for direct to consumer or wholesale marketing channels, or whether they want to farm on a smaller scale while pursuing another career and produce farm products for family use only.
Financial considerations are also critical to assess during the early part of your farmland search. Specifically, how will you afford the down payment and mortgage for a farm. It is very common for farm families to have at least one of the two adults working at an off-farm full time or part time job. That often gives the farm venture some financial stability during the initial establishment phase and can be useful providing health insurance benefits. As an alternative, the Affordable Care Act has provided farmers with relatively durable options for health insurance.
Also included on this page are printable documents that help users take notes on different prospective farmland options. Tips includes help users easily evaluate soils,
We strongly urge farm seekers to complete a profile on NC FarmLink so landowners can connect with them. When selecting the region or county for your prospective farm (or the filter during a farmland search)) be sure to select ONLY the counties you are seriously considering. This helps you and landowners find each other and reduced the results from any NC FarmLink search.
In an effort to remain accessible we continue to offer a request form for virtual or phone meetings with NC FarmLink staff!
Read more at: https://ncfarmlink.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/06/new-buying-a-farm-web-resource/
–Noah Ranells, N.C. State University
