I know a guy who owns a small but fairly successful brewery. He'd like to use some local ingredients to make some locally themed batches of beer.
(I'm in Mass.)
I've baled my share of hay over the years, but I've never been around ANY kind of grain crop.
I know ZERO - nothing.
Just curious if it's something that could be done relatively easily on a very small scale.
I'm thinking of a field - about 3 or 4 acres that I have access to.
I'm also wondering about old small combines - like a john deere 12a or something along those lines. (might be tough for me to even find one in this area - but could take a trip if I found one within 500 miles)
We've got tractors and gravity wagons.
Grain drills seem to be easy enough to find in ohio where I go twice a year.
This guy would probably pay well enough for the crop to recoup my costs pretty quickly if it worked out. But I'd really be doing this more as a friend than to make a profit.
so - I don't really have a specific question - just looking for some general advice. Any special soil conditions needed, when do you plant, when do you harvest, how many bushels could I expect to get per acre?
Are there any good small combines to look for.
am I crazy to even try?
again I have ZERO experience here. - would like to hear what others have to say.
(I'm in Mass.)
I've baled my share of hay over the years, but I've never been around ANY kind of grain crop.
I know ZERO - nothing.
Just curious if it's something that could be done relatively easily on a very small scale.
I'm thinking of a field - about 3 or 4 acres that I have access to.
I'm also wondering about old small combines - like a john deere 12a or something along those lines. (might be tough for me to even find one in this area - but could take a trip if I found one within 500 miles)
We've got tractors and gravity wagons.
Grain drills seem to be easy enough to find in ohio where I go twice a year.
This guy would probably pay well enough for the crop to recoup my costs pretty quickly if it worked out. But I'd really be doing this more as a friend than to make a profit.
so - I don't really have a specific question - just looking for some general advice. Any special soil conditions needed, when do you plant, when do you harvest, how many bushels could I expect to get per acre?
Are there any good small combines to look for.
am I crazy to even try?
again I have ZERO experience here. - would like to hear what others have to say.