
Part of this is because of the low cost of keeping llamas, which are particularly low-maintenance animals.


“The whole egg-and-chicken situation is pennies in comparison - the llamas actually subsidize the egg business,” Yorke says. While the farm does have pigs, poultry, and much more, it’s the llama walks that provide a booming business. After having walked with llamas himself and following a health scare, Yorke fostered a newfound determination to live his llama farm dreams, so he purchased an 1870s farm and his first llamas in 2016. He’s been running the llama treks for seven years. Matt Yorke owns and operates Pembrokeshire Llamas, a farm that offers “llama walks” in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Hall isn’t the only one offering unique, immersive farm visits. These profitable hobby farm ideas have turned her small dairy into a thriving business. Nowadays, Hall offers regular goat yoga sessions maintains a thriving YouTube channel with videos of her goat kids has published children’s books about the goats hosts “Put the Babies to Bed” nights, where children can read the goat kids bedtime stories and even sells “golden tickets” for private visits and photo shoots on her farm during kidding season. It was a way to bring people to the farm, and it created a bond between her customers and her goats that made her products seem all the more special, in a way lifting the curtain between produce and process. So, about a decade ago, she started offering “kid snuggling” visits - opportunities to play with her baby goats every spring - for friends, neighbors, and the community. As a small home dairy, she knew it would be almost impossible to make a living simply from the goat cheese and goat kid sales. At that time, she never imagined having more than a couple, but since then, her small dairy farm has grown to more than 30 goats as well as a thriving farmstand and cheese kitchen. Hope Hall of Sunflower Farm Creamery in Cumberland, Maine, brought home her first pair of goats in 2008. Profitable Hobby Farm Ideas: Community Goats and Llamas Instead, more and more backyard farmers are considering alternative options of producing an income that can keep them on the farm without relying on a crop as their sole source. Relying on traditional models, such as farmers markets and roadside farmstands, to sell eggs, dairy, meat, and more can provide a small farm with supplemental cash, but it rarely does more than cover costs. Department of Agriculture, most small farms rely on off-farm income to keep afloat.īased on the profitability of your farm products, making money just by selling your products can be tough. Farming is a notoriously tough profession to earn a profit in, and those margins are particularly tight if you operate a small farm or are trying to break even with a backyard homestead.


Hobby farm ideas how to#
You’ve probably heard the joke about how to make $1 million in farming: You have to start with $2 million. Looking for a side business for your farm, or profitable hobby farm ideas? Gain some tips and inspiration from these big and small farm income ideas. Visitors can enjoy the llama walks at Pembrokeshire Llamas in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
