Starting Your Virginia Farm

Starting a Virginia Beef Cattle Farm

Raising beef cattle for yourself or for profit can be an incredibly rewarding and satisfying enterprise, and it doesn’t require a ranch. In fact, beef cattle can be raised successfully and healthily on relatively small pieces of land.

Though there are several management skills that define successful beef producers, learning to raise your own cattle isn’t nearly as daunting an operation as it may seem.

Starting a Virginia Dairy Cattle Farm

Considering its mild climate and verdant rolling hills, its no surprise that Virginia is one of the best places in the nation to start a dairy farm. The state boasted over 100,000 milk cows on over 800 dairy farms in 2005, supported by the area’s lush forages and nurturing environment.

Starting a Virginia Poultry Farm

With the rising cost of eggs in today’s market and the dangers of pesticides coming to light, raising chickens can be the perfect solution if you have a bit of land. Raising a flock of domestic poultry requires a very low investment and small area compared to other livestock, and as chickens are relatively low maintenance, even those with no farm experience have little trouble learning to care for them.

Starting a Virginia Swine Farm

While many have the mistaken idea that swine are difficult and messy to raise, the Virginia countryside is the ideal location to raise and reap the benefits from raising one or a dozen pigs.

With its mild climate and abundance of agricultural byproducts that can be purchased inexpensively in the area, Virginia is a great place to relocate if you’re looking to raise your own pigs, or for those already in the area, it’s the perfect place for even the most inexperienced farmer to learn the trade.

Starting a Virginia Sheep and Goat Farm

With a sheep population of over 89,000 and a goat population of over 111,000 that stretches to all regions of the state, Virginia is the ideal place for new and experienced farmers.

The area’s abundant forage resources, moderate climate, and close proximity to markets make Virginia the perfect place to move if you’re interested in becoming a part of the area’s well-established vibrant and diverse sheep and goat industry.

Starting a Virginia Equestrian Farm

For horse owners used to boarding their horses elsewhere, these new opportunities are enough to fuel the desire to buy an equestrian farm, and for those considering this possibility, there is no better place to settle than the Virginia countryside.

With its lush rolling hills and breathtaking views, there is no better place to raise healthy, strong horses, or to enjoy long, leisurely rides with incredible protected mountain views.

Starting a Virginia Fruit Farm

Given its mild seasons and fertile soil, all sorts of fruits can grow in Virginia, though the easiest fruits to grow vary in each of the state’s five climate regions.

For those looking to grow fruit commercially or just add a few berry bushes or fruit trees to their backyard, Virginia has been favored by farmers for hundreds of years because of the ease with which crops flourish in its nutrient-rich soil.

Starting a Virginia Crop Farm

With its mild climate and nutrient-rich soil, Virginia offers the ideal growing conditions for dozens of crops. Because of its rich soil and the acres of lush, protected mountain land, Native Americans planted seeds and harvested crops in the area for about 3,000 years before the English arrived.

Starting a Virginia Vineyard

Tucked away in the Virginia mountainside are dozens of world-class vineyards that take advantage of the location’s ideal growing conditions. Since grapes thrive in the Virginia soil and can be trained onto a wide assortment of apparatus ranging from arbors to the trellis systems traditionally used by grape farmers, growing grapes is a relatively simple task for a home grower in the area.