Agreed
My dad grew up on a dairy farm, that has been in the family for many generations.
But because of larger operators getting quota preferences, it ceased to be a dairy farm some time back.
My cousin does carpentry for his day job, and raises beef cattle in his spare time. He is basically raising breeding stock, going to fairs, small number of high quality animals. He rents the land out, and takes back enough feed as part of the rent.
Starting out, unless someone gives you the land and some startup cash, it would be almost impossible to make a go of it. Sure, if you have another source of income, it might work out as a part time venture.
When I was a kid, we lived in the country and had an acre of land. We had a small chicken coop, and 1/3 of an acre garden. Occasionally we raised pigs, but mostly chickens, ducks and geese. My dad had a full time job, we kids did the work. It did enable us to eat well if nothing else.
I know about the high price of machinery, my hometown was a major manufacturer of these things, and it went down the tubes (Massey Fergueson, White Farm equipment).
