Investing together in a small family farm

A rural cooperative could potentially provide enough food to sustain an entire urban residential development.
That is the concept at hand.
It leads me to wonder: is it possible to establish a Commercial farm based on capital investments from these residents? They would essentially pool their funds to fund a shared production site in the countryside, intended primarily for their own consumption, while any surplus could be sold directly through the Commercial farm's operations.

I am not entirely certain about the legal specifics regarding a Family farm, but I am considering the term "Small family farm" as a new business model.
The idea involves collective capital being invested into a single property that a landlord then leases out to these investors...
How might one legally structure such an arrangement, and what are your thoughts on the feasibility of this idea?

Andrew Murphy said:A rural cooperative could potentially provide enough food to sustain an entire urban residential development.
That is the concept at hand.
It leads me to wonder: is it possible to establish a Commercial farm based on capital investments from these residents? They would essentially pool their funds to fund a shared production site in the countryside, intended primarily for their own consumption, while any surplus could be sold directly through the Commercial farm's operations.

I am not entirely certain about the legal specifics regarding a Family farm, but I am considering the term "Small family farm" as a new business model.
The idea involves collective capital being invested into a single property that a landlord then leases out to these investors...
How might one legally structure such an arrangement, and what are your thoughts on the feasibility of this idea?

It sounds intriguing, but

Urban dwellers would need some kind of corporate entity or specific legal status to make this work—I don't know the exact regulations, but you can't pull this off without a formal company. Since they wouldn't be investing directly into a Family farm, but rather through a business, they wouldn't actually be working the land themselves; they'd be hiring employees who need wages, payroll taxes, utilities, and overhead covered. A better way might be if the residents held something like vouchers or credits to buy goods from the farm at a massive discount since they'd essentially be acting like shareholders, but you'd still need professionals to manage and organize the whole operation. The bigger hurdle, though, is that most people living in cities are struggling financially and don't have extra cash for these kinds of investments; running a farm isn't cheap, and there's the risk of total failure due to inexperience, not to mention the complexities of land ownership and all that.
It might be simpler if certain rural cooperatives offered products to the nearest major city at preferential rates, perhaps even negotiating what gets grown and how much, giving citizens priority access to cheaper goods while the city government invests in these rural cooperatives. For example, a cooperative could open five or six butcher shops or markets in the city where residents could buy meat at 50% less than anywhere else just by showing ID. It would be a win-win; either the city has the budget for it, or they take out a municipal bond, and the farmers get a guaranteed market and distribution network ready to go.

The real nightmare is corruption, because if someone like a corrupt mayor or a shady political machine gets their hands on it... honestly, I don't know, maybe cities like New York or Chicago already have similar initiatives?

Andrew Murphy said:A rural cooperative could potentially provide enough food to sustain an entire urban residential development.
That is the concept at hand.
It leads me to wonder: is it possible to establish a Commercial farm based on capital investments from these residents? They would essentially pool their funds to fund a shared production site in the countryside, intended primarily for their own consumption, while any surplus could be sold directly through the Commercial farm's operations.

I am not entirely certain about the legal specifics regarding a Family farm, but I am considering the term "Small family farm" as a new business model.
The idea involves collective capital being invested into a single property that a landlord then leases out to these investors...
How might one legally structure such an arrangement, and what are your thoughts on the feasibility of this idea?

You don't need a Family Farm, just start a cooperative...
All you need is 7 or 8 founders with a small investment of maybe $1,000-$667....
Only a cooperative deals with monthly overhead....

If you're actually serious about this, I can explain how to set one up and how it works...

Jerry Martinez6 said:It sounds intriguing, but

Urban dwellers would need some kind of corporate entity or specific legal status to make this work—I don't know the exact regulations, but you can't pull this off without a formal company. Since they wouldn't be investing directly into a Family farm, but rather through a business, they wouldn't actually be working the land themselves; they'd be hiring employees who need wages, payroll taxes, utilities, and overhead covered. A better way might be if the residents held something like vouchers or credits to buy goods from the farm at a massive discount since they'd essentially be acting like shareholders, but you'd still need professionals to manage and organize the whole operation. The bigger hurdle, though, is that most people living in cities are struggling financially and don't have extra cash for these kinds of investments; running a farm isn't cheap, and there's the risk of total failure due to inexperience, not to mention the complexities of land ownership and all that.
It might be simpler if certain rural cooperatives offered products to the nearest major city at preferential rates, perhaps even negotiating what gets grown and how much, giving citizens priority access to cheaper goods while the city government invests in these rural cooperatives. For example, a cooperative could open five or six butcher shops or markets in the city where residents could buy meat at 50% less than anywhere else just by showing ID. It would be a win-win; either the city has the budget for it, or they take out a municipal bond, and the farmers get a guaranteed market and distribution network ready to go.

The real nightmare is corruption, because if someone like a corrupt mayor or a shady political machine gets their hands on it... honestly, I don't know, maybe cities like New York or Chicago already have similar initiatives?

Exactly right.
That would essentially mean a system of coordinated domestic farming.
Fresh potatoes from a local family farm, grass-fed beef, garlic grown in the California countryside, and honey harvested from the Appalachian Mountains or the Rocky Mountains—you just can't beat it.
The goal is to consolidate private holdings and integrate them into a local cooperative or a similar family farm model.
There would likely be an agreement in place with the homeowners association or a similar neighborhood organization.
We could bypass the whole issue of imported goods and those big-box retail chains that live off their margins. We all know exactly how they play it—whether gas prices are dropping or climbing, they make sure to stay on top. For them, profit is the only rule that matters.
That isn't really the point here.
Social sustainability and nutritional quality are the very foundations of our existence.

Jerry Martinez6 said:It sounds intriguing, but

Urban dwellers would need some kind of corporate entity or specific legal status to make this work—I don't know the exact regulations, but you can't pull this off without a formal company. Since they wouldn't be investing directly into a Family farm, but rather through a business, they wouldn't actually be working the land themselves; they'd be hiring employees who need wages, payroll taxes, utilities, and overhead covered. A better way might be if the residents held something like vouchers or credits to buy goods from the farm at a massive discount since they'd essentially be acting like shareholders, but you'd still need professionals to manage and organize the whole operation. The bigger hurdle, though, is that most people living in cities are struggling financially and don't have extra cash for these kinds of investments; running a farm isn't cheap, and there's the risk of total failure due to inexperience, not to mention the complexities of land ownership and all that.
It might be simpler if certain rural cooperatives offered products to the nearest major city at preferential rates, perhaps even negotiating what gets grown and how much, giving citizens priority access to cheaper goods while the city government invests in these rural cooperatives. For example, a cooperative could open five or six butcher shops or markets in the city where residents could buy meat at 50% less than anywhere else just by showing ID. It would be a win-win; either the city has the budget for it, or they take out a municipal bond, and the farmers get a guaranteed market and distribution network ready to go.

The real nightmare is corruption, because if someone like a corrupt mayor or a shady political machine gets their hands on it... honestly, I don't know, maybe cities like New York or Chicago already have similar initiatives?

Yes. And that really is the million-dollar question.
Let’s just say that if we were to form this local farmers' cooperative, we might only end up with two interested parties: the producer and the buyer.
No middleman required.
Of course, those political parasites and bureaucrats can always smell money from a mile away. They’re always ready to jump in with their schemes and deceptions.
In that case, we really have to count on transparency.

slysurfer14 said:You don't need a Family Farm, just start a cooperative...
All you need is 7 or 8 founders with a small investment of maybe $1,000-$667....
Only a cooperative deals with monthly overhead....

If you're actually serious about this, I can explain how to set one up and how it works...

I would certainly appreciate that...👍

Andrew Murphy said:I would certainly appreciate that...👍

What exactly are you looking for?.....
So, basically, you need at least 8 people to start a co-op (maybe 7 or 8, I don't want to dig through the legal fine print right now). Everyone puts in some initial capital—it's at least $333, but honestly, the more the better....
All the members make up the assembly and they vote on everything, like picking the secretary, the manager, and all that stuff....
The manager has to be a pro (like, an actual employee), unless the co-op isn't pulling in more than $180 $0.00 (that's just a rough estimate) in revenue; then you don't necessarily need to hire someone....
You gotta open a business bank account, get a seal, and hire a firm to handle the paperwork (you absolutely have to have a contract with an accounting firm)....
A co-op can do anything—manufacturing, sales, whatever....
If you don't hire a full-time manager, your only real cost is the bookkeeping (maybe $100-$67 a month)....
All the big decisions happen at the general meeting, and obviously, you have to vote on the bylaws to define how everything works, including how profits are split or how losses are covered....

That's the gist of it, I guess....

slysurfer14 said:What exactly are you looking for?.....
So, basically, you need at least 8 people to start a co-op (maybe 7 or 8, I don't want to dig through the legal fine print right now). Everyone puts in some initial capital—it's at least $333, but honestly, the more the better....
All the members make up the assembly and they vote on everything, like picking the secretary, the manager, and all that stuff....
The manager has to be a pro (like, an actual employee), unless the co-op isn't pulling in more than $180 $0.00 (that's just a rough estimate) in revenue; then you don't necessarily need to hire someone....
You gotta open a business bank account, get a seal, and hire a firm to handle the paperwork (you absolutely have to have a contract with an accounting firm)....
A co-op can do anything—manufacturing, sales, whatever....
If you don't hire a full-time manager, your only real cost is the bookkeeping (maybe $100-$67 a month)....
All the big decisions happen at the general meeting, and obviously, you have to vote on the bylaws to define how everything works, including how profits are split or how losses are covered....

That's the gist of it, I guess....

http://www.cooperative-info.org/index.php?opti...d=38&Itemid=82
Please. What do you mean "$100-$$67" for the paperwork? You're looking at over $1,000 upfront before you even start.

Andrew Murphy said:A rural cooperative could potentially provide enough food to sustain an entire urban residential development.
That is the concept at hand.
It leads me to wonder: is it possible to establish a Commercial farm based on capital investments from these residents? They would essentially pool their funds to fund a shared production site in the countryside, intended primarily for their own consumption, while any surplus could be sold directly through the Commercial farm's operations.

I am not entirely certain about the legal specifics regarding a Family farm, but I am considering the term "Small family farm" as a new business model.
The idea involves collective capital being invested into a single property that a landlord then leases out to these investors...
How might one legally structure such an arrangement, and what are your thoughts on the feasibility of this idea?

And who actually does the labor? Is it clear to you that after harvesting wheat, you might net a measly $50 to $100? You'd need a massive amount of acreage just to cover the gas money required for members to drive out and check on that wheat. Growing produce is a whole different beast—it demands specialized expertise and serious capital.
You really need to have 10 to 20 successful independent farms established first before even thinking about forming a cooperative. Only then would you see actual reductions in production costs and better market prices for your goods.

wearytrucker22 said:http://www.cooperative-info.org/index.php?opti...d=38&Itemid=82
Please. What do you mean "$100-$$67" for the paperwork? You're looking at over $1,000 upfront before you even start.

for what $333 for filing papers? seriously, stop wasting everyone's time, again...

wearytrucker22 said:And who actually does the labor? Is it clear to you that after harvesting wheat, you might net a measly $50 to $100? You'd need a massive amount of acreage just to cover the gas money required for members to drive out and check on that wheat. Growing produce is a whole different beast—it demands specialized expertise and serious capital.
You really need to have 10 to 20 successful independent farms established first before even thinking about forming a cooperative. Only then would you see actual reductions in production costs and better market prices for your goods.

yeah, right, because wheat is such a great metric... if you ask our incompetent farmers, I guess.
Commercial space in New York City is $0.67 per square foot...
Just rent a spot, slap an "organic food cooperative" sign on it, and see how fast the money rolls in...
Right now, I know at least ten places selling "non-local" produce just like that...
But co-ops? Ugh, total communism...

slysurfer14 said:for what $333 for filing papers? seriously, stop wasting everyone's time, again...

Where exactly are you finding rates for $2000 annual bookkeeping when a business is processing at least five transactions a month?
At those prices, your homegrown berries aren't worth more than $0.33 a pound. Honestly, you people are asking for hourly rates starting at $1-$0.67 per hour. It’s ridiculous.
As for commercial space, I'd rather take in some refugees from overseas and pay their utilities out of my own pocket than rent out a $0.67 sq ft unit for anything less than $2 per square foot.$0.67 It just isn't worth it.
Man, people from the rural heartland really get under my skin. To them, everything is gold—organic $3.25 pounds of potatoes, eggs worth at least $1.75 apiece, and so on.
And let me ask you: what's the actual going rate for labor in rural America? How much would you realistically be willing to pay someone per hour down there?

wearytrucker22 said:Where exactly are you finding rates for $2000 annual bookkeeping when a business is processing at least five transactions a month?
At those prices, your homegrown berries aren't worth more than $0.33 a pound. Honestly, you people are asking for hourly rates starting at $1-$0.67 per hour. It’s ridiculous.
As for commercial space, I'd rather take in some refugees from overseas and pay their utilities out of my own pocket than rent out a $0.67 sq ft unit for anything less than $2 per square foot.$0.67 It just isn't worth it.
Man, people from the rural heartland really get under my skin. To them, everything is gold—organic $3.25 pounds of potatoes, eggs worth at least $1.75 apiece, and so on.
And let me ask you: what's the actual going rate for labor in rural America? How much would you realistically be willing to pay someone per hour down there?

What kind of nonsense are you spewing here... seriously...
I'm just laying out the facts while you sit here arguing with yourself...
Commercial space right by George Washington Square is only $2.25 per square foot
http://www.nyc.gov/default.aspx?id=2102
So go ahead, keep arguing with yourself if that's what you want....