I don't want to rain on your parade, but you really need to talk to some farmers/ranchers in the area regarding your plans - along with your ag extension agent. If you are doing this as simply a hobby and not as a livelihood and have a source of income to “dump†in to your project - hey, knock yourself out! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] It’s a lot of work - but a lot of fun too.
BUT, if you plan on trading job descriptions believing you can make enough money from your property to live a comfortable life - well, don't count on it. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
I'll ignore the whole herbal foodstuffs thing since (a) I know nothing about it, and (b) it sounds a LOT like the whole emu thing from a decade or so [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] I wouldn’t doubt someone will post that they’ve had great success doing this (herbs or emus [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]) - but everyone I know who did the “emu thing†were all “rainbows & lollipops†at the time but all of them eventually lost their proverbial shirts. The point I’m making is that “Get rich quick†schemes rarely work out.
The other reason I say to talk to local ranchers/farmers/ag extension agent is not all property has the same production capacity - it will differ dramatically. These folks are the ones who will be able to give you real numbers and ideas about how profitable your crop can be and how well suited it is to the land you are contemplating purchasing. Too often people have delusions of grandeur as to how much their land is capable of producing - seen it happen ‘round here.
Anyway, now - I'm NOT saying you can't sell what you grow/raise - I'm just saying that by the time you put the sales against the costs (i.e. mortgage, taxes, herbicides (organic?), pesticides (organic?), vet bills, tools, implements, diesel, repair bills, etc. etc.) you will most likely be at a net loss (and a substantial one at that.) The fact of the matter is that you’ll be LUCKY to make it a zero sum game until the property is paid for, and after that, your profit margin will most likely be very small.
I also want to be clear - I am NOT putting down farmers/ranchers - far from it - it takes a lot of guts to risk everything year after year. But don’t think you’ll become the next cattle baron (or Ginsing baron [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]). Fact of the matter is around these parts, the standing joke is that the only people (newbies) who get in to agribusiness are (1) nuts, (2) rich, and (3) have a strong desire to loose money. (I know several of these folks and fact is that they admit to all 3 parts of the joke!) The only farmers/ranchers who make any real money (i.e. enough to live on) are the ones who have minimum costs - and a mortgage on XYZ number of acres ain’t no low cost!
Perhaps there is a niche market you can serve and potentially not loose tons of money, but if you are looking to make money to live on in the short term (i.e. before the mortgage is paid off) - I seriously doubt it. Think about it this way - if it were easy to make money to cover all your expenses year after year, the farms that have been in the same family for several generations (i.e. no mortgage, no startup investments like equipment, etc.) wouldn’t be going the way of the do-do. (It's all well and good to say that "X" crop is worth $18,000 per whatever, - but that is theoretical - show me the contracts! Until you have signed contracts for your crops, they aren't worth anything. Doesn't matter if futures say they're worth X amount - you gotta find a buyer willing to take your product. Again, the whole emu thing is at the forefront of my mind currently.) From an economic perspective, you have enormous hurdles to clear. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
I’m not saying all this to discourage you - just to make sure you “look before you leap†and have realistic expectations as to the economic part of the picture. Again, if you're serious about doing this, talk with the right people - people who do make a living off the land in that area. They should able to give you some applicable facts so you can run the numbers and set your expectations accordingly.