Side Gigs and Unconventional Income

[SOL]

@Triplethought

I am going to reply about life extension etc on a separate thread and post the link here

[Eric]

I think side gig renting an RV is impractical. I thought of doing this at burning man and I know a guy who has 17 trailers and uses it as a side seasonal business but it is a CRAP ton of work.

That sounds more like an actual business rather than a side-gig. Peer-to-peer RV rental is fraught with dangers...what if some idiot backs into a low hanging tree branch and puts a big hole in the wall or roof? That would put the rig out of commission and cancel reservations for people after them... As an owner that could cause bad reviews & loss of reputation, as a renter that could cancel or severely alter your vacation.

As for farming there is a reason that at the turn of the century lots of folks made their livings on farms and now relatively few do. Humans in farming is a business that is being displaced by automation at a rapid pace.

I'm not talking about corn and soybeans with gross profit of $15-$300/acre, I'm talking about HIGH-VALUE specialty crops that gross several tens of thousands of dollars per acre. My dad grew up on a farm and my uncle made millions growing corn & soybeans but that's not what I want to do.

Anyway, having started and run several businesses I can tell you they are never easy peasy. If they were, everyone would be an entrepreneur. If your expertise is IT - (I think that's what you said) I'd suggest you do that.

I don't have any interest in doing any sort of "IT" side-gig. Ideally I can get to the point where I spend an hour or two looking at the market every morning and do whatever I want for the rest of the day.

I'm actually looking for "exotic" types garlic seed stock right now (not the Mexico or China-grown $2/lb grocery store garlic). Almost every place I look is (pre-)sold out for 2021 or is charging 50% above normal pricing. That could be awesome because it means there's opportunity, or it could mean the tulip...errr garlic bubble is about to burst. The extreme range of gross revenue per acre seems to be about $77,000-$165,000 and it's a business I could operate strictly internet/mail-order with minimal start-up capital...I already have the land and the tractor. I'll throw a few hundred bucks at seed stock and see what happens... Maybe I can quit and become a garlic farmer before the COO gets to fire me or I loose my mind. Maybe Sol will make me so much money I just grow a couple dozen plants for personal use and put the yard back to sod...

[Triplethought]

[
I'm not talking about corn and soybeans with gross profit of $15-$300/acre, I'm talking about HIGH-VALUE specialty crops that gross several tens of thousands of dollars per acre. My dad grew up on a farm and my uncle made millions growing corn & soybeans but that's not what I want to do.

[I'm actually looking for "exotic" types garlic seed stock right now (not the Mexico or China-grown $2/lb grocery store garlic). Almost every place I look is (pre-)sold out for 2021 or is charging 50% above normal pricing. That could be awesome because it means there's opportunity, or it could mean the tulip...errr garlic bubble is about to burst. The extreme range of gross revenue per acre seems to be about $77,000-$165,000 and it's a business I could operate strictly internet/mail-order with minimal start-up capital...I already have the land and the tractor. I'll throw a few hundred bucks at seed stock and see what happens... Maybe I can quit and become a garlic farmer before the COO gets to fire me or I loose my mind. Maybe Sol will make me so much money I just grow a couple dozen plants for personal use and put the yard back to sod...

I like the Invest with Sol strategy but agree some side revenue would be welcome. I have some recurring monthly revenue(RMR) which is relatively difficult to achieve in business. Anyway NOW is the time to get those SBA loans. The govt is practically giving away money if you can convince them you need it to recover from Covid.

I don't see much difference between growing soybeans or garlic. Both require essentially the same amount of work. i have a refined tongue and can barely tell the difference between garlic varietals (well pre-covid I could) so I don't understand why exotic garlic commands such a high price. Many people can't tell regular from elephant garlic (which is not even real garlic). Anyway Wine grapes are $11,000 per acre of you have the climate.

[Yodean]

I'm not talking about corn and soybeans with gross profit of $15-$300/acre, I'm talking about HIGH-VALUE specialty crops that gross several tens of thousands of dollars per acre. My dad grew up on a farm and my uncle made millions growing corn & soybeans but that's not what I want to do.

I am in the camp that tentatively believes food shortages are well on their way to many places around the world. Plus that Bill G. dude is buying a lot of farmland . . . highly suspicious behavior.

Just for fun, my wife and I are looking at extremely cheap farmland in Romania, in addition to regular real estate in certain cities there. Certain areas are so cheap it's frankly unbelievable. I have no interest nor background in farming, but I wouldn't mind buying some cheap land and just sitting on it. Could always hire some local help to grow some organic crops +/- livestock.

But yeh, food shortages coming, methinks . . .

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2021/07/gl ... lters.html

[Eric]

I don't see much difference between growing soybeans or garlic. Both require essentially the same amount of work. i have a refined tongue and can barely tell the difference between garlic varietals (well pre-covid I could) so I don't understand why exotic garlic commands such a high price. Many people can't tell regular from elephant garlic (which is not even real garlic). Anyway Wine grapes are $11,000 per acre of you have the climate.

Conventionally grown soybeans are $9.77 per bushel today and average yield in Wisconsin is 47 bushels per acre for gross revenue of $460/acre. Organic "Music" garlic seed stock is $19-$35/lb and all of my research indicates 10,000 lbs per acre is a pretty common yield (although not all would be giant seed-stock, some would be sold around $12/lb for eating). Call it $14/lb average for $140,000 revenue per acre.

It takes (off the top of my head from living here and seeing them work) 12-14 person/days in the field to grow ~300 acres of beans (estimate $138,000 gross revenue for this field). A day and a half for one person to till, about 2 days for 2 people to plant and roll, about 2 days for 1 person to spray Roundup, about 3 days to harvest with 2 people working. All of their operations are mechanized and measured in double-digit "acres per hour". In growing 1 acre of exotic garlic you're talking about far more labor intensive operations that would be measured in days per acre, not in 15-30 acres per hour scale. Planting 64,000 soybeans takes 90 seconds; planting 64,000 cloves of garlic...one at a time...pointy side up...by hand...takes a bit longer.

[jlhooter]

I love garlic. I would buy some from you.

[SOL]

You could sign me up too, as I love garlic, though the people close by might not lol.

Garlic also has a plethora of health benefits

[stefk]

Garlic with roundup, not for me. I prefer my perennial garlic with my permaculture method, I dont need chemicals to grow my plants !!!!!

[SOL]

Garlic with roundup, not for me. I prefer my perennial garlic with my permaculture method, I dont need chemicals to grow my plants !!!!!

I think he was just doing a cost round up. But I am the same I don't consume veggies with chemicals. Good quality food is very important.

[Eric]

Garlic with roundup, not for me. I prefer my perennial garlic with my permaculture method, I dont need chemicals to grow my plants !!!!!

I think he was just doing a cost round up. But I am the same I don't consume veggies with chemicals. Good quality food is very important.

Yes, comparing effort. With roundup resistant beans it takes 1 person 2 days to "weed" 300 acres. With organic garlic is going to take several days labor just to weed an acre or less.

[Triplethought]

I don't see much difference between growing soybeans or garlic. Both require essentially the same amount of work. i have a refined tongue and can barely tell the difference between garlic varietals (well pre-covid I could) so I don't understand why exotic garlic commands such a high price. Many people can't tell regular from elephant garlic (which is not even real garlic). Anyway Wine grapes are $11,000 per acre of you have the climate.

Conventionally grown soybeans are $9.77 per bushel today and average yield in Wisconsin is 47 bushels per acre for gross revenue of $460/acre. Organic "Music" garlic seed stock is $19-$35/lb and all of my research indicates 10,000 lbs per acre is a pretty common yield (although not all would be giant seed-stock, some would be sold around $12/lb for eating). Call it $14/lb average for $140,000 revenue per acre.

It takes (off the top of my head from living here and seeing them work) 12-14 person/days in the field to grow ~300 acres of beans (estimate $138,000 gross revenue for this field). A day and a half for one person to till, about 2 days for 2 people to plant and roll, about 2 days for 1 person to spray Roundup, about 3 days to harvest with 2 people working. All of their operations are mechanized and measured in double-digit "acres per hour". In growing 1 acre of exotic garlic you're talking about far more labor intensive operations that would be measured in days per acre, not in 15-30 acres per hour scale. Planting 64,000 soybeans takes 90 seconds; planting 64,000 cloves of garlic...one at a time...pointy side up...by hand...takes a bit longer.

those are some awesome numbers if they turn out to be correct. I always ask myself if my calcs are right, why other people haven't jumped on an opportunity. Sometimes I find out something I didn't know, others I find I'm the only one thinking this way. I hope your numbers are right. What I do when I have an awesome idea like this is to call around and find someone doing it (i.e. high end garlic growing) and ask them what they think about the biz. I almost always get my ego deflated this way but it's better than not knowing.

[SOL]

I'm not talking about corn and soybeans with gross profit of $15-$300/acre, I'm talking about HIGH-VALUE specialty crops that gross several tens of thousands of dollars per acre. My dad grew up on a farm and my uncle made millions growing corn & soybeans but that's not what I want to do.

I am in the camp that tentatively believes food shortages are well on their way to many places around the world. Plus that Bill G. dude is buying a lot of farmland . . . highly suspicious behavior.

Just for fun, my wife and I are looking at extremely cheap farmland in Romania, in addition to regular real estate in certain cities there. Certain areas are so cheap it's frankly unbelievable. I have no interest nor background in farming, but I wouldn't mind buying some cheap land and just sitting on it. Could always hire some local help to grow some organic crops +/- livestock.

But yeh, food shortages coming, methinks . . .

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2021/07/gl ... lters.html

Good quality food, one can be assured of shortages. Crap that masquerades as food will always be plentiful and easily available.

[Triplethought]

Yes, comparing effort. With roundup resistant beans it takes 1 person 2 days to "weed" 300 acres. With organic garlic is going to take several days labor just to weed an acre or less.

Take a look at the weed killing laser robot.
https://newatlas.com/robotics/autonomou ... es-lasers/

[Triplethought]

I am in the camp that tentatively believes food shortages are well on their way to many places around the world. Plus that Bill G. dude is buying a lot of farmland . . . highly suspicious behavior.

Just for fun, my wife and I are looking at extremely cheap farmland in Romania, in addition to regular real estate in certain cities there. Certain areas are so cheap it's frankly unbelievable. I have no interest nor background in farming, but I wouldn't mind buying some cheap land and just sitting on it. Could always hire some local help to grow some organic crops +/- livestock.

But yeh, food shortages coming, methinks . . .

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2021/07/gl ... lters.html

Food shortages have always been in 3rd world countries. But assuming it will be in the US and UK due to drought and transportation is a massively wrong analysis in my opinion. Any article that sites "climate change" assumes the science is settled and it isn't. Climate change doesn't necessarily (or even probably) explain current droughts. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environ ... rm-n263941 At the very least, it is debatable.

If there is such a massive shortage of truckers that we can't get breakfast cereal the prices will go up and lots of folks will eventually be hopping into a truck and driving cross country. A temporary problem that will readily resolved by supply/demand...and eventually by self driving trucks. Much worrying about nothing until there is substantially more evidence than what this 3rd rate young blogger who knows nothing about food infrastructure provides.

Go to Yahoo.com/finance and look at the MAX year chart for WEAT. Sure, wheat is high but it's not historically high.

[Triplethought]

Bill Gates owns almost 300,000 acres is a lot of land for one family or private individual to own, but it’s still just a small part of the estimated 911 million acres of farmland in the US.

I fail to see how owning 0.03% of farmland gives him any sort of nefarious ability to threaten food supplies or corner any markets.