Hello from an east coast farm

[Sodbuster]

Hi everybody, I'm a 39 y.o. ( no really, I am ) single male farmer. I collect ( accumulate ?) firearms and antique tractors.  It's time to leave these parts due to a massive influx of suburbanites and increasing loss of freedom. I was thinking eastern S.D. as it is closer to the major old tractor shows but am now reconsidering.

I am looking for between two and three hundred acres to grow hay, exercise the old iron, and build one serious rifle range, 500yds. minimum. I would welcome friends but don't want many neighbors. I was thinking Crook County but want opinions from the membership. Any other suggestions would also be appreciated. Thanks.

[wyomiles]

Howdy Sodbuster !!? Welcome here.? I think Wyoming would be a great place for you.? There are actually several areas with agricultural lands.? If you are just going to grow hay your options are even greater. I would suggest a week long trip to check out areas, if you have the time.? If not here is a web site that lists properties in several areas.

http://search.pfisterlandco.com/search.pl

There are many other listings here but this includes a lot more , houses, ranches etc.

http://www.wyodex.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Name=&County=select&Key=Real+estate&x=29&y=16

There is also a very interesting thing I have always wanted to try out myself,which you may be able to use. I posted the info here.

http://www.fundamentalsoffreedom.com/fswforum//index.php?topic=442.0

Hope this helps ?? Miles

[Hunter]

Hi everybody, I'm a 39 y.o. ( no really, I am ) single male farmer. I collect ( accumulate ?) firearms and antique tractors.? It's time to leave these parts due to a massive influx of suburbanites and increasing loss of freedom. I was thinking eastern S.D. as it is closer to the major old tractor shows but am now reconsidering.

I am looking for between two and three hundred acres to grow hay, exercise the old iron, and build one serious rifle range, 500yds. minimum. I would welcome friends but don't want many neighbors. I was thinking Crook County but want opinions from the membership. Any other suggestions would also be appreciated. Thanks.

Consider Niobrara, County.  By the way, wanna buy an old (non running) Fordson diesel? 

[clemmac]

Come on out and visit Wyoming, look around at farms, talk to some long time farmers/ranchers.  On site, hands on evaluation will be worth a thousand words from folks on this forum.  You'll also need to change the way you think about farming, this is dry country.

Your neighbors here will smile when they hear you shooting !  Guns are OK things in Wyoming.

[planetaryjim]

Dear Sodbuster,

I am looking for between two and three hundred acres to grow hay, exercise the old iron, and build one serious rifle range, 500yds. minimum. I would welcome friends but don't want many neighbors. I was thinking Crook County but want opinions from the membership. Any other suggestions would also be appreciated. Thanks.

I've spent many pleasant hours among the antique tractors and steam engines at various shows in the Great Plains.  Wyoming certainly counts as a Plains state.  Indeed, the Dakota word "We-a-ming" from which the state takes its name means "great plains." 

Crook County is a great part of Wyoming.  I really like it.  I've been there several times for visits.  I'm also fond of Niobrara and Weston Counties.  You might also like Platte County or Goshen County.

The two counties with the best access to South Dakota are Laramie in the South, on Interstate 80, and Crook in the north on Interstate 90.  Naturally, being basically unhappy with things governmental, I would not seek a home near the state capital in Cheyenne.  In my experience, the further one is away from the national capital or the state or provincial capital in any country, the more freedom one can experience.  So that takes Laramie County off the list for me, but it has much good cropland.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the natural habitat of the pronghorn is consistent with the sort of lands you'd like to own.  All those counties in the eastern tier of Wyoming are good pronghorn grazing lands.

If you are planning a trip, there are good friends in Converse, Crook, and Weston counties that I can think of offhand who'd be mighty pleased to see you.

Out of curiosity, what part of the east coast are you from?

Regards,

Jim
 http://vertoro.com/

[Don Wills]

...this is dry country.

Don't underestimate the impact of lack of precipitation and low humidity.? You will need water rights in most places in Wyoming to make a go of it.

[Sodbuster]

Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like I'll have to throw the camper in the truck this fall when the crops are in and go for a drive.

Soooo...Hunter/Pete, is it a Dextra or a Major or .......( no, must control self,  move first, then get more projects! )


As far as crops, I'm thinking making hay of the native grasses ( provided there is a maket for it ) would be a way to get by without irrigation. Might only get one crop a year, but I'm not looking to get rich.

Oh, I'm from Delaware.

[Don Wills]

As far as crops, I'm thinking making hay of the native grasses ( provided there is a maket for it ) would be a way to get by without irrigation. Might only get one crop a year, but I'm not looking to get rich.

I'm not kidding about dry.? Without irrigation you may get zero hay harvests, depending on location.

[Hunter]

? Indeed, the Dakota word "We-a-ming" from which the state takes its name means "great plains."?

I've always been told/taught the word "Wyoming" was an eastern Iroquois Indian word meaning "Big Valley"
As in Wyoming PA. Or Wyoming County PA. Both were platted long before the Wyoming territory was even known.

Is there a historian in the group?

[laurel]

Is there a historian in the group?

Not quite, but I'm the self-crowned Google Queen... What I came up with:

Origin of state's name: Based on an Algonquin or Delaware Indian word meaning "large prairie place"
From the Delaware Indian word, meaning ?mountains and valleys alternating?
Origin of the Name Wyoming - The name Wyoming may be derived from the Delaware Indian word "Maughwauwama," which means "large plains."

I'm too lazy to cite all those right now, but it looks like it's definitely an eastern word that was brought west. If anyone is interested in looking for themselves, Google "wyoming name origin" or variations on that theme.

Laurel

[planetaryjim]

Dear Pete,

I've always been told/taught the word "Wyoming" was an eastern Iroquois Indian word meaning "Big Valley"
As in Wyoming PA. Or Wyoming County PA. Both were platted long before the Wyoming territory was even known.
Is there a historian in the group?

Sure.  And, where do you think eastern Indians went when they were forced out of their homes back east?  They went West, and took plenty of words with them. 

Yes, there is an historian in the group.  I've a degree in American history from Columbia University, in New York City.

"New York City?!  Getta rope!"

Regards,

Jim
http://indomitus.net/

[planetaryjim]

Dear Chill,

I'm not kidding about dry.  Without irrigation you may get zero hay harvests, depending on location.

That's completely correct.  Rainfall total for the state is about 10 inches per year. 

Platte County's chamber site: http://www.plattechamber.com/PlatteChamber/Demographics.aspx
lists farming as a business enterprise in the county.  They also list these figures:

# Rainfall: 12.99
# Snowfall: 41.10
# Average growing season: 155 days

By way of contrast, Georgetown, Delaware shows rainfall of about 44.2 inches per year.

Another relevant eastern county, Laramie, shows about 15.4 inches rainfall total for the twelve months ending 31 August 2005.
http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/images/wrds/wsc/monthsum/2005Aug/che_1yrp.gif

So, Chill's warning to be sure about your water rights is a good one.  There are state and county regulations on drilling water wells to be aware of, I gather.  It is not necessarily the case that any creek or river across your property is yours to dam up as you please.  Water rights are very serious, sometimes quite elaborate, and because water is life, people are naturally quite intense about defending their actual and perceived water property rights.

By no means should you be discouraged from making the move, though.  There are plenty of farms in Wyoming, lots and lots of which I see in eastern Wyoming on my travels.  Farmers find water, so you can, too.  Still, don't be mistaken about the water rights when you sign up for a land purchase.  Know what you are getting in the bargain and you'll be glad you did.

Regards,

Jim
 http://vertoro.com/

[Boston]

Howdy, sodbuster, and welcome here!
We're pretty friendly and helpful in the FSW, and I hope that
we can encourage you to join us in Wyoming.


from planetaryjim:

"New York City?!  Getta rope!"

There's also a comedian in the group, too...   
Jim's lived in NYC, Houston, and other metro areas.
No wonder he's so itchin' ta git ta Wyoming!


Thanks all, for posting here and helping out sodbuster.

Boston
[/color]

[MamaLiberty]

Sodbuster (and anyone visiting Wyoming), if you come through Weston county (Newcastle) at all, stop and visit with me if you can. I've only been here since April, 06, but I'm happy to do whatever I can to help new FSW folks find their own chunk of Wyoming and get settled. Just let me know when to expect you and I'll send my address, etc.

Welcome! And God speed your efforts to get established here.

MamaLiberty

[Paul Bonneau]

We may be over-exaggerating the dryness. I was amazed how lush much of NE Wyoming was when I went to the jams there, and that was in the middle of a drought. And I know it wasn't all irrigated either - far from it. Sure, some (large) parts of Wyoming are dry, but not all of it. And most farms and ranches come with some kind of water rights.

Eastern Wyoming after all, is part of the shortgrass prairie. Prairie implies grass. 

Of course, if you MUST have a crop ever year, you might have problems. There are large variations in weather, which have wiped out farmers in the past. Just like "buy low, sell high", in farming it might go "buy brown, sell green". 

BTW hay is one of the major crops of Wyoming, maybe the largest. Sugar beets are big too. Anything that can handle the short growing season...

Sodbuster, you might take a look at the Torrington area. Mildest climate, water from the river, etc. So farming is big there.