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Sounds like we're both aiming in the same general direction. We have 15.5 acres in Central IL. About 11 acres are in alfalfa, and I have a local boy cut and bale it for me. He keeps half the hay for his trouble - I sell the rest. I'll break around $2,400 this year. Not that much for the effort, but then, I look at it as an opportunity to get some good outside excersize (since I work a desk job by day) and keep my two boys occupied with manly work. My oldest boy has 35 hens and a couple roosters. He buys "Layena" mash and supplements with crushed oyster shells and corn. We grew our own corn one year, but as already mentioned, it was way more work than it was worth. A neighbor has been giving us a bit of corn each year after he finishes combining, so that's a solved problem. My boy has made a small profit this year just by selling eggs. We also have about ten peach trees and a couple apple trees. We use all the fruit ourselves from these. I'd like to start a new orchard soon as these trees are about 15 years old. Finally, we have about two acres fenced for pasture. The boy that cuts our hay keeps a couple of cows in it during the summer (he paid for materials and installed the fencing himself). My youngest boy will be getting his own calf next spring to raise. In the three years we've been here since moving from Atlanta, GA, we haven't turned a profit yet, but then I've been buying a piece or two of my own equipment each year. I think I'll just about break even this year, and should turn a small profit next year, now that the expensive part of my 8N rebuild is done .es
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