by Caroline Kirby
If you’re a farmer or own hobby farmland, you could be missing out on opportunities to generate extra income. Harvesting crops and tending to some livestock may be your main source of income, but putting in a little extra work today could lead to a big ROI in the future.
If you own farmland and are interested in bringing in extra income, here are some of the top ways.
Different Ways to Make Income off of Your Farmland. Ranging from super creative to the obvious, here are some of the best ways to bring in extra income on your farm. Whether your main operation is or isn’t bringing in enough profit, you can ensure your farm has enough to run smoothly by implementing one, or a mix, of these ideas.
Invite Treasure Hunters to Your Land: Between plantings, you could advertise and let people with metal detectors come out and scan certain areas for a price. Check out Facebook for any local groups and get in touch!
Create a Campsite: If you live in an area that sees a lot of tourists you could establish a campsite on part of your land. This can be as basic or modern as you’d like. Including showers and toilets is a necessity, but you could also offer electricity and food for an extra fee.
Host a Swap Meet: Charge vendors a small fee to set up a booth on your land for weekend swap meets. Over time this method will likely gain traction and become a stable source of income.
Rent Land for Solar Energy: In different places across the U.S., solar companies are seeking extra acres to set up their solar panels and equipment. You could receive a steady stream of pay each month by renting your land.
Monetize Your Skills: If you have a particular skill or offer something unique in the area you could invite people to your farm to teach a workshop or class on the subject.
Set Up a B&B: If you have an available building on your property and some time to spruce things up, you could establish a bed and breakfast.
Private Fishing Lakes: If you have lakes on your property you could develop them into public fishing lakes. You have two options when going this route. You can have a catch and release fishing experience where your visitors pay an entry fee and can stay as long as they’d like. The other option is to pay per fish. Visitors may pay a small entry fee and then their catch must be weighed and paid for.
Farmers Market: Similar to the swap meet idea, you could host a farmers market on your land. An added benefit to this option is you’ll have a chance to establish connections with other local farmers.
These eight ways to generate extra income just scratch the surface of all the possibilities. However, if you were to implement even one of the above methods you’d be able to generate some extra income.