Who are you going to sell your production to? I mean specifically, what are their names? What do they want you to grow? How much do they want and how often? How do they want it delivered?

Are you planning on livestock, animal products (milk, eggs, wool, etc.), orchard, or ground based fruits/veggies?

Another thought...if you want to be certified organic, it takes a couple years to build the records needed for the government to certify you. All that time, and forever and ever, you will have the USDA visiting you periodically to check your records. I know some people who are using organic materials but do not want the government on their property, so they are not certified.

He's a little unconventional but he is highly successful: look up everything you can find written by Joel Salatin. Check the web and Amazon (or your library).

Try looking up permaculture and biodynamic farming as well - some of the practices/ideas are pretty far out, but I like the basic tenets - that the land, soil, water, plants and animals are all part of a web that is and must be interconnected for any part to do well.

There are magazines - ranging from homesteading ones to active working farmers - try Backwoods, Grit, Back Home, Acres USA, Progressive Farmer (I think that's the title), Mother Earth News and a few others, oriented toward small operations, either with an eye to self-sufficiency or producing for sale. Try any number of the publications from Back Home or Storey Publications to get an idea for raising livestock, living, farming on a small scale. If your chosen area publishes a farmer's/market bulletin, get hold of copies and see what is being sold at what prices. Talk to restaurants, etc., and see what they want, then figure out if you can grow it in the quantities and for a price that will allow you to make a profit - some things are in short supply because they are very hard to grow in bulk!

Bear in mind that, while you won't necessarily need a large acreage, depending on your operations, you will HAVE to have good water and soil. And the water you will need for as long as you are there - so a good well or excellent spring, and not a lot of building plans in the area for the near future that might run down the water table will be a plus - look at the water situation in Raleigh, NC for a BAD example to stay away from. Granted, droughts are under no-one's control, but... Look at the weather, climate, etc. in the area you want to move to, and then go there and start asking questions - there are microclimates that are warmer and that are colder than the norm in all areas. The nat'l weather service did put out a book with the average temperatures, rain/precipitation, humidity, wind, etc., for each month for the past 10 years, so get a copy of the most recent edition and look at the patterns. Things ARE changing, but you can see trends and patterns. Spend time in the possible areas, a week or more and more than once, and don't just talk to realtors - they may not know the answers - so talk to the farmers and the people who live there. County co-operative extension agents can be founts of information.

Think of your market - if you have to drive more than 2 hours to get to your market(s), more often than once or twice a week, you will need to factor in the costs of gas (which won't be getting cheaper) into your profit margins. If you can have something that people will come get, you have less in the way of transport costs, but you will have to figure in the time it takes to deal with the customer(s), and the interruption of other jobs.

If the production of "after-market", processed things is in your plans, check local regulations about slaughtering and selling meat or eggs, about value added products like jams and jellies, what is needed or not in the way of facilities - some areas have a central facility for processing crops that is open to the community, and some, you can use facilities that aren't then being used, such as churches in the mid-week.

Enough, you don't need overload. As you can see, there's a lot to think about and decide before you ever buy land, for life-style and location, size, etc., etc., etc.

This might be helpful. You might also try posting an ad in Craigslist.org/ farm/garden for sale.

Since your considering leaving Florida, you might look at a sample copy of the Caretaker Gazette. Might be a good way to see if your interested in the area before making a huge committment.

Links that might be useful:
www.caretaker.org
www.newfarm.org/

About The New Farm.

The Rodale Institute, a global leader in regenerative agriculture, is devoted to innovative agriculture research, outreach and training through The New Farm¨ programs. The Institute works with people worldwide to achieve a regenerative food system that renews and improves environmental and human health, working with the philosophy that "Healthy Soil = Healthy Food = Healthy People ¨.Ã

The InstituteÃs web site, www.NewFarm.org reaches a global community of food producers to exchange valuable Ãfarmer-to-farmer know-how.Ã NewFarm.org presents expert resources for crop and livestock production, direct marketing, local food systems, policy campaigns and community-building collaborations. NewFarm.org is an electronic magazine covering the successes and challenges of organic and sustainable farming nationwide and beyond. At NewFarm.org, the mission is to inform, encourage, equip and inspire farmers with the support they need to take the important transition steps toward regenerative agriculture.

Our Content Streams
-- Sustainable ag production (soil, crops, livestock, pest management, pasture-based systems and processing issues).
-- Sustainable ag research in cover crops, ecological benefits of organic systems, market creation, new food crops for emerging ethnic groups, specialty grains.
-- Marketing and rural development based on farmers' markets innovations, wholistic rural development, insights from the newest generation of producer co-ops.
-- New tools for farmers, including organic wholesale prices and a farm locator.
-- Food systems development (local and regional food efforts that keep profits on-farm as much as possible).

Know you market. the business that are successful have found a market for their product. It may be down the street, across the country, or around the world, but know you have a market for your product and tailor your product for that market.

Double, even triple your contingency plans. You have experience with construction management, great, you're going to need it. Deadlines are little more arbitrary; harvest is at the proper time according to how the crop grew, not a time table.

Be on good terms with your financial people. Bankerese is a foreign language, but know it. It'll save you beyond calculation.

Watch your pennies, but don't save pennies that cost you dollars. Frugality is sometimes about buying wisely, not the cheapest. Do you always take the low bid on a contract? How does that work out?

Woman owned? the best thing about that is it means you go to head of the line when applying for SBA loans. Other than that, it means what you make it.

sustainability? that about means what you take it mean. It's a contemporary buzzword with lots of connotation, but little real meaning. It's good for politicians, sounds good, and corporate do-good types fall over themselves for stuff like that, but at the end of the day, the only **it worth spreading is that which goes on the fields. We can develop the most fascinating and compelling philosophy on a computer or in a boardroom...but the only one that counts is the one you find in a tractor seat. Will they add up? that's for you to decide.

Start small
remember you have to sell what you grow so have a market before you plant
start small
don't start off with things that are labor or cash intensive. By that I mean don't start with raised beds, amendments you have to buy, lots of equipment, structures or any of that. Most the time you will find that most of that, or probably all of that is not necessary.
start small
and
start small
There are at least 100 books. I rather like an old one by Max Alth called "how to farm your back yard the mulch organic way" There are also some good books that are newer, several under the heading of Market Gardening. Also be sure to check out Rodale press' organic garden and farming's, farming magazine.
But the best way to learn... 2 things
first you learn by actually doing. You can not learn to swim by correspondence. You have to get wet.
second, find out where the farmers stop and have coffee and sit with them and listen, take each opinion as what it's worth, but when you hear stories of who actually tried this or that, that's when to listen and learn from their experience. You may even want to consider partnering with a local organic farmer your first 2 years until you have a clear idea of what you want to grow.
I time you will find that there are certain things that you just do better at growing. Different kind of crops require different soil, different care and what a lot of folks never really think about is that different kind of personalities just soot different crops. Working with others for a couple of years you will learn a lot about how to grow so that you succeed and you will learn what you like (and don't like) growing.
There is an old joke about the city folks who moved to the country
1st year hero: LLBean
2nd year hero: Robert Rodel
3rd year hero: maker of Garden way carts
10th year hero: your plumber
LOL
I made the move 34 years ago and every day I'm glad I did.
good luck,
and God bless

The first red flag I see is that you want to grow organic. IMHO the first thing a new farmer should want to grow is cash. If organic gets your there fine. If not then start with what works and move towards organic. Since you are both professionals you know that the first thing to do is draft your business plan - the growing stuff comes much later.

What will a 5-10 acre parcel cost you and how much more to develop it? What will the equipment and water system cost? You could easily have $200K into it quickly and how much will you have to sell to net enough to pay for that. Is your "self sufficiency and pay the bills" a reasonable goal? How hard are you willing to work? We did what you're talking about starting in '98 didn't break into the black until year 3, and then it wasn't much. But it does imporve. Just be sure you know what you really want to do. A change of life style and growing your own food is very different from starting a commercial ag business. But once you make your minds up then good luck and enjoy it. Tom