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One of the challenges....

of buying a Hobby Farm is trying to understand how much land you need, how much to pay, how  to measure it, and how to fence it. (No Princess, we don't deal in "lots" in the country).  With this in mind, here are a few tips on measuring, buying, and fencing land.

When you look at land, ask for the plot that shows where the land lies in relation to other farms, county lines and state roads etc.  In the lower right hand corner (or wherever there is room) there will be a graph that provides the legal description.  Our original looks like this:

Each quadrant was surveyed and sub-divided into congressional townships, with each square-shaped township typically six miles on each side, or 36 square miles in all. (Not all townships are exactly the same size due to landform variations and the curvature of the earth.) Beginning at the initial point and the number 1, each township is designated as being so many six-mile units – called Townships (capital T) – north or south of the baseline, and so many six-mile units – called Ranges – east or west of the meridian. The Township and Range together define a particular township. see figure 1 below:

Figure 1 depicts a breakdown of a township into 36, 640 acre sections

From there we see land broken down into these units of measure:

1 x Township = 36 Square Miles or 36 Sections, or 23040 acres

1 x Section = 1 square Mile or 640 acres

1 x Acre = 43,560 square feet 

Fencing

When planning your fence, talk to your neighbors as they may be thinking about building a fence as well.  In many rural counties, if a neighbor or property owner builds a fence, you may be expected to share in the cost or labor or both of building the fence.  In my county, the rule is that if you put livestock on your side of the fence, you are required to share the cost of a fence. Either way, be a good neighbor and confer with the extension office for details on these laws and talk to your neighbors and coordinate your fencing effort with them. Click Here for a basic procedure for building a wire fence to contain livestock.

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