Has anyone here turned a cattle farm into a livery yard?

[Fools Motto]

Its got the land, albeit clay, its got one open cow shed about 40x40 , two further smaller open barns and a shed with cubicles in. All fields are fenced with newish tight barbed wire too.
Just getting thinking if the repercussions of the virus hamper the sale of the farm (was due on the market about now originally but we've put a halt on it for the time being ), what my options could be.

 

[AmyMay]

If you have the money to invest in turning the sheds in to stables and improving your fencing then go for it. But that would be a long term investment obviously.

If your overall plan is to sell, then stick it on the market as is.

 

[Frumpoon]

Not personally but seen it done, the biggest bug bear after the planning and infrastructure is that the grazing is very rich and most horses need careful management or come down with lami

 

[DD]

yes Gawsworth Track Livery have done this

 

[DD]

yes Gawsworth Track Livery have done this

rthey have a facebook page with lots of photos

 

[neddy man]

I know of 1 still has some cattle on, some land saved to make hay/haylage enough land for 24/7 summer turnout and winter daytime turnout some buildings converted to DIY livery 20 stables x 52 weeks x diy livery cost in your area =£? + profit on straw and hay/ haylage =£ . Change 20 to the number of stables and land you could accommodate in your buildings and land.

 

[Leo Walker]

Ours was a dairy. Its been a livery yard for a couple of decades now. I think we must be very lucky as we don't have the rich monoculture rye grass. Fencing is still ropey but we inner fence with mains electric so its not an issue

 

[be positive]

Unless your agent has advised waiting the general feeling in this area, not far from you, seems to be they expect properties to keep selling, the prices were going up and properties were selling, especially ones with land, very fast and often in excess of asking price, that may change but it seems they expect the right type of property to still sell well, I completed on mine a few weeks ago and a friends, very expensive, house is due to complete in a few weeks time, she was struggling to find anything to buy as anything decent sold very quickly.

I think it would be worth testing the market there will still be people wanting to get out of town who have the funds and will be hoping to start looking as soon as possible, with so few available you might find a buyer fairly quickly and if not you can always take it off with nothing lost and put other plans into place.

 

[chaps89]

The yard I'm on now used to be a dairy farm. We have an old cattle shed that's been partioned into stables, so my stable is 10 foot x 15 foot, and I have a store room at the back of it which is 10 foot x 10 foot (I think). It stays lovely and cool, even in the hot weather we've had lately.
Other than that though there's no other signs of its previous life!
Honestly, I'd get it on the market now, if we are heading for a recession you want to try and get it sold first!

 

[honetpot]

Mine yard (sound posh but its not) is disused dairy farm, it still had the old milking parlour and about an acre, I kid you not, of sheds, its also on bottomless clay. Its old pasture over shown with a rye mixture, you need some rye because it's water logged in winter.
The reason for all the sheds is you really have to take them off the land form October to April, or else the land is trashed. So mine use the open barns and a thrash paddock which this year is struggling with the dry. I would say you need 2 acres per horse, I have six on fourteen and access to someone else's for the cows, and that with them coming off in the winter, but we have cold fen winds.
Unless its cheap or has amazing hacking I wouldn't, we got it cheapish and built a new house, so the value now is in the house. If we had liveries apart from anything else I couldn't bear them moaning about mud soup in the winter.

 

[JJS]

The yard I’m on still functions primarily as a working farm, with both cows and sheep. It seems to work really well.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Next door to me was a cattle farm they run it as a livery yard now, all buildings were converted into stables some are a bit odd as in shape and position, they also put up extra proper stables as they wanted more, the fields are mainly post and rail some are permanent electric fencing, I personally wouldn't put horses out on barbed wire fencing but I know people do. The grazing is usually rich if it's been used for cattle so something to consider.

 

[Frumpoon]

Next door to me was a cattle farm they run it as a livery yard now, all buildings were converted into stables some are a bit odd as in shape and position, they also put up extra proper stables as they wanted more, the fields are mainly post and rail some are permanent electric fencing, I personally wouldn't put horses out on barbed wire fencing but I know people do. The grazing is usually rich if it's been used for cattle so something to consider.

For some reason cattle stay well away from barbed wire, yet horses love wrapping themselves up in it....

 

[Pinkvboots]

For some reason cattle stay well away from barbed wire, yet horses love wrapping themselves up in it....

Yeah I know I had a mare that got her leg caught in it injury was really bad never again!

 

[Ish2020]

I haven’t personally done it myself but I have heard and seen people turn a cattle farm into a livery yard.

 

[rara007]

Ours was a small organic beef and tiny dairy farm and is now a private yard. The first winter the ponies lived together in 1 of the barns, then we converted the dairy to stables (the feed troughs still run along the front and back, the door from the yard is ‘only’ a human sized door but decent stable door from the end stable to the fields. We then built an arena, then 4 stand alone stables went in and a goat shed became 2 small pony stables. Finally the calving barn became 4 stables 2 pony 2 full sized. The fencing is work in progress (isn’t it always?) and 1/2 the land we have as hay and the other half grazing but struggle with too much grass even nearly 20 years on! It was such a ‘traditional’ and small farm and my parents that did it so maybe not much use to you but it can be done.

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

According to an article in my newspaper estate agents are experiencing a massive upsurge in enquiries for rural properties from people wanting to move out of towns/cities following the corona pandemic . Prices for rural properties are predicted to soar as a consequence . Might just be a ploy by the agents to stimulate the market , but I'd hang on and see what happens if I were you .

 

[PoniesRock]

I have my horses on a ex dairy farm. Works really well. Turnout is fine - and I electric fence to strip graze the girls area anyway. Stables are big airy and cool.

If your looking to sell though I wouldn’t bother. You’d need to chuck money at it to put stables up and the hassle of advertising for liveries etc.

 

[GSD Woman]

Some of the best land I've ever seen was old mine land, either iron/steel or else coal, that had cattle on it.Wonderful soil that grew hay. I say go for it!

 

[Annieryan]

I was on a yard that was a fairy farm and was slowly turning into a livery yard. At the time i was on grass livery and owner had a mixture of cows and about 20 grass liveries.
They where turning one of the barns into indoor stables, another into an indoor school and I think once I left the turned another barn into more stables. They had the normal barbed wire fence but had electric fence about 2 meters infront of it so it was horse safe!

 

[Frumpoon]

I was on a yard that was a fairy farm and was slowly turning into a livery yard. At the time i was on grass livery and owner had a mixture of cows and about 20 grass liveries.
They where turning one of the barns into indoor stables, another into an indoor school and I think once I left the turned another barn into more stables. They had the normal barbed wire fence but had electric fence about 2 meters infront of it so it was horse safe!

A fairy farm...how wonderful

That does conjure up some images....

 

[be positive]

A fairy farm...how wonderful

That does conjure up some images....

Maybe they also kept unicorns

 

[chocolategirl]

Its got the land, albeit clay, its got one open cow shed about 40x40 , two further smaller open barns and a shed with cubicles in. All fields are fenced with newish tight barbed wire too.
Just getting thinking if the repercussions of the virus hamper the sale of the farm (was due on the market about now originally but we've put a halt on it for the time being ), what my options could be.

My advice, if this is what you’re thinking of, is DON’T do it!? we have a 200 acre former dairy farm, which 24 years ago we diversified into several other businesses, one of which being DIY. I have so many regrets, but equally it hasn’t all been bad, but if I had my time again and could see into the future, I would never have started it tbh? if you’re thinking full livery, now that’s a different matter. Just be aware of all the associated costs, which being farmers, you’ll know most of them anyway. Eyes wide open is the order of the day ?

 

[Lintel]

Again not personally but know of livery run from a cattle farm.
The horses are all very happy, then turnout is great however a money maker.. It is not!