Most grants go to established farmers who have income/yield records. or grants are for on farm research which means you get several thousands dollars, do the research than get published and do a couple of workshops. in any case don t expect more than $10k from any farm grant.what you need to get started is good land/good pasture, fencing, barns, grain storage, hay storage, a tractor, manure spreader, grooming equipment, feeding equipment, stock trailer, truck(s), hay, grain. And you will need a lot more land than 35 to 40 acres unless you want to raise under 15 head (which will make you no money).Know that when you raise livestock you cannot leave the farm for more than a day unless you have really good help that will reliably come and feed and water the stock daily (these people are amazingly hard to find). If you are doing dairy you have to be home all the time (2x a day milking). So vacations are out.The best bet for a loan is Farm Credit Services
look to the USDA for certain subsidies. aside from what people think, they dont just give you money. When you get your subsidy, You are guarenteed a price from the gov, say $3/lb for beef. If the market price is $5/lb the gov gives you $3, and the buyer gives you $2. if the price falls below $3, you are still guarenteed that price.They also have the Rural Development Program which gives low interest loans to develop in rural areas.
you can check the search engines for farm grants, some years ago I knew of one such program but not sure if it still is availablesome states have programs for their veterans to get into either a business or a farm and the Small Business Administration makes loans
