There are others on this forum who can give you much better technical advice than I can  however, as you say that you are new to farming it is worth saying that you should always observe what your immediate neigbours are doing. They will already know a great deal about what works best on that soil and overall conditions etc.

As for cutting out the middle man. That too can be difficult unless you have an assured market for ALL your produce  and are not relying on a friend of the middle man you have 'cut out,' to buy another product you need to sell. I once ran up against a serious practical and social  boycott when I bypassed the established local order of trade in a Yemeni market.

Great to read that you have this opportunity.

My recommendations are pretty straightforward. Be market led and ideally locally market led, adding value wherever you can and whatever you end up doing make sure you are enjoying doing it, there is nothing worse in choosing something that you heart is not really into unless it is planned as a means to an end. Be flexible and use every bit of your resources in a way that means you will be adding value to them too. Find a mentor who would be willing to act as your sounding board, they can either be retired or still active in the sector you are to make your living in.

Remember to smell the roses along the way!

wilki, I have farmed my own land in four countries - from 9 to over 3000acres. There are no answers to your questions except "It depends......."

Farming in Britain is a totally different concept to farming in a country of mainly very small scale subsistence farmers with some big operations in certain areas. Many of my neighbours do not own a tractor although most have a donkey, some have no water or electricity in their houses, and I know some who do their laundry in the river. Can I suggest that you concentrate in learning how the farm you are going to is presently operated. What are their seasons, markets, inputs, is more capital needed to improve output, is there a market for more output. In fact obtain any information relevant to the farm. You are in a fortunate position of moving to a place where you already have family in farming. The locals are not always right either. There have been enormous acreages of eucalypts planted in Portugal. Some are reasonably well managed until the first harvest, then many seem to have been neglected and are in a similar condition to the natural scrub eucalypt forests in Australia - I had a fair sized patch on my place there.

After you have visited it would be interesting for you to come back to us and relate your experiences, and your future plans. The only thing I can recall reading about Paraguayan farming is that there are a lot of loofahs grown there and marketed through co-ops.

Unfortunately I cant give you any real practical advice, only to take time before changing anything and try to take all members of the family with you in any decisions you make. That way if they don't workout your not on your own. And I guess you will make some mistakes, we all do especially at the beginning so don't be to hard on yourself.

All the very best on your new adventure and please let us know how you get on. 

thanks for all yur advise, yes I am sure I will learn alot more once Im there and can speak to the family, and see how things are done, see what the locals are doing with there land,., From what I can make out, they make a small living, and keep ticking over, but thats about it. . 

Once again thanks for your advise and I will get back to you once Im there and can see whats going on..