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I'm not a farmer, kid, or maybe I'd try to give some advice. I chose a career that has nothing to do with farming, and I rarely leave the "g' off of any word that's supposed to have it. So it's pretty clear how much I know about the subject. But I think you've got alot of sense coming on to a forum like this to ask the experts to opine on what they do best. So, just taking a wild guess, I'd say you're probably going to do allright no matter what you end up doing.
Good luck young man.

Besides, you can always shift gears and do something else if you don't like your choice. But another word of wisdom here, the longer you wait (older you get) the more entrenched you get in what you are doing (more experience, more pay, more seniority) and it gets harder to start over. You may have a family by then and that makes it tougher as the $$ have to keep coming in to maintain the household..... ..but people do it every day.

Course if you got laid-off from a job it would be a lot easier as you would have do do something to survive and that something might be a career change, and who knows it may be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Mark

Bill

Second thing is, there are three kinds of farmin': raisin' livestock, dirt farmin', and some combination of the two. To be a successful farmer, you have to realize that everything that determines the success of your operation--with the exception of how hard you work, and how many hours a day you put in--is out of your hands. Land prices, livestock prices, seed prices, tractor and implement prices, grain prices, weather conditions and their impact on your operation...these are all things that you have no control over. Equipment breakdowns and livestock illnesses are areas where you still have no control, but sometimes there ARE some preventative measures that might help (proper shots/medications for animals, preventive maintenance on tractors and equipment).

Is there any money in farmin'? Well, I've known a lot of farmers who have PUT a lot of money into it, but the returns were more along the lines of satisfaction than monetary in nature [except for a couple of local guys in the early '70's who got mostly out of livestock to raise corn and soybeans...bought a lot of new equipment, and paid it ALL off when beans hit $12 a bushel that year...and beans have NEVER been that high since, as far as I know. Now THAT is the farmin' equivalent of HITTING THE LOTTERY JACKPOT.].

Most farmers locally have a 'real' job in town, so they can afford to farm...or their partner [usually a son or a brother] works in town so THEY can farm full-time...or the wife teaches school, or something else of that nature.

The hours are lousy, as you're usually up at the crack of dawn--or before--so you can get an early start, and most farmers I know work as late as they can when plowin'/plantin'/pickin'/combinin' has to be done [see above reference to "weather, lack of control"].

And then there are the jobs that are less than pleasant...like handling manure, or dealing with bankers and lawyers [sometimes they're related tasks].

That's just some of it. If you STILL think farmin' is cool, then you're probably related to someone in farmin'...which would mean, you are correct. As a kid whose family ran a farm equipment repair shop, we nearly starved to death...but what we had, was because of the farmers out there...and God bless every one of 'em!

Welcome back to the Forum now that you are a celebrity and all.

You do know that Kim published your previous question to/about "Dads" and our responses here on the site. She said she put it in the Articles section under "Research & Info".

I'm a self made professional (up thru the ranks) although I did spend a lot of time in the classroom....just didn't get credit for it. It has been a bad influence on my boys as they grew up thinking that they could do that too. Problem is, they forgot about the non-accredited time I spent studying about things.

Had 3 sons. My last was the baby of the family and was sick a lot and wasn't really tuned in to the overall scheme of things.

I tried to get him interested in something but he would never catch on (other than girls), flunked out of high school...no interest....goofing off all of the time....course he was sick sometimes too and schools didn't like the absenteeism. After bumming around lots of odd jobs most of his life, ..... get this.....at 36 years old he goes to the local Jr. College and takes a "Master Course in Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration". He graduated last week, top of his class of all things.

I was totally shocked (besides being so happy that I cried) and asked him what changed? He said well dad, I met this woman that I want to marry and I have to make a living for her..... ..... ...blew me away..... ..... ..same thing I did when I wanted to marry his mother 44 years ago. I was 18 and the knot is still tied.

What's this to you? One day you may experience serious emotions and you will want to be a provider (and of course you have to attract her in the first place). It may not seem important to you now but it will pay you to think about your future, not what you see and feel now.

So, in selecting a profession, think about "What if I want to get married and have some kids". Will I be able to support them? What ever you decide upon just give it all you can and be successful at it..... .....even if you want to be a bum, be a good bum, not a half ways bum.

Wish you the best,

Mark