I'm a little disappointed

Okay given, I am at my happiest when I'm out on one of these old tractors and makin' 'em grunt, smelling the diesel, when I’m outside smelling the earth. Watchin’ the crops jump outta the ground and pittin’ my skills against the odds of nature to make it so. I just like the smell of hay and I like the smell of silage.

Wife's the same way. She wants her Herefords and she wants her chickens. She wants the peace and solitude of the country life once again. She wants the mailman to come to her instead of the other way around. She wants to fix up an old country house and she wants to get her hands back on a farm.

But, all of you know full well that I'm an old guy; I'll be 60 in two months and we have this stupid, unrealistic, harebrained idea of buying a farm, all the needed equipment it takes to run it and all the headaches that go with such a ding-dong venture.

This is no small undertaking even for a young stud, let alone some old geezers like the wife and I, who are all settled in life and are just idling along doin' our simple little thing.

Not one of you has come forward to tell us how absolutely idiotic and crazy this notion is. No one has said what a wild and impractical idea it is that we are contemplating. None of you have said that we are throwing our money away.

Before I write this check, am I on the right road, or do I need to go somewhere quiet where I can sleep this stupidity off? :>(

Allan

One of the sad facts about farming these days, at least fairly small farming, is that it is hard to even break even, much less make a profit. I grew up in a farming area where there were many smaller farms that were doing OK in the 50's and 60's with 160 acres or less. Most of those small farmers also worked in town, but earned enough from their farms to pay the taxes, keep smaller machinery working, put in and harvest a crop every year and pay for the land over time. All that changed in the 70's when everything but what farmers got for their crops got inflated. People thought the only way to make it farming was to get big and farm more land with larger equipment for "economy of scale". Unfortunately the high interest rates of the late 70's did in a lot of farmers. Now there are only a few very large farmers. Some of them appear to have done very well, but I know several people that just gave up farming their own land and leased it to others. They couldn't come out on the machinery costs. When I graduated from high school, I would guess that at least 75% of the families with kids in my school got some or all of their income from agriculture, I bet that at the same school today that figure is less than 10%.

So what I am driving at is that if you are in a position financially to invest a bunch of money in a farm and all that goes with it and can handle the FACT that you probably will not get any return on your investment and that it may continue to be a large financial drain, you might want to consider going for it. There are lots of ways to spend your money that I think are less attractive than trying to farm. I love living in the country (although my area is becoming suburbia....) and I hope to live here on my 20 acres until I can no longer leave under my own power. But I have been here a long time and after working a long career, get a decent pension.

But if you are not in such a good financial position and if it would be important for the farm to bring in very much income or profit at all, I would advise you to try to find a little place in the country to buy or rent and just do some hobby farming. It is fun to fool around with smaller old tractors and used equipment that fits them. And unless you think you need to get too many of them, the tractor and machinery hobby isn't that expensive. Putting up a little hay makes your ground look better and if you raise your own beef, you know what it has eaten.

I just have seen too many good farmers, who really knew what they were doing, end up losing their tails in a bad year or to unforseen circumstances and going bankrupt.

Good luck--country living is how I want to live. Only you can decide if your dream is what you really want to do and if you can afford it.

Since you are putting in cash for the farm, think of it as a real estate investment and think about if that makes sense for you. Also figure out what the cost of putting in a crop is (seed, fertilizer, fuel, the extra piece of equipment, repairs, ...) and decide if you can loose that amount of money for a couple of years.

yeah I know what you up to. Same to me I grew up on farm.. I still have some of my equipment!

Problem is I need som DIRT! 5 acres be nice. I enjoy doing same thing you like in a shop with disesl all over!

anyway if you find the land and I have the equipment, I guess we could share something.
that what I am thinking about looking for some one near Omaha Ne. I know some one but not sure yet if it will work out. I am still looking.

steve

• check out what I got.

I dont have dirt at this time, so I not sure how she did it or what she put on.

I remember last time I grew corn it had rain alot and wash out all the bug eggs.

I hear that some use DAWN soap and let water fly all over the garden or the sweet corn.

steve

Thanks for all the nice responses; some were brutally honest and boy do I like that!! You guys are the greatest bunch ever. See why I wanna be back in the country? :>)

Without going into the blow-by-blow gritty details, this is not going to be an economic issue in any way, shape or form. It is just gonna be a big, oversized toy; just an old man’s dream to go back where I came from.

The wife and I have been so very fortunate and I consider myself the luckiest guy on the face of the earth 'cause I've been to the fire and back and have survived. Came out in really good shape, in fact.

But I've been carrying around a lot of guilt too, every since that darned farm sale. I guess this is just another way of finally laying this thing down.

I wanna farm again and I wanna do it just like I used to; same basic equipment, same hard work, same long hours. I like that feeling of dropping into bed at night knowing you've really accomplished something throughout the day.

Thanks Guys; appreciate it,

Allan

Hobby Farmer myself. To me, it is the therapy that allows me to continue in my day job?

Why should you do it????? Can't imagine doing anything else. Best of luck to you.

Mike

So is my wife. She is working 12 hour days at a company that won't exsist in 5 years - and lets me keep farming instead of doing something productive.

To be serious, it depends on your path here. If this is more of a hobby farm & you are investing a portion of the nest egg & in 10 years you can resell everything for about what you paid for it, - have fun.

If you are signing a big bank loan, trying to take on a real full-sized farm, planning to make anything like a profit in the first 5 years, and so on - then you truely are demented and should _not_ do this!

--->Paul

Some men see things as they are and ask why? I dream things that never were and say why not...

Have you ever sat by the railroad track
and watched the emptys coming back?
Lumbering along with a groan and a whine,
smoke strung out in a long gray line.
Belched from the panting engine's stack
...just emptys coming back.

I have, and to me the emptys seem like dreams I sometimes dream.
Of a girl, or money, or maybe fame,
my dreams have all returned the same.
Swinging along the homebound track,
...just emptys coming back! _____ _____ _____ __

So how would you rather look back on your life ...dreams that you've lived, or just a string of "emptys" coming back?

I'm a 60 year old man who has farmed off and on all of my life. I settled into the 150 acres that I now have about 5 years ago. In my experience, farming is a strenuous, time consuming life style that produces virtually no income. If you can pay for the farm outright, avoid borrowing any money for anything, keep it simple, and be satisfied with no return on your investment, farming is fine. If you have to borrow any money or if you have to rely on income from the farm to live, I would say don't do it.

I am retired from a major firm and I also work a part-time job to supplement my income so that I can continue to farm. My wife is a school teacher. We are not rich by any means, but we don't rely on making a profit from the farm for our subsistence.

I love farming and intend to stay here until I die, but it isn't for the weak, sickly, poor, or faint-hearted.

Good luck with your venture.

Tom in TN

Ya gotta admit; I'd be in darned good company then!

Having said that, the farmers around here (and I wish I was one of them), constantly say that they aren't making money. My theory is, what a great way to go broke - new pickups, new machinery, new houses. Except for the obvious times, such as planting, spraying and harvest, they set their own hours.

As my dad says farming today isn't near as much physical work as in the past, but the mind work (and pressure) is 10 times as much.

Are you nuts? Yea. So what. At 60, I think you should be allowed to pursue your dream.

Good Luck!

You and the wife better go for it. You might be kickin your A if you dont. We sold out and moved South and there are alot of days I wish we hadnt.

Be careful;
Steve @ Mary