OT young guy's rant

I"ve thought of just getting 10-20 acres, but that isn"t enough land for me to work. I would love to farm 300+ acres, but I"d settle for 80-160 acres, enough to raise hogs on pasture, corn, oats, hay, and a small beef herd. I just don"t see how anyone trying to get into agriculture can make a go for it these days. And it"s not just land prices, there is fuel, fertilizer, steel, lumber, everything is getting expensive. I can"t afford to farm, but there"s nothing else I"d rather do all my life. Majority of my free time is somehow related to farming whether I"m working on my old broke down equipment, or thinking about something farm related. I have read many old farm books from the 1920s-1960s on many differant subjects; building fences, production of swine, cattle, and poultry, tillage practices, etc. Of course most of these methods are no longer in use nor practical, but it"s a starting point.

I don"t know what"s gonna happen in my life time, but with the help of the Lord, hard work, and alot of luck, I hope I can be doing what I love the most, farming, even if it means using horses. OK, I"m done ranting for now, until something gets me started again. Hope every one have a safe and happy new year, Rich from central Iowa

As I was reading some of your post, I remember reading somewhere (probably on this website) that land is a good investment, but it"s smarter to invest in items that"ll make you money; livestock, any necessary machinery, and so on.

I"m going to get in touch with my local FSA, extension office, and maybe even an accountant of some sorts, and start looking at land/ farms to get a better idea on what I should be looking at. It doesn"t help that right now I"m living in Dallas County, the fastest growing county in Iowa, and in the top 10 fastest growing counties in the nation. With the western sprawl of Des Moines, land prices are going thru the roof. Thanks again everyone for the ideas and encouragement.

My new venture is starting a custom baling business which I hope will be a good way to get my foot in the door and built assets without alot of price risk. I also started building a ewe flock when I was ten. This has proved to be useful for cash flow. Economy of scale and keeping fixed cost low per unit are very important in making a profit. I would not be able to do what I do with out barrowing tractors from my father and uncle. I swap labor for use. Neither farm enough to pay me, but me using their tractors cost them very litle, and they get help when they need it. It seems to be a great deal for all of us. Right now I could not afford to buy decent tractor, like JD 4430. I am tying up enough money in good hay machinery and other stuff, which neither of them own. The margin looks better in the custom business than on the production side. I usually figure that you make about $30/acre on rented ground and row crops. Hay looks beter in my area depending on the package. My ewes usually make about $30/head. You do the math. It takes about 1000 acres of row crops or ewes to make even close to a decent living. I would like to expand the sheep, but that would require a major upgrade of facilities, which I don't own and couldn't afford anyway. A friend and I are planning to start a tractor painting business since there is great demand around here. He has the shop, I got the skill. Hopfully that will provide a little extra cash flow too. Even with all these venture I don't have enough irons in the fire to make any serious money.

Trying farm and go to college gets interesting, but farming is what I want to do and college is buying me a little time, which will shortly be running out. A good friend of mine who is about your age, is planning to go back since he has no resources to start farming and his coop job is getting him nowhere fast. He hopes to get a better job and be able to afford his farming addiction someday. If anybody has any great ideas I'd love to know them. It seems to me to be all up hill!

The other day was doing a phone repair in a courthouse, and out of a courtroom walks an attorney on his cell. He's bitchin out his secretary for dropping the ball on his and his family's 3 week vacation to Austria. Mind you, this courthouse is in a rural Illinois county with 1000+ acre farms, at a minimum. I'm watchin this guy and remembering skiing the glaciers in Austria when I was stationed in Germany, and only because the Army paid my way to Germany. Most folks, myself included think in terms of taking a vacation from the Midwest to Florida, or Hawaii if leaving the continental US. And here's this guy bitchin out his secretary for flubbing up one of his probably countless vacations to Europe, Asia, Africa, and you get the point, and he's basically doing it from the middle of a frozen corn field.

Leasing land in a foriegn country? Oh to be young again and know what you do now. Not a bad thought. Sometimes, "outside of the box" aint a bad thing. I'm guessing that folks don't rise to the top thinking "inside of the box". I certainly haven't.

Thanks, Mark

They won't do it for us old feeble guys, but if you're young, walk in there with your hand out and you'll be in the farmin' business in no time.

I know of a kid over in Wyoming who just got out of school. Heck, he bought up half a county using government money, built a house and stocked the darn barns. Using govt money to operate on too.

If you wanna farm, you can farm and they 'taint making any more ground, nor is it gonna get any cheaper either.

Just make sure it is what you want to do 'cause there just is no money in farmin'. :<(

Allan