How old where you when you started your own farm?

Bruce from Can. · Apr 19, 2012

I know some folks would say they have been farming all of their life, because they were raised on the farm, but. How old where you started to pay the bills ,sell the crops/hogs/cattle ect. I started a dairy on a rented farm when I was 20,in 1981.

rrlund · Apr 19, 2012

Dad got mad at the milk inspector and told me if I wanted to milk cows,do it or he was selling them. So we made a deal and I took things over nine days before my 16th birthday.

Bob Bancroft · Apr 19, 2012

I qualify for the first statement. And, I worked off farm(half days while senior in high school) from the fall of 1972 until June 73', then graduated, went to work full time, moved out and married. Built my first house in 1978. Finished up the landscaping in 1979. Started renting ground in 1980. Quit my job in 1984. Nearly starved!(Not really) Always lots of food, but no spare cash. One more payment on the 250 acres I own will retire all debt.

Kow Farmer · Apr 19, 2012

My wife and I bought our own farm 14 years ago. I was 30 years old. That was in 1998.
Kow Farmer

iowafarmer20 · Apr 19, 2012

Dad passed back in 2008 when I was 16, leaving me with 400 acres..I became head of the farm and my younger 14 year old brother took second in command, somehow managed to learn real fast (thanks to neighbors and friends) and we still own it till today. Lined up to buy 600 more acres next fall so were doing good. I'm now 21 and he's 18. Definitely wouldn't have been able to make it without such great people in our lives

IaGary · Apr 19, 2012

Planted my first crop when I was 16.

I rented 25 acres that year back in 1973.

Used dad's equipment but I payed for seed,herb.,and fert from my job as a cook.

Help dad plant and farm his 400 acres in return of equipment use.

Gary

tjdub · Apr 19, 2012

29 years old (7 years ago). Had my house payed off and a good chunk of money in the bank. Then my Dad offered to sell the farm to me. Been completely broke ever since. Should be out of debt (again) in another 20 years. Maybe sooner if I ever start getting pay raises at work again, but I"m not holding my breath on that one.

urbancase · Apr 19, 2012

help dad out when i was growing up and did what i could but dad liked it done his way or else. dad was 53 when i was born in 1963. dad started turning over little by little in 1988 and i planted my first crop of corn then that i paid for, that year i got my first tractor,planter and disc,and used his corn picker. my uncle was a few years younger than dad and by 1990 my uncle started to let me farm some of his ground. they are both gone now and farming both farms. just wanting for the sons to start taking the plunge down the road.

Stovepipe · Apr 19, 2012

I rented my first field at 16. I'm 34 now, and have been full time farming since 19, during which I also did 6 years of Army Reserve service. I had to quit that after kid number two...

JMS/.MN · Apr 20, 2012

Raised on a dairy,hog,crop farm....graduated HS 1961. Youngest of 5, all others had left home, by Monday after HS graduation....Dad was disabled my Senior year. Worked at home for three years, finally figured out reality.....they needed to buy time to retire. After 3 years, I got the same story about work for us for another 3 years and take over. Draft existed back then, so of course I was 1A, shoveling everything by hand. I enlisted in Army Airborne, volunteered Special Forces, served as a Demolitions Sgt. on an A-Team overseas, was discharged and earned a BS Degree in Animal Science at the U of MN, courtesy of the GI Bill plus working in machine shops, ammo plant, and trucking company. Better half and I started farming from scratch on April Fool"s Day, 1972, when I was 28 years old.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 20, 2012

(quoted from post at 18:01:32 04/19/12) Dad got mad at the milk inspector and told me if I wanted to milk cows,do it or he was selling them. So we made a deal and I took things over nine days before my 16th birthday.

WOW,,,Doesn't your dad know he could a been charged with child abuse.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
All jokes aside its amazing what a young man...Or lady can accomplish when they put there mind to it.

kyhayman · Apr 20, 2012

I started in some kind of fluid moving partnership with my dad when I was 16. Leased stuff from him but he definitely carried a lot of my equity paper. He worked full time off the farm and travelled a lot so I did do a lot of the decision making.

I was 20 when I bought my first farm, a junior in college. Scared the crap out of me. Quarter million dollars on a demand note at 12 percent. Somehow I made it. That was 25 years ago. Finally got the bank paid off 15 years ago, 2 months before my divorce. So I got to do it all over again. But, its paid for again....

Pair-a-dice farm · Apr 20, 2012

I bought my first cow when I was 13. I used Dad's bull and kept all my heifer calves. When I was 19 I got in the hog business and had up to 50 sows. I bought my first farm when I was 23. In 1984 hard times hit and I lost the farm but managed to keep 20 cows on rented land. I bought a chicken farm October 2 2001 right after 9/11. I sold it 2 years ago and almost had it paid for, I'm now back on the family farm and just running cows. I thought that I would retire but I didn't have enough land or money in the bank so I took a part time job getting a paycheck from somebody besides me. That's the first time in 15 years that I have an outside job.

Erik Ks farmer · Apr 21, 2012

Started with a cow and 20 acres of hay ground when I was 16 with a neighbors equipment I used in return for labor. Planted my first crop when I was 19. Bought our home farm at 23.

KYGarrett · Apr 21, 2012

I bought my farm in 2006 at the age of 24, didnt even own a tractor, but the next year i put my first corn crop out, and have every year since. It'll be paid for this time next year, and then it"ll be time to go back in debt again.

How old where you when you started your own farm?

Bruce from Can.

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rrlund

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Bob Bancroft

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Kow Farmer

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iowafarmer20

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IaGary

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tjdub

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urbancase

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Stovepipe

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JMS/.MN

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Anonymous-0

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kyhayman

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Pair-a-dice farm

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Erik Ks farmer

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KYGarrett

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