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GordoSD 07-29-2012 20:02:44 64.33.250.162 Report to Moderator	Build a business plan. Start with best . great annual hay yield. 5 T per acre, 200 dollars a ton? Dairy quality alfalfa. just figure your best gross. Shoot for that. Then figure your input costs per year for 5 years. Now you have a number you can look at for equipment cost. Looking at what you have I would say dump ALL of it and start new. You don't need any plows. You need good tractor a large disc, a 12 wheel rake, and a good NH BR 780 Baler, A 3/4 T truck and a flatbed trailer. 966 IH diesel 7k Rake 6K Baler 10K Rent a seeder.? Truck (you have?) Trailer 5k Sell your junk (-3k) [Reply]   [No Email]
Crazy Red Power in SE-WI 07-30-2012 09:41:03 68.114.237.14 Report to Moderator	Re: Need Advice: I Have An Opportunity To Operate More in reply to GordoSD, 07-29-2012 20:02:44   Believe me Gordo, if I currently had the scratch for all of that equipment (the 966 would have to be a new McCormick, though), I'd have it. It's certainly becomming more of a reality as I'm beginning to get a bit older & my back injury dictates that I should save up to mechanize & keep all my loads hands-off. I'd keep the "junk" for the tiny fields & to keep the collection interesting. :v) Not having a truck sucks. Only way to put it. I had a truck, but as I went over it, it had the potential to be an outdated gas-sucking money pit. So, I rid myself of it in favor of a money pit I can at least cut my hay with. Lol! As for the top dollar hay, that will have to wait, too. I want that here on the family farm where I can keep a close eye on it. The current renter has a ways to go on his lease, yet. I also have to practice & perfect my putt before I can operate the farm here. Working with old equipment for a horse farm is just what I need to hoan my (temperment) skills. There's this feeling I'm going to be talking to the Good Lord quite a bit. Could you give me an idea of what a good framework would be for a buisness plan? Thanks, Mike [Reply]  [No Email]
paul 07-30-2012 11:56:42 76.77.197.102 Report to Moderator	Re: Need Advice: I Have An Opportunity To Operate More in reply to Crazy Red Power in SE-WI, 07-30-2012 09:41:03   List out your expenses and your incomes ifd this were a normal year, project them out 5-10 years, and what items you will need to replace & modernize. Will you be expanding, will you improve your product so it fetches more, etc. Have a nest egg set aside for when the wheels fall off.ombine had a hyd control segment (2 lb hunk of iron with holes in it) go bad during bean harvest a couple years ago. Cost $2500 to get going again. Not much else to do, like hay, beans you either harvest or watch it devalue rapidly when it's ready to go..... And that last bit is the trouble you will have with nickle and diming this stuff. Works fine when you are doing your own 5 acres and having fun; but when you have real money invested, and others depending on you to get the job donre, your old stuff is gonna let you down and let them down and someone is going to lose money. So you gotta get your ducks in a row whebn you start renting or custom farming for others. The costs build up real quick. --->Paul [Reply]  [No Email]