It costs you taxes, it cost you something to buy/own, and you are losing the rent check, so the land is not free.You need to farm it and make more than what the rent check would be for doing nothing..... It ain't free. However, if you own it, then the irrigation makes a lot more sense, either you or a renter can make that pay off maybe possibly. It's real hard for a new operator (you) to make top yields just starting out. It takes a lot of time to farm right. As a hobby farm, it can be difficult to devote the proper time to farming. Mess up on fertilizer, or more likely weed control, and you can lose 35-40% of your yield in a couple weeks, and there is no way to recover from that, you just lost out for a whole year. The current ag bubble we are in will end sometime. Probably sooner than later. As a new farmer, you will think the high grain prices are nice. They will _not_ last. This will hurt a lot of farmers, and will hurt you because you've never experienced it. When the ecconomy heals, we will return to prosperous city folk, a strong USA dollar, and that will kill exports - so grain will return to $3 corn and $7 soybeans. It's real hard to pay back $100,000 with those grain prices on 60 acres. It' real hard to pay the seed and fertilizer in those years..... Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. :) Just some of the pitfalls for you to watch for. I'm sure you are interested in it and want to go ahead, I'm not telling you not to. Just a bit of a look at the dark side of it all, so you have some perspective. 60 acres is that in between size, big enough you are dealing with real money, but not big enough to live off of. Get caught up in a few wrong positions, and you could be out a big chunk of money. Do everything right, and you still only have income off 60 acres, not going to make a retirement nest egg. The risks are higher than the rewards, money wise, at that size. --->Paul
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