BTO's

Seems most people on this forum don't have much use for a BTO. Sometimes being a BTO isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I grew up across the road from a fellow who eventually got into a race with about three other farmers to see who could become the biggest farmer in the county. He had a full time hired man, a big chartreuse Steiger, a couple of the biggest row crop tractors of the era, smaller tractors and all of the appropriate sized equipment to go with them. He farmed all over the county.

When he was in his late 50's, it dawned on him that during planting season he was going through 2 packs of Rollaids a day, just from the stress of getting it all coordinated and done. With the difference in soil and rainfall, some distant fields would be ready to work before others nearer, and it was a hassle just to organize and coordinate it all.

One day he asked himself, "Why am I doing this?" His hired man had been with him for 20 years and he didn't want to let the guy go, so he kept 240 acres of seed corn ground and a hog operation to keep his hired man busy, and said to hell with all the rest of it. Several years later, he died of some weird cancer, probably caused by all of the chemicals he'd been exposed to over the years.

The moral is, the grass is NOT always greener on the other side. Everyone needs to do their own thing. The ultimate outcome is always the same. Stick your finger into a bucket of water and pull it out. That's how much of a hole you leave when you're gone.

I'll tell you,I never reached BTO status,but I was building up a dairy operation because I had two sons. They milked with me when they were in high school,but when they decided that wasn't what they wanted to do for a living,I came to the same realization that you're talking about. If I wasn't knocking myself out for them,there was no sense knocking myself out at all. I gave both of them one last chance to change their mind and start to take the responsibility for it and they both said no,so the cows went.
I hauled Grade B canned milk in the early 70s and saw those old guys from the WW I generation out there all hobbled over,working all day long just to send a few cans of milk every other day and I knew I was going to get to that point. It was a matter of cutting back to something easier that I could handle alone,or die of old age before I was 60,and I have no doubt that I would have.
So ya,if you have kids who want to farm and you're still pushing it hard after the age of 60,I can understand that,but if you don't have and you're going it alone or with hired help,you need to ask yourself why. There is a point where this stuff will start to pay you back if you just ease up and let it. I don't know where the money was coming from after I quit milking,I just know it was coming in from everything I had accumulated and that it was enough.

What defines a BTO ?
One man's BTO is another's small time operation ?

Is it any different than men who are driven to build up mega car or implement dealerships, or any other large business, for that matter/

BTO I thought you where going to talk about the rock group Baockman (sp) Tuner Overdrive

The definition of a Big Time Operator can be relative.

Age can be measured the same way:
For most people an old person is someone 15 years older than yourself, and a young person is someone 15 years younger than yourself.

Very good point, and it varies where you are in the country. 5000 acres of farm land in western KS is different than 5000 acres in IL. So it is a pretty subjective term, but I always heard that a BTO is anybody who farm more than you do... Lol

That's funny!

My nephew told me last week that several of the BTO's in his area were served notice by their finance institutions that they would not finance their farming operation this year. Old retired landowners are looking for someone to rent their land for the same price that the BTO's were paying, but nobody wants to rent their land. Looks like there will have to be an adjustment in thinking. Nephew has offers to rent more land, but he has about all he can handle now so he's not interested.

Yep.

Thomas Jefferson said a man is marked by his actions, not his age. And since he told me that, I quit worrying about it.

Interesting question.

I have a close friend who farms in partnership with his brother. Considering the amount of acres they farm, they could probably be called BTO's. However, my friend is a school trained mechanic, they buy used machinery and rebuild it, their newest tractor is probably 20 years old, etc. They certainly don't act the part.

Maybe attitude is part of it.

I like my operation, 420 acres of corn and soybeans. I do most of the machinery repair myself in other words the paint isn't very shiny here. I used to take care of the farming myself 'til my wife's job in town was discontinued now she helps me load the planter and hauls the grain in. We've done fine financially I was only given the chance 34 years ago, no machinery just got to rent the family farm. My wife and I bought some ground along the way and got it paid for, we were never into making monthly or yearly payments paid as much as we cold afford and generally got it paid for quickly. I generally visit with my banker once a year to shoot the breeze, he's been with me from the beginning. He has always said that a well run 500 acre farm will make way more than an average run 1000 acre farm. sorry for the long post.

Quote: The ultimate outcome is always the same. Stick your finger into a bucket of water and pull it out. That's how much of a hole you leave when you're gone."

The thing is that there has been many people that may not leave a hole in a bucket of water, but they do leave awful large holes in other peoples hearts and leave awful big shoes to fill when they pass on. In the end, it is what legacy we made for ourselves to leave behind in both earthly and spiritual things.

I do work for a family run farm that is considered BTO, they farm about 18,000 corn and beans milk 2500 cows,,every thing is in a whirl wind there, I makes my head spin trying to fathom it all . My brothers and I started growing back in the 70's and got up to 3,000 of corn and beans, I managed it til 1990, it was a handful to deal with but we always felt we had a good handle on it all, they are still doing about the same amount with larger equipment, in our county we are probably considered BTO's,,,only 2 other operators farm more than they do and they are in the 4500 range 5-6 probably in the 3000 range and maybe 10 in the 1200 range...our county is in the south east edge of the larger farm area. And yes it does depend on the area you are in, and yes a lot of times more is not better, our farm has a grain system that deals with our acreage and we have always believed that there should be "harmony" in the size of a good well run operation.

Goose,
It took me a bit to catch on to all of your last post, LOL.

The 'BTO' has to sit across the desk from the banker the same way we smaller farmers do, only the amount of zeros on the OP note is different.

Always wanted to rent to small farmers but the last couple of years sure changed my mind. I rented to a small guy at first it was alright but later he did as he pleased .plowed up waterways wanted me to buy fertilizer and only wanted to pay 1/2 the going rate he managed to scare off any other renters.
Eventually I found a guy who payed double reestablished the waterways he always has a kid or two with him and lives next to his grandfather it's nice to see three generations working alongside one another .I look at it now as how good a steward of the land you are .
Right now I have spent over 4000 in legal bills trying to get rid of my previous renter

As one pretty good size BTO told me a few years ago that was up to his neck in debt when I asked him if it worried him he said."A small operator has to worry about paying his loan,my banker has to worry about me paying my loan he can't afford for me to go broke".

The chickens will come home to roost!

i always told my kids that a BTO just needed a bigger bottle of asprin

Really enjoyed these posts. Lots of wisdom here. Thanks

I always figured that the BTO guys were the ones that bought new equipment and traded it off so guys like me could buy their trade ins.

Kinda like my boss.
One new, new planter in the near 5 years I been here. Even used gps systems.
A friend was giving me poo about the new 16 row planter I was pulling. With a 4840.
WWHAAAT!?!!?!?!!
But I can plant more with a 12 row. 16 is too clumsy for the fields I plant.
Lots of new red and green paint around here. Old and faded pulls it just as well and leaves more for getting the equipment that makes a real difference and for getting stuff fixed in a timely manner when it goes down.
I couldn't manage it. That's why I don't wanna be the boss.

(quoted from post at 16:49:20 04/02/15) The 'BTO' has to sit across the desk from the banker the same way we smaller farmers do, only the amount of zeros on the OP note is different.

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ain't a BTO by any means although i own and work nice chunk of ranch/farm land.
I have not talked to my banker or been in his/her? office in at least 10 years.
Matter of fact,if it wasn't for a checking and savings account i wouldn't need a bank at all. :lol: