Thoughts on farming in the seventies

The post from a few days ago about farming in the seventies got me thinking. My dad owned and farmed two hundred acres in the thumb of
Michigan back in the sixties and seventies. He raised five boys, milked cows, and taught school. His "big" tractor was a McCormick M with a
cable operated trip bucket loader. As far as I can remember, other than a Massey Ferguson 35 combine, he never bought any new equipment. He
paid cash for everything. I don't even farm, other than raising a few cattle for the meat, and some chickens, and I own two tractors with
full hydraulic loaders. I still get a chuckle thing about it.

One of the biggest difference that I could point out about farming in the 60’s and 70’s and today would be, cattle were sent out to graze as much as possible. They harvested their own feed and spread their own manure. And most farms milked 50 or less cows. So a farmer could get by just fine with the smaller equipment you described. Make some small square bales of hay and straw. Load straw/manure with a trip loader from a litter carrier, wheel barrow, or stable cleaner, not such a big deal. Most dairy farmers spread manure daily although the winter as much as possible. Only when herd sizes got bigger , and land became more expensive, it wasn’t practical or cost effective to graze cows. Instead bringing all the feed to the cows, and taking all the manure away, brought about the need for bigger tractors. Bigger barns , larger cow herds , more land under cultivation, required bigger tractors, larger tillage pieces, faster harvesting, bigger storage. Overall just much much more capital expenditure, and greater production. Which in turn brought overproduction followed by lower prices. And here we are today.

Back in the early/mid 60s,my dad farmed a 'fair amount' of ground with an 8N ford.Had a full line of ford/Dearborn equipment for it. Raised wheat and milo in central Kansas. He also had a full time job with 'Cities Service' oil company.He spent a lot of weekends and evenings farming.He took his yearly vacations in summer to harvest his wheat with an IH #125SP combine. Hauled it to the elevator in pickup. I still remember sitting on the truck hoist as it lifted the whole truck to dump.Also had an F20 with a homemade cable operator operated loader.Always wanted a 'big M',but never was ale to get one.Dad always said an M was the best tractor ever built by anyone.I tend to agree. LOL Maybe that's why I like the 8N;F20;and M so much. The tractors I grew up with.

It's been said that the modern farmer is a victim of his own success. They over produced by useing better technoligy. Which in turn substantially increased yeilds.Hence driveing down prices.Question I have frequently asked. "How many (hundreds/thousands) acres farmed;bushels raised before you put an money into your own pocket.?After you pay for all that high dollar equipment?"So far,no one has answered. Either they cant,or wont.

Good observations being made but the biggest difference I see at least locally is land back then was priced based on productivity and seeing a return on operations within the lifetime of the buyer. Today it really is about ego. A small farm over in Yates County sold a few years ago and the price was based on everything that the buyer could scrape up including the kitchen sink to buy it. It has become a function of the largest farm in the area that can raise the most immediate cash to buy it. I don't know how it is in other parts of the US but the days of the local farmers meeting at the coffee shop each morning have long since gone. Fewer farmers and competition leading to dislike instead of friendship.

Pa and Ma moved to the farm in 58 with 5 kids in tow. The farm was 248 acres of antiquated. Through the 60’s they farmed with a JD A and an 8N with equipment borrowed or rebuilt from a cheap buy at sales. The house, barn, and shop were remodeled. The 60’s saw 3 of those kids leave, but added 3 more. It also saw the acquisition of more and better equipment. Pa built all his own wagons and gear. Those wagons had hydraulics so they would cart grain, cob corn, silage (with moving head gate), wood, rocks, and hay bales. Not necessarily in that order. The horse power was raised to a 770D and a Super 55 w/ loader (home made, hydraulic) along with the 8N. I was added in ‘68. In the ‘70’s I recall a 4 stall parlor addition, new granary, new corncrib, new barn roof, shop addition, new silo, and an upgrade in machinery. We had some hogs, milk cows, and chickens. Market prices were strong for meat, milk and crops. The farm ranged from high wooded pasture to low ground along the lake. We had 2 pastures separated by the RR line that got used year round and probably around half of that 248 under plow. We raised enough to feed our stock in all but ‘78 when we had hail. Then Pa bought corn from his brother. Through that period and beyond Pa only bought 3 brand new pieces. A 3pt pto JD side rake, a 4600D Ford w/ loader, and an IH 540 spreader. By 1980 the farm was paid for and the equipment was fairly modern and in good shape. By ‘87 they were out of farm help and at the age 66 and 64 they sold the cows and crop farmed until ‘94. In those years I remember the trips to town with Pa as being a bustling exciting journey. The implement shops, hardware stores, creamery, lumberyard, feed mill, bank, and even the tavern for a bump and cigarettes and latest gossip were all thriving places.

Sounds like a typical farm around here. Nearly all the farms around here during the 1960's had at least two 1950's vintage gas tractors on them. By 1970 most of them added one 1960's higher HP diesel to the stable. Working with the neighbor in terms of equipment borrowed was very common.

I know in the first part of Pa’s career it was out of necessity and later it was turned around. He did a fair amount of grain swathing for a couple neighbors and combined for another. Pa also opened many field or did some custom chopping for the neighborhood once we had the “Uni”. Of course our closest neighbor had an 80 which he tried to raise crops and beef. He also had a maintenance job at school and a boat and a hunting dog so between his oldest daughter and myself I can safely say we piled, shoveled, and picked more than he did. Down the road their was a bachelor. Good farmer and herdsman and all around good egg. He was fun to farm with. Many of the additions, remodels, and projects were done by neighborhood carpenters. It was a dynamic time I guess. I remember helping tear down a log house for a hard working widow and moving our wood silo to a neighbor and in the same period pouring foundation for parlors, new silos, and new bins.

FDR fixed agriculture for family farms. Reagan ruined it!

After they took away the dairy price support program (for exapmle), it left all small milk producers at the tender mercies of the economy of scale. So, the small producers went under.

I had a similar experience. When we farmed full time our only loader tractor was a Farmall M with one of those old #33 loaders ( I still have it) . Damned near dangerous with that narrow front end. So my dad passed away in 2003, I had a good job, so just rented out the place and hobby farmed a little. I had some extra $$ and bought a brand new Bush Hog front end loader, with bucket and a bale spike. Put it on our old 706 Farmall. Almost every time I use it I think, "Wish we had this when we were farming and needed it"

Gene

There are several things that drive agricultural land values. One driver is the fact that good farm land is a safe place to park money. If an investor has money to invest, but wants very little risk, farm land is a fairly safe bet. Unlike stocks which can rise and fall even go right off the market, land is forever. True the property value can go down, but historically speaking, if land value drops dramatically, so does the value of everything else. Land can be rented out and will cover off the property tax. Farm land has always since WW2 steadily gone up in value. This has created considerable interest from both domestic and foreign investors. These people don’t have to make money from the farm land to pay for the cost of the land. They are buying land to diversify their financial portfolio. Much of the farm land around me now is being bid on and sometimes purchased by absentee land owners , that rent the land to cash crop farmers.

I did not grow up on a farm. But my kids have. Here are some of the things I have learned over the years: farms in suburban areas get sold for development. It is very lucrative and you could farm an acre for 100 years and NEVER make the money as a building lot. If you want to make REAL money with a farm, sell it.
New equipment has always been expensive. Buy good used and fix it yourself
If you borrow to buy anything, you are splitting your income with a banker. Don’t.
Raising food for people is break even most of the time because Uncle Sam needs food prices to stay reasonably affordable. Find a niche market. Grow quality and charge for it.
Farming can either pay for the land or pay for the equipment. It can’t pay for both. You need a full time job or an inheritance.
Livestock mortality and bad weather will cost you about 15% of your income over the years.
Getting seriously injured doing farm work wipes out all gains. Above all, be safe doing that dangerous stuff.

Non-farm investors are definitely around but have been and are a small minority at least in this area. If you want to talk about the very long term then yes land has steadily increased in value. Having said that there have been very significant downward adjustments when isolating 20 year blocks out of a 100 year interval. My grandfather paid 100 dollars per acre during the 1920's for the place I farm now and saw that value drop to under 50 dollars during the depths of the Depression. It took until near 1960 for the value to recover. Land here got up to 1,000 dollars per acre during the late 1970's only to plummet below 500 dollars per acre during the 1980's. Prices did not recover to 1,000 dollars per acre until the new century came that we are in now. I had a recent discussion with a younger farmer very recently about this topic. I tried to impress on in him despite the view of a buyer or seller it still takes two to tango when it comes to a final price on a parcel.

I had always been told farming should either pay good interest on your capital investment, or good wages for your work, but don’t expect both.

My family has farmed one way or the other here in Virginia since before there was a United States of America and don't know of any of them that went broke or lost their land,some very tough times after the Civil War.Very simple way to make a profit farming or doing anything else,spend less then you make,stay out of debt which means don't count your chickens before they hatch or even the money the day before they are sold.

In the 70's my dad's big tractor was a McCormick WD-9 until 78 when he bought a 706 from a neighbor that was retiring. Dad also had a Farmall M, John Deere A. In 1974 he bought an Allis Chalmers WD45 diesel. It was the first tractor he owned with power steering live PTO and hydraulics. He really thought he had something when he bought that tractor. Sold the M shortly after.

Dad had a tractor repair business. Most of his customers went through the depression years. Those guys were so dang tight. Would not buy anything new. Wouldn't spend three dollars for new points. Insisted that they be filed and reused.

I remember most of dad's customers. There was Dale W. He had a JD A, 60, and a 730 diesel was his big tractor. Never had money to pay his bill. Vernon B, had a Farmall MD and a 560. He was one of dad's better customers always paid his bills. Glen T had a Farmall M and a Case 930. He complained about everything but would pay his bill when he got around to it. Dale L Had a 3010 diesel, 8n Ford, NAA Ford, Allis WD. He drank up all his money was drunk most of the time. Wayne D had a gas 706, Farmall M, unstyled JD A, and Oliver 70. He always thought he should get something for free. Gerald S had all MM tractors. GB, Z, UB special. Elmer C had two Fords an 8n and an 800. He called them his little tractor and his big tractor.

Back then there was one big farmer in town. I remember when he bought THREE Massey 1155 V-8 tractors. I was in dad's shop when two old farmers were discussing how in the world could anyone farm so much they needed THREE big new tractors. They even spend MONEY on air conditioners. I remember when Gearld S bought a one year old Oliver 1955 with a cab. The first thing Gerald did was remove the compressor because he did not want COLD air blowing on him.

A childhood memory from either 1973 or 1974- A quarter section went up for sale and the neighbor down the road bought it. There is not a lot of wheat grown in my area now, but there was more 30 or 40 years ago. Anyway, this guy planted most of the 160a to wheat. He paid the customary 20% down when he bought the land and financed the rest. That first wheat harvest, when prices rocketed to around $5 per bushel, paid off the balance of the loan. Great weather, great prices, in other words, great luck!

I started 1968 with my dad's 5000 Ford ,my first tractor was a used Cockshutt 1650, farming was good and purchased a new White 1755 in 1973.
The seventies seemed good to me ,the high interest of the eighties slowed every one but we pulled through and still farming .

Yes, I was watching the video and had a lot of memories from my very young days. My Dad even wore glasses like the Dad in the movie. The movie mentions several times that "more production means more profit." That was when we were exporting grain to Russia/USSR as the rest of the world could not keep up with demand. That has changed now and there is an oversupply. However, the "more production means more profit" rule still drives farmers to try to produce more world-wide. I am in favor of competition but supply/demand does not work in agriculture like it does in other industries. When prices go down, other industries reduce production to clear inventory. Farmers increase production to cover expenses when prices go down, driving prices down more. Our markets and policies don't account for that, and that causes problems that stretch into many aspects of daily life, even for non-farmers.

(quoted from post at 08:34:32 11/17/20) It's been said that the modern farmer is a victim of his own success. They over produced by useing better technoligy. Which in turn substantially increased yeilds.Hence driveing down prices.Question I have frequently asked. "How many (hundreds/thousands) acres farmed;bushels raised before you put an money into your own pocket.?After you pay for all that high dollar equipment?"So far,no one has answered. Either they cant,or wont.

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The problem is farmers followed the same flawed unsustainable business model that all other businesses follow. That being, you are either growing at least geometrically, or you're going out of business.

It's untrue. A business does not have to be constantly growing to be successful or sustainable. It's a fabrication made up by bankers and machinery manufacturers to keep selling newer bigger more expensive higher profit margin equipment.

Now there are no more little farms to swallow up. The big farms have painted themselves into a corner. There's nowhere to grow, but they must keep growing in order to pay for the previous growth.

They've all painted themselves into corners. There's nowhere to go, no growth left.

Keynes theory of economics. It’s based on constant
and continuous growth. The governments of
western democracy took this theory after the WW2.
And we have lived our entire lives in constant
growth and inflation. Not just farming, but
everything in our economy

Interesting explanation.

I agree on the need to constantly keep growing to succeed,plenty of small businesses I know of have been the same size for years. Back about 25 years ago my dad and I were running cattle
about 200 head we rented several farms in addition to ones we had he came down with a terminal disease.As I took over completely I started to reduce the size of our operation,the more more I cut back the more profit per cow I was making,now with about 50 head percentage wise I'm making more than I ever have.

I am a STO and have an "on the fence" attitude about this. I found my niche market and its suitable for the asset capability of a STO. For most activities
around here the BTO is better suited to maximize production, 30 acres to 10k acres, at minimum cost even though he has a lot of new, high dollar, but
efficient equipment and multiple employees. So the ring into which I toss my hat is: If you can't stand the heat in the kitchen, get out. I am a free
market advocate.

On real estate, next door is 44 acres I could have bought for $800/ acre back in 1990. It sold within the last month for $650,000 to investors. I didn't
buy it, with first divvy as I was a very good friend of the original sellers, back then as I didn't want to have to fool with it when I got older. I am older now
and I still have that feeling and glad the owners made some money. I don't know what I would have done with that money had I bought and sold it and
may have been a pain in the neck overall fooling with all that money. Just have to establish your priorities and abide by them.

I find this topic very interesting as I have thought about it a lot over the years. My father raised 5 kids on 200 acres milking cows, raising hogs and selling soybeans. He worked HARD all his life, and wore out his body. He never had much money and always used old equipment . The 70s were good times, high yields and decent prices, the farm was paid for by 1976 . He took the plunge in 77 and bought new equipment, an 886 IH, plow, disc , cultivator, new hog barns , etc. House was remodeled , barn reroofed and expanded, new car and pickup. Then came the 80s. He managed to hang on but it was tough going. He decided to sell the herd and concentrate on hogs, then the price fell out of hogs, to almost nothing. It was costing him to sell a hog, not profiting. He held on till the early 90s and then sold off the land and equipment. He got $800 an acre....10 years later that same land was going for $8000. He followed the conventional wisdom of the times and was a victim of poor timing. He spent the last 10 years of his working life as an employee at various jobs, and I think he actually preferred that .

Well done. You boiled it down just about right based on my observations.

Started dairy farming may of 76,rented farm, 40 cows,grass fed,case 930 and a david brown 990,dairy farming was great, just getting started,lost the barn and dairy to a fire during the blizzard of 77 in western new York.Brought a 277 acre farm in spring of 78,in debt up to my eyeballs but we were ok,50 cows,fordson major and fordson dextra and ih 664,80s came we voted in Regan.He shut the door,cut milk prices,had your FmHA people telling you if you weren't in top ten percent in the county in herd average you should throw in the hat and sell out,no more money to loan you if you got tagged as a poor manager!Sad hard on marrage,gave it up in 84,tried to never look back,but I miss the times that were good.Dont know how you ones. still milking cows make ends meet nowdays.Sorry for the pity party about me,Retiring next month from the highway dept.life is good!Keep on keeping on!

well said ,very true,great advice!