appreciate a listening ear

Well, it looks like the straw has finally fallen which broke the camel’s back. Ever since completing college I have been working toward taking over my grandparents’ farm. Both are now passed away and the farm is in my father and two uncle’s names. I work a regular job but only make 9.50 an hour plus commission each month. I had plans on working our farm into a decent hay operation with only minimal rotations of corn and wheat to allow the land to be rotated as need be. I planned to work my normal job and farm on the side (it is not a huge farm). But I had hopes that it could be a nice side income (or at least a break even deal that would allow me to farm). Well, the hammer came down this weekend.

I was planning the purchase of a new Holland bale wagon and planned to take the trip after work Saturday. My plan was to buy the wagon and use it along with a barn elevator system to alleviate the labor required from my father who I have partnered with on the hay to date. He was favorable to the idea when I first brought it up. Of course, my mother then got involved in the decision making process for some reason. She has no understanding of how I feel about the family farm. She thinks that I am simply “playing” and that there is no real value in it. She is also living under the idea that I should be pursuing a career in the area of study that I have a degree. That path changed for me after my grandparents passed away. Maybe it’s a dumb idea but I want to preserve my heritage and am sick of watching some “stranger” working my grandfather’s land while his house and buildings just sit there and rot. However, my mother doesn’t see eye to eye with me on this and so convinced my father to see her way. He then rejected the machinery idea and since he is part owner in the farm and I am not, I accepted his decision. While I was very unhappy I will respect his position.

This brings me to my post tonight. It’s becoming obvious that my family would rather watch the farm and our heritage rot than to let their son take care of it just because it doesn’t fit with today’s modern idea of how things should be. So, my neighbor up the road has a decent sized small farm that is up for sale. I’ve done a lot of figuring with my wages, interest rates, and his price of 6,000 per acre and have decided that going the normal route will not work for me. There is no way that I can afford it. Is there any way that I can work around this besides robbing a bank or winning the lottery? I have put hard thought into my path for the last four years and farming must be a part of it. I can’t stand the idea of moving to some city and living in an apartment just to make better money. What good would it do me? Sure, I could save up and then come back to buy the farm but by that time it would be gone, subdivided, and full of stupid houses.

I apologize for the rant but I needed to vent and since you all are ag people I figured you would understand. Thanks for listening and your advice is appreciated. God bless.

--old fashioned farmer

I would suggest looking at neglected property 20 to 80 acres with buildings, very little tillable. Unless you live near a city these properties may be unwanted, and can be used as a home place when looking for rental land.

It's what I am looking at, anyway.

Land is ridiculess around my parts.. I managed to latch on to a small 10ac piece when land was semi-affordable.. and would have loved to get the sister piece... looks like I won't be getting it.. and the owner just lets it set there with blackberries on it and weeds all year...

good luck!

soundguy

I'm in a dairy farming area, and good farmland has doubled in 10 years - from $1000 per acre up to $2000 per acre. 20 years ago it was $600 - $800 per acre. Go 150 miles north of me near the Canadian border, and farm land can be found now for $1500 per acre, or less. My friend's nephew just started out farming - and he bought a 200 acre farm with several dairy and hay barns and a large house for $420,000. Subtract the value of house and barns, he got the land for $1200 per acre. Our growing season may not be as good as your area ( I don't know where you are), but there are other things this area has that many other areas do not. We have some of the cleanest water in the country - all over place, huge stands of hardwood trees, etc. About my friend and his nephew I mentioned. My friend was a dairy farmer his entire life. He retired two years ago and reluctantly sold out. He had been holding on to his farm with hopes his nephew would buy it and take it over. 240 acre farm with 60 acres of mature hardwoods, old farmhouse, several Deere tractors and one Deutz-Allis and an old barn that needed a lot of work. He offered to sell it for 180K and hold a land-contract on it - but his nephew decided to go up north instead - where there's less development going on - and more active farming. A developer just bought a 100 acre chunk of the farm here and paid $2800 per acre. It has some of the nicest mountain views in this area and has some sort of housing development planned.

A couple different paths come to mind:
1) Go to wherever it takes to earn the good money your degree will let you, save/invest with the eventual goal of coming back (you will either find out this new life isn't so bad, or you will hate it enough to become even more motivated to come home. Either way, you will earn a good living.
2) Find a job working in a closely-related occupation close to home--not the same as frming for yourself, but not the headaches, either, and you will keep your fingers in agriculture.

I had no help from anyone when I started, wanted it very badly, made a go of it, and many days wish I wouldn't have. Yes, I have a thriving operation and a good net worth. But I have never been away from it for over 3 days in 25 years, work 6 and a half days a week, do several hours of livestock chores every holiday, deal nearly daily with people trying to work their angle on me, cell phone rings over 20 times a day, never played a round of golf or had any hobby--I could go on and on..... Overall, I guess I did ok--I know the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence-- but some days I sure wish I hadn't "wanted it so bad". Missed a lot of family things, never had time to attend my kid's ball games, take nice vacations with family, etc. Now they are growing up and want no part of this place--all it means is never-ending work to them. Still it has been a good ride for me--someone who started with nothing and will be able to retire comfortably someday,,,, so I guess I did ok.
Moral of the story: 1)Be careful what you wish for and 2) only depend on yourself.

Some more advice- Family and buisness rarely work out. I know this from personal experience.

If you truly want to get into any kind of farming operation you should do it on your own. I also know this from personal experience.

Trying to keep the family farm going is noble but generally speaking is a recipe for disaster. There are too many issues to deal with that arent worth your time and effort.BTDT.

Save some cash, be patient you can do it on your own.

Your father is now a BUSINESS PARTNER with the other heirs, as well as his wife. His opinions are only a percentage of the decision. He may (and probably should) have a feel for the opinions of the others involved, if not an actual voiced opinion.

While I agree that family history SHOULD have a major bearing on how the future of the grandparents farm is handled, the generation before you has to make decisions based on CURRENT needs and wants of the entire family. In a perfect world, that group should have everything they need and want for the rest of their lives. Maybe they don"t. Maybe they"re looking at the best possible cash income for their current situation rather than your dreams and hopes. I don"t know the specifics of your family"s situation, but it would be very much understandable if they wanted more direct income than you"re capable of producing for them at this point.

If you don"t have the cash resources at this moment to start farming the land in a manner that"s immediately profitable (as profitable as farming can be anyway) your mother may be correct in her thinking. Use your education to advance your financial position to where you CAN afford to operate the farm on your own.

You mentioned that the farm will be leased. There"s hope yet. So long as it"s not being sold off, get yourself bolstered financially and come back to the game at a later date prepared to do this on your own.

Your father is now a BUSINESS PARTNER with the other heirs, as well as his wife. His opinions are only a percentage of the decision. He may (and probably should) have a feel for the opinions of the others involved, if not an actual voiced opinion.

While I agree that family history SHOULD have a major bearing on how the future of the grandparents farm is handled, the generation before you has to make decisions based on CURRENT needs and wants of the entire family. In a perfect world, that group should have everything they need and want for the rest of their lives. Maybe they don"t. Maybe they"re looking at the best possible cash income for their current situation rather than your dreams and hopes. I don"t know the specifics of your family"s situation, but it would be very much understandable if they wanted more direct income than you"re capable of producing for them at this point.

If you don"t have the cash resources at this moment to start farming the land in a manner that"s immediately profitable (as profitable as farming can be anyway) your mother may be correct in her thinking. Use your education to advance your financial position to where you CAN afford to operate the farm on your own.

You mentioned that the farm will be leased. There"s hope yet. So long as it"s not being sold off, get yourself bolstered financially and come back to the game at a later date prepared to do this on your own.

Don't have real good advise, but understand.

This is not a good time to be starting farming. Next down-trend, folks with a town job can again use their good off-farm income to buy up land, but for right now, farm ecconomy is much stronger than city one, so it is a tough time. Save up money now for when things go the other way again. That $6000 land will be $2000 again someday.

--->Paul

This is NOT a good time to get into farming if you have to barrow a good bit of money. Operating costs will eat you alive as will interest. Maybe find an older farmer looking to retire and approach him about share cropping or get a decent cash rent deal.

It sounds like you have the drive for it. Take your time, you are young. If you want it bad enough you will get it. Maybe not all at once, but you can do it. I wish you all the best.

• here

Without even talking to me about it, my FIL simply announced one day he'd leased it to someone else.

I was furious, but all I could do was suck it up and move on. In retrospect, he may have done me a big favor. That was just before the big bust in the '80's.

Tell us how it works out.

Dave

But go for it if you can.

steveormary