Still going w/ "trash" machines 3 yrs on- a commentary on privilege and work

[snowman]

People who inherit land (or a business, or anything) rarely have an appreciation for what they were given. To them it has no value, because they never had to work for it.

I have known very few farmers that didn't appreciate the family connection to their land.

 

[paul39]

The OP sounds as though he lives in Western North Carolina.

Here: http://d.lib.ncsu.edu/adore-djatoka...:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:jpeg2000&url_ver=Z39.88-2004

is what a flatter WNC farm looks like. Most flat land is covered by a town, a mall, or industrial park, which is full of buildings for rent, as most of the furniture and textile business has gone elsewhere.

Many more 100 acre farms have half or more of steep woodland, some steep pasture that you can't even run a crawler tractor on, and maybe 5 - 10 acres along a stream that is flat for tobacco, for which there is lesser demand, and a big garden.

If your neighbor has sold his farm to a developer and it now has a bunch of million dollar mcmansions on it, the tax folks think your farm is worth a fortune and tax accordingly.

So here you are with grand dad's farm and high taxes, and the farm won't produce much, so you go to machining and recovering broken equipment to keep some grits & greens on the table and the taxes paid.

Pope John Paul was asked what his father did for a living, he replied: "there are three ways a man can reach his ultimate ruin, drink, women, and farming, my father chose the least fun of the three".

Not necessarily true in the US mid west at the moment.

Paul

 

[ewlsey]

I have known very few farmers that didn't appreciate the family connection to their land.

Of course, but they don't appreciate the monetary value because they never paid for it.

 

[demoj21]

If amazes me how different lifestyles and values of property are from state to state region to region within the USA. As i stated 100acres in my area is a gold mine with super low taxes and big returns for low amount of time allotted if you rent it, or if they drill for oil. But in other areas not alot of money to buy the ground and very low return from the ground, so i can see how people can judge the situation very differently when somebody says 100 acres passed down in the family is a gold mine and others think it is a bad thing. As said above ground in my area has went up 4 times in value in the last 5 years or so even scrub ground in the country is bringing $5000. TO $7500 an acre. ( i see a bubble in the future). Now i hope the op starts a thread in the shop build section of the forum i would interested to see his story. And pics of his shop and work that he is doing. Later Jason.

 

[gbent]

pope john paul was asked what his father did for a living, he replied: "there are three ways a man can reach his ultimate ruin, drink, women, and farming, my father chose the least fun of the three".

Paul

rotflmao..

 

[Limy Sami]

You ever heard of renting? Cash rent on farm land will give you a decent secondary income, and way more than takes care of the taxes.

And don't whine to me about how hard farming is. I come from a family of farmers. I don't know about tomatoes or tobacco, but around here you can be a crop farmer with nothing but a phone and a checking account. And you can make money doing it.

Livestock is still really hard work. No way around that.


People who inherit land (or a business, or anything) rarely have an appreciation for what they were given. To them it has no value, because they never had to work for it.

No argument with you on those 3 points.

FWIW ;- Over here, the farmers with just a mobile phone and bank account are known as ''slipper farmers'' on and we've got the EU and it's common agricultural policy, learn how to play that and you won't suffer.

Old Norfolk (big farming area) UK saying - ''Never see a farmer on a bike'' (as in pedal cycle in the US)

 

[aspp]

Any of you who think owning a ranch or farm is a easy life or something not appreciated by the decendents, please come on out and work with me for a week. I'll open your eyes.

 

[ewlsey]

Any of you who think owning a ranch or farm is a easy life or something not appreciated by the decendents, please come on out and work with me for a week. I'll open your eyes.

Working with animals is hard work. Working with crops can be hard work. Working with corn and soybeans can be pretty easy.

40-50 years ago, you had to plow, then disk, then harrow, then plant, then cultivate, the cultivate again, then cultivate again, then wait, then pick the corn, then shell the corn, then finally sell the corn. Your biggest tractor was a 3020 JD with 60hp. Your combine was a 3 row mounted picker. Your plow was 4 bottoms max. Corn yields were lucky to be 50 bushels/acre. You hauled it up to 30 miles one way with a tractor and gravity wagon going 15 mph tops, and hauling maybe 300 bushels each trip.

Today, you run all no-till, so you call in someone to spray, then you plant with your air conditioned 200hp tractor planting 20+ rows at a time. Then you call a guy to spray again. Then you wait. Then you pick the corn in your air conditioned 8 row+ combine, and haul it in your air conditioned semi truck that can haul 1200 bushels, and goes 70 mph.

And to top it off, you are now getting 200 bushels/acre.

Just like manufacturing, technology has totally changed the game. 50 years ago, an entire extended family may have farmed 200 acres. Today, one man and a few seasonal helpers can do 500+. Larger outfits are doing thousands or acres. Less jobs, the job that are left are higher skilled, and more wealth is concentrated in less hands. Sound familiar?

I'd love to hear any stories about 30 year old guys buying 100 acre farms today. It's flat out impossible unless you are already rich.

 

[awake]

People who inherit land (or a business, or anything) rarely have an appreciation for what they were given. To them it has no value, because they never had to work for it.

Of course, but they don't appreciate the monetary value because they never paid for it.

No dog in this fight, but just an observation:

Sweeping generalizations are always wrong.

(Think about it for a minute or two, and you will see why I am grinning as I type this! )

 

[paul39]

I'd love to hear any stories about 30 year old guys buying 100 acre farms today. It's flat out impossible unless you are already rich.

Here is the farm, even has a road into it.

Little Snowbird Acreage - Property - LandAndFarm.com - Land for Sale

You want close to civilization and buildings:

Hot Springs, Madison County, North Carolina land for sale - 95 acres at LandWatch.com

You want close to civilization and pretty:

Hot Springs, Madison County, North Carolina land for sale - 96.76 acres at LandWatch.com

And we have close in and pretty:

95 Old Coggins Place, Asheville NC For Sale - Trulia

Western North Carolina:

Tim Barnwell: B.W. Payne family, taking break,... - In North Carolina

Lumiere - Fine Art Photography Gallery - Atlanta, GA

Sodom Laurel, Madison County, NC. These folks are not living on $1million farms:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...JcLwSJp7k&q=rob amburg photos of sodom laurel

Sodom Laurel Album (May 2003) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin

Paul

 

[ewlsey]

That first one is just timber. That's not really a "farm", but still really cool that you can buy 113 acres of anything for $136,000.

The next one jumps to $675,000. I'd still like to see any 30 year olds buying something like that.

I've seen 100 acres of rough timber here in IL for about $400,000. That's the lowest I've ever seen. That would be with almost no tillable land.

Anyway, I get your point that land values are regional.

 

[snowman]

Working with animals is hard work. Working with crops can be hard work. Working with corn and soybeans can be pretty easy.

40-50 years ago, you had to plow, then disk, then harrow, then plant, then cultivate, the cultivate again, then cultivate again, then wait, then pick the corn, then shell the corn, then finally sell the corn. Your biggest tractor was a 3020 JD with 60hp. Your combine was a 3 row mounted picker. Your plow was 4 bottoms max. Corn yields were lucky to be 50 bushels/acre. You hauled it up to 30 miles one way with a tractor and gravity wagon going 15 mph tops, and hauling maybe 300 bushels each trip.

Today, you run all no-till, so you call in someone to spray, then you plant with your air conditioned 200hp tractor planting 20+ rows at a time. Then you call a guy to spray again. Then you wait. Then you pick the corn in your air conditioned 8 row+ combine, and haul it in your air conditioned semi truck that can haul 1200 bushels, and goes 70 mph.

And to top it off, you are now getting 200 bushels/acre.

Just like manufacturing, technology has totally changed the game. 50 years ago, an entire extended family may have farmed 200 acres. Today, one man and a few seasonal helpers can do 500+. Larger outfits are doing thousands or acres. Less jobs, the job that are left are higher skilled, and more wealth is concentrated in less hands. Sound familiar?

I'd love to hear any stories about 30 year old guys buying 100 acre farms today. It's flat out impossible unless you are already rich.

Well, I just sold off the remains of a 500 acre farm. This was a working farm up until ten years ago, then he started leasing all the land. The combine was from 1984. The grain trucks definitely didn't have AC, unless rolling a window down is AC. None of the tractors had AC, but they did have enclosed cabs. He had a 12 row planter, and the combine was 8 row.

The combine was purchased by someone with 150 acres, cash, for $5,000. The trucks sold at scrap value, even though they still ran...and they will be used. All of the tractors were sold to small farmers, they will be used. The tilling equipment, sold to small farmers, they will be used.

The technology is there, but it doesn't exist to any farmers with I'd guess, less than about 1,500 acres. That equipment isn't cheap!

So again, the little farmers work, and most of them work pretty damn hard. They don't have GPS in the cab, unless they are an independantly wealthy hobby farmer....or they carried along a garmin. I will say that the farm mentioned above, never supported the family...it was always a second job. They'd farm in the summer, then get a job at the plant doing whatever they could find in the winter. In fact, I don't know any farmers that don't have livestock or dairy, that relied solely upon the farm for their income. It never provided enough to keep them fed.

For the most part though, not many bought 100 acre farms THEN either. They got their 40, then they bought the rest 20-40 acres at a time.

 

[rbent]

I'd love to hear any stories about 30 year old guys buying 100 acre farms today. It's flat out impossible unless you are already rich.

One of my friends has done that but its more than 100 acre. He doesn't come from money, got tired of the University finishing up a PhD in Engineering, him and his wife bought a house and some dirt by the family farm and is now running cattle and farming with his father and really enjoying it. He's smart, and doesn't know how to NOT bust his ass working hard.

 

[ewlsey]

One of my friends has done that but its more than 100 acre. He doesn't come from money, got tired of the University finishing up a PhD in Engineering, him and his wife bought a house and some dirt by the family farm and is now running cattle and farming with his father and really enjoying it. He's smart, and doesn't know how to NOT bust his ass working hard.

Come on. Who paid for those degrees? Where did the money come from the buy the farm? Try again.

Maybe I could buy a farm if I wasn't still paying off my school loans.

 

[paul39]

ewlsey,

Your location jogged my memory. I was stationed at Ft. Jay, Governors Island, NY, US Army, in 1960. There was a guy, Gary Timpner, from Pinckneyville, IL (his last name and town came to me tonight) in the squad room who said he was a pig farmer. He got a lot of undeserved crap for that.

He was a good kid. We were all 18 -19 years old. He went home for Christmas and came back driving a new Ford Falcon. "How could you afford a new car?"

Gary: "paid cash, sold some pigs and bought it."

No more talk about pig farmers.

I did some searching, Gary is in the corn business with estimated yearly revenue of $580,000. He would be in his early to mid 70s. Good for him.

Timpner Bros Farms in Pinckneyville, IL 62274-3709

Paul

 

[ewlsey]

Well, I just sold off the remains of a 500 acre farm. This was a working farm up until ten years ago, then he started leasing all the land. The combine was from 1984. The grain trucks definitely didn't have AC, unless rolling a window down is AC. None of the tractors had AC, but they did have enclosed cabs. He had a 12 row planter, and the combine was 8 row.

You're flat out determined to disagree with me.

500 acre farm. Let's say 200 acres in corn. If it yields 150 bu/acre and corn is $7/bu, that's $210,000. Assuming 50% input costs, that still leaves over $100,000 at the end of the year.

You still have 300 acres for soybeans and alfalfa for the cows.

Let's say 200 acres in beans. At 50 bu/acre and $12/bu, that's another $120,000. At 50% input cost, you're left with $60,000.

Those are really low estimates.

 

[rbent]

Come on. Who paid for those degrees? Where did the money come from the buy the farm? Try again.

Maybe I could buy a farm if I wasn't still paying off my school loans.

Scholarships paid for the undergrad degree, grad school was GRA/Research and cattle.

 

[ewlsey]

Scholarships paid for the undergrad degree, grad school was GRA/Research and cattle.

You don't get it. That's OK. Sounds like a classic "self made" man.

 

[aspp]

You don't get it. That's OK. Sounds like a classic "self made" man.

Do you honestly think farm/ranch life is easy? Or makes you millions? Very few family farms net 100k a year, many don't gross that much, and better than half require federal aid thanks to the feds mucking around in the markets and requiring stupid emissions updates to 40 year old equipment.

The only way a farm or ranch "stacks the deck" is the morals and humility taught. Few on the west coast have any spare cash, but they all learn about saving for a rainy day.

You making a statement based on a very small part of the nations farming community, most of the corn produced is by corporate farms not small family farms. And small family farms are lucky to get "average" prices on the grains they sell.

 

[CWB]

I'm sure the OP works hard. But, his deck is loaded and he doesn't even realize it. I could charge a lot less per hour if I had 100 acres and a building at my disposal. Maybe land is cheap down there, but that's worth $1,000,000 or more in this area.

I guess I'll have to buy my own farm.

I'd love to hear any stories about 30 year old guys buying 100 acre farms today. It's flat out impossible unless you are already rich.

$1M in the Peoria area? HA! Youre off by more than double. Thanks for the giggle. I'm 30 now and have been looking in that area bc SWMBO wants to settle there permanently in the next few years.

FWIW, my brother paid $300k for 300 acres at 27(?), and paid it off in seven years while making <$25/hr. He's now up to something over 400 acres of hobby and isnt making much more. Rich? Nope, but willing to work hard.

Regardless, lay off the OP. Some of us enjoy hearing about folks getting ahead in life by working hard, not you bitching about how "easy" they have it.