should i give up farming

i've lost my barn i'm losing my land and all the land is worth a mint. 30 acre farm i thought would go for 200 thousand, they want 750,000. family farm is dissapearing. I guess the saying is true. Marry it or inharit it but if its already split 7 diffrent ways what the hell right? just a rant. sorry guys just a little depressed

Sounds like you're renting the ground now. Randy, I started off renting back in the seventies, got a chance to buy this place in 83, and I'm still renting 3/4 of my ground. And at this point, I can still rent cheaper than buy. It keeps getting bigger, somehow. But, any really good farmer isn't in this business for the short run. You, by necessity, have to start out small, figure out where you really want to go, and work your hide off to get there. You HAVE to be there for the long haul, be dedicated to it, and keep at it even when it seems it's worst. And, somehow, one day, you'll look around, and realize you are on top of things. Keep at it, go forward and don't look back.

Do not despare,Keep your equipment(store it somewhere).Find some ground to rent,keep working at it,you will make it.Similar thing happened to me once(1984),then the 'bank' sold me out.Started over with a SuperM and 10 acres.Picked up some older
'junk' at some sales,borrowed some stuff.Next year rented some more ground,bought another tractor(706 diesel-still got it,too)and some more"junk".....You should not quit if you really want to farm.This is just a "speed bump".Good luck,Steve

That's always a tough situation with family of different value systems involved.

Sorry to hear it's being tough on you, I've seen it many times.

--->Paul

Randy, I guess the answer to your predicament lies in your own life experience. Have you ever had a job you really hated, dreaded getting up in the morning and going to work? How does that stack up to getting up long before sun-up doing the choirs and You the deciding what needs to be done the rest of the day, not some demanding or incompitant boss. To me that is worth more than any paid job, no matter what it pays.

if u like farming no find a way i no first hand people will tell u that u cant do something u can do it if u want it bad enough look for small fields setting idle that nobody else wants to farm rent and start there make it grow stay within ur financial means the next year do more good luck u can do it

Randy most of the guys that are farming on here did not start out owning land. I started out 34 years ago with 50 acres of rented corn ground. That was in four different places. Just small stuff none of the "real" farmers wanted. The next year I had hogs on five different farms. No more than 50 at each place but that was all the buildings I could find to rent/use.

If you are going to start farming from scratch then livestock will more than likely have to be in the mix. There is not much labor in raising an acre of grain. You have labor but no capitol. So you need to use what resource you have to get what you don't have.

Find yourself a House with 5-10 acres on it. Make that your home base. Even just find a 5-10 acre tract of land. Stick a house trailer on it for now. This will give you a place to at least park your stuff.

Then look for just buildings to rent. Most of the land around here has the buildings split off from the farm ground. Keep your ears open for any land to rent. Keep in mind you will be getting the rejects from all the other guys. So it will be a PIA to farm or so poor it will not grow weeds.

This land deal will swing the other way sometime. We have had high priced land many times before. We also have had that same land sell cheaper after it was "high" priced.

The real thing is how much you are willing to sacrifice to get there? How much hard work are you willing to do to realize your dream? If you are married is your wife on board with this idea??

Try to think outside the box. An example of this is a young man I know. He feeds all the diary cows at this big dairy. He gets zero pay but he gets all the bull calves. He raises them up to weaning size and then sells them. He has been doing that for 5 years. He just bought a set of buildings and 10 acres. He now will have a better barn to work with. Plus it will be right out his door. Plans to start to finish a few of the better calves himself.

most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

If you want to farm you can, IF you need to make a living that may be another story. Sounds like that farm is already taken. You may need to look elsewhere and at a later date but don't give up. This may be a good time to go out and start your oun "family farm"

Go out and buy one, "start over" people might say to rent but then the same thing can happen, buying will be more but in the end at least you have something. And when you own it you can sell it again, you can rent all you want but at the end of the day if you loose it all again then your back to where you are know, if you buy a piece you'll always have a piece to farm. But it's your own decision do whatever you want you gotta make the decisions.

Randy, if you have the means and the ability there is always some good land out here on the left coast that you can pick up that does not have the price tag that farm land does out east. Don't despair and have faith something will come along.

Leonard

Gonna go against the tide - find something else to do. Marry it or inherit it pretty much sums it up. 30 years ago, there were some little guys still left. None around here.

Mom had to sell part of the farm yeaars ago, that Granndpa or great-grandpa had bought, and she got $200 / acre. I bought it back some years later for $1000 / acre. Recently buoght the next place, paid about $4000 / acre. Shouldn"t be that way, but it is. IF you can get it done, as years go by you"ll be glad you did.

2/3rds of the ground I farm is rented. Over the past 6 years, I've had to continually find new ground. I have one 80 acre tract that I farmed that long. Everything else comes and goes. That's the trend around here with development, other farmers bidding up ridiculous sums for next years rent, families dispersing "Grampa's farm", ect. You either get used to the landscape constantly changing and deal with it, or you get run over.

Believe it or not, farming isn't always a barrel of laughs.

Farmland prices right now are INSANE. I don't know the specifics of your situation, but these are the days of the Big Time Operator. The only chance a small farmer has is to find a niche that doesn't require a lot of land or expensive equipment, and which doesn't interest the BTO. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, maybe it's time to move on.

I farm just under 500 acres. Not quite BTO status. I'm coming off 3 of the best years I've ever had. Corn, soy beans, wheat, and a little hay. Not exactly niche market stuff either. Making it in todays AG world requires you to be a good businessman more than ever, and not so heavy on re-inventing the wheel. There's money to be made. There's money to be lost.

i farm 400 ac rent it all.

I could not make a living farming with my amount of capitol available. My main job makes my living and the farm income is extra. You will probably have to rent the ground to get started. There are small parcels around here that are for rent, that the BTO's cannot get into.

I always tell everyone "It takes a good job to afford to be a farmer". I just kept my operation small enough to get the enjoyment of being a so called farmer. I worked a alot of hours for 35 years at my REAL job then retired. Put money away and now play around on my farm.
I always said if I was to receive a wind-fall of money I would buy the family farm I grew up on. Boot the BTO off the land and try being a real farmer. Just a dream though as I'm probably too old to operate it properly.

Farming isn't for the little guy anymore. I had a nice place back in the 90's but had to sell it because my ex got stupid on me. When I sold out the auctioneer told me I was getting out at the right time. Kind of glad now I did, but I still miss it sometimes. With the price of fuel and parts and machinery nowdays it is impossible to make a decent profit. The last couple of years I have been helping a guy chop cornstalks in the winter. We are using three tractors and I am charging his fuel account around fifteen hundred dollars a week all winter long. Don't know how he affords it. We do cover a large amount of ground tho. Then there is his parts expense. His baler broke down last Friday and took out all six needles. Don't know what they cost each but they are not cheap.

My late father-in-law went through that when his parents health started to fail he moved back to the farm and did all the farm work. He did that for 16 years and then his parents decided to sell the farm. His brother and sister never helped on the farm, but when it was sold they showed up and took anything of value. Hal

A person on another ag foreum posted that he was considering dumping his 26 year job in the aerospace industry and begin working for a friend that farmed 2600 acres and had some chickens or other livestock. It would be for significantly less money, and also he had tried farming before the aerospace job and went bankrupt. Couldn't believe that nearly all advised him to "go for it", suggesting that life was too unpredictable to continue working at a job he didn't like. Certainly wouldn't be my advice which would be to work the additional four years in the aerospace to draw a retirement, and then branch into farming again.

Kinda sounds like you don't have much choice in the matter. Sounds like the farm left you.

I must be missing part of the story. If you could make a living farming just 30 acres you must be a genius, would you please share with us how you did it?

(quoted from post at 14:01:47 11/12/12) I must be missing part of the story. If you could make a living farming just 30 acres you must be a genius, would you please share with us how you did it?

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Maybe all 30 acres are greenhouses with grow lights.

As a plan B you might want to think about buying a backhoe and getting into the construction business. There are problems with this too but you should get paid when each job is done.

Success kind of depends on doing a good job and competition already established in your area.

Working around buried cables, insurance, finding/keeping reliable help and getting people to pay you once the job is done are the biggest hassles. You will also get to know your lawyer when people don't pay.

The small 30 acre farm is what I am renting. It just so happens to have a barn and outbuildings that I need close enough to my land. I do not make a living at farming. I have to work a full time job to survive. But I am a genius

(quoted from post at 06:55:29 11/12/12) There are small parcels around here that are for rent, that the BTO's cannot get into.

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the ones here suck it all up for the subsidy... If they can't get to a piece, they put it in a treehugger program for some more money and let it grow over and go wild......

Thanks!