Re: OT. FUTURE OF FARMING

Posted by Negligence on November 15, 2011 at 09:18:27 from (173.195.49.2):

In Reply to: OT. FUTURE OF FARMING posted by NE.IL on November 15, 2011 at 02:56:57:

As a young farmer, it definitely is hard, and to get started you need to take a very different, risk-prone, capital-intensive path to get your business off the ground. Banks are very resistant to lend, limiting your options to paying cash (which you probably don't have) or borrowing from JD, Case, etc -- and you need good credit for that.

I'm 28 and started when I was 24 with no background in farming. I don't grow row crops, just hay / oats, but in my limited experience, getting going is tough no matter what you do. Wife and I both have good full-time jobs; we also run a horse boarding facility out of our farm that is profitable. Without the boarding + jobs, the farm wouldn't work.

Fortunately I made enough money to pay outright for most of my equipment except for the larger pieces. If I was just farming without an outside job it would not work. But we have a lot of machinery debt ($100K or so in 4 years) that will be all paid for in about 3 years time - it is something I look forward to.

So, let me be clear - if you are a new farmer without equipment or land, you need a very good job and be willing to take heavy risks to make a go at it. You just can't farm with a $10-20K budget, you won't make it.

Not to mention it is a costly lesson to buy machinery that isn't suited to your job -- but more to your budget -- only to have to replace it 1-3 years later and lose money on the trade. I've been through three different tractors in four years until I settled on the right one, all because I didn't want to spend the money up front to get what I needed. I've lost about $15K in those trades... money I'll never get back.

There is hope, but unless you marry into farming or were raised with land, it is very difficult to start, stay, and make money. There is no proven formula for how one gets into farming, but there are many, many lessons to be learned from those that failed trying.

Start with a good in-town job and don't think about quitting until you can afford it.

This post was edited by Negligence at 09:20:38 11/15/11.

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