Farm life and city slickers

[leechlake]

Dotch's awesome explanation of the basics of being a Shephard has piqued my interest in this whole farming thing and Smurfy's little City Slicker dig got me thinking too

  I find the whole farming thing fascinating frankly.  Some of my friends have farms in SoDak and actually my next door neighbor here in town farms in Hutchinson with his brother.  When I get with them I ask a ton of questions and I may seem like a me but I think it's amazing.

My next door neighbor farms beans and corn, no livestock.  Both brothers have city jobs too and farm 2800 acres.  They do everything themselves except spraying weeds in Summer and a fertilizer application in Summer.  Both work for a national company at the other jobs and are #1 and #2 sales guys almost every year so it's not like the slack at that part of their life.  I don't really have a question but find that very interesting.  

I also find it fascinating that there is an absolute barrier to becoming a farmer if you wanted to "from scratch."  Tell me if I'm wrong but to go out and buy 3000 acres of land or rent it and start up farming isn't even possible or if it is you'd have to have the cash to buy the land and you'd be losing money from day one at least on the return on the initial start up investment?  If that's true then why would anyone farm, unless it's a lifestyle thing. Why wouldn't you just sell your 3000 acres, if you had it, take your $10-15 million or whatever and move on.

I'm not pro or anti farmer.  I'm probably more anti City Slicker and that's me.  Seeing this is the food thread it's close to the right spot for it.  Curious....

[RebelSS]

I'm no farmer either, but I imagine it's in your blood, like cars, fishing, etc. If ya grew up with that, usually ya learned to like and carry it on. I remember in school, we had a lot of FFA kids. They were always getting called "dumbo" "farmboy" "s***kicker", etc. They just kinda hung together, like most do in their HS groups. I had quite a few that were friends, even though I was one of the "bad boys", but I had a lot of different and diverse friends.  My HS sweetheart lived on a farm, up until my Senior year, when her Dad was killed when his tractor tipped over on him. Her Mom sold the place, and moved to the city. Is there much of the FFA around anymore? I'll shut up and let the ones that know about this take over.

[smurfy]

1 hour ago, RebelSS said:

 I'll shut up 

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

from 9th grade till after I graduated I worked at a feed mill. was interesting to say the least. I got this body throwing 50 and 100 lb feed sack around! seen some pretty sloppy farms and some really awesome farms! 

[RebelSS]

27 minutes ago, smurfy said:

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

from 9th grade till after I graduated I worked at a feed mill. was interesting to say the least. I got this body ..eating 50 and 100 lb feed sacks .......! seen some pretty sloppy farms and some really awesome farms! 

Ya weren't supposed to EAT outta those bags, numbnuts!!!!!!!  Mess with my sentences, will ya?!

Edited February 19, 2016 by RebelSS

[Getanet]

My grandparents had a dairy farm in WI, until they retired and sold it.  My main memory as a kid, as a city slicker myself, was they basically put you work the moment you got out of the car.  Visit them only a couple of times a year, and all you do is chores, chores, chores. Cousins talked me into peeing on the electric fence once - don't fall for that one.

[nofishfisherman]

Yeah I'm not sure how a guy would get into it any more.  A buddy of mine grew up a farm kid out in southwest MN.  His parents have full time jobs in town and rent their land out.  My buddy would love to get into farming but even with the potential to rent land from his parents the cash you'd need on hand to start it up would prevent most people from ever considering it.  It would just take too long to pay off.  Add in a lack of experience in running the entire farm and the learning curve to do it successfully there would be a lot of risk involved.  I think the only way to do it is to be born into an operating farm and just continue the family tradition.  

A family friend out in southeat WI runs a fairly large farm and he got into it through family tradition.  He has really expanded the operation and found ways to diversify.  He now farms multiple crops, raises livestock, and owns a couple of meat market shops.  I think his issue has been getting his kids interested in taking over the business.  Both kids have worked on the farm but seem to want to start lives elsewhere. So I suppose if you could find an operation like that where you work for the guy for a number of years and find some way to take over the operation.  Maybe give the guy an annual payment as part of buying the operation outright and then find a way to finance the rest.  At least that way you'll have a history of a profitable business making it much easier to obtain financing. 

[smurfy]

19 minutes ago, RebelSS said:

Ya weren't supposed to EAT outta those bags, numbnuts!!!!!!!  Mess with my sentences, will ya?!

 boar would be proud of me!!!!!!!!!!

[leechlake]

Boar would want you to stay on task too.  The kid is out working his rear off looking for eelpout and your on here babbling with Reb about non farm related issues.  Geez, little respect for the OP 

[bobbymalone]

2 hours ago, RebelSS said:

 Is there much of the FFA around anymore?

Couple times a year the St. Paul campus of the U gets flooded with a ton of FFA high school kids.  Not sure what they are doing, but they've all got FFA jackets on and are around for a few days.

 

29 minutes ago, nofishfisherman said:

Yeah I'm not sure how a guy would get into it any more.  

Through a strange set of circumstances I've got a family friend that is trying to convince me and the wife to take over their corn/bean farm.   Something like 2500 acres they've had in the family and farmed themselves.  Getting old and their kids aren't interested.  

I've told them I don't know jack carp about farming, but they say it's easy and they'll show me the ropes for a few years before they retire and they'll still be around for advice.   They just said they want to find somebody smart that wouldn't have the oppurtunity otherwise to take over the operation.  

Never really thought about farming as a career option and I've got an advanced degrees in non-agriculture related science.   I'm not sure about it.  Supposed to meet this spring to hash out some of the finer details.   

I'm very intrigued about there being an actual tangible product from my work and not having another 3 hour long conference call listening to a bunch of jackhole MBAs tell me how to run science experiments.  Also like the idea of me returning to a rural area and raising my daughter in a rural area so she doesn't turn out to be a citiot like her mom.

Edited February 19, 2016 by bobbymalone

[leechlake]

that's interesting Bobby.  May be worth the shot just to avoid the meeting and conference calls.  On the wall at Jimmy John's it says.  "In on word if you could describe why human society hasn't reached it's full potential it is...meetings."

[RebelSS]

6 minutes ago, leechlake said:

Boar would want you to stay on task too.  The kid is out working his rear off looking for eelpout and your on here babbling with Reb about non farm related issues.  Geez, little respect for the OP 

Seriously?!?? Ok, I'm firing up the Thread Hijack WHOOP WHOOP Warning system. Engaging right now. 

                                    ***   Disavow this thread and back to the original idea of the OP. ***

[bobbymalone]

6 minutes ago, leechlake said:

that's interesting Bobby.  May be worth the shot just to avoid the meeting and conference calls.  On the wall at Jimmy John's it says.  "In on word if you could describe why human society hasn't reached it's full potential it is...meetings."

my wife, who also doesn't know jack about farming but she does know crop genetics, has to fill up her calendar with meetings she makes up and she's the only participant in so she can get her work done.  If she has open spots in her calendar, they will get filled up with pointless meetings that drag on and on and on and she can't get her work done.

If anybody has any advice about dropping out of the corporate world and running a combine, feel free to throw that out there.

Edited February 19, 2016 by bobbymalone

[Juneau4]

How mechanically inclined are you? Running a combine isn't that tough when everything is working, its knowing what to do when something stops working and you have to find out why it happened and then fix it. I've seen where a $5 pin has shut down a combine.

[Dotch]

1 hour ago, leechlake said:

Dotch's awesome explanation of the basics of being a Shephard has piqued my interest in this whole farming thing and Smurfy's little City Slicker dig got me thinking too

  I find the whole farming thing fascinating frankly.  Some of my friends have farms in SoDak and actually my next door neighbor here in town farms in Hutchinson with his brother.  When I get with them I ask a ton of questions and I may seem like a me but I think it's amazing.

My next door neighbor farms beans and corn, no livestock.  Both brothers have city jobs too and farm 2800 acres.  They do everything themselves except spraying weeds in Summer and a fertilizer application in Summer.  Both work for a national company at the other jobs and are #1 and #2 sales guys almost every year so it's not like the slack at that part of their life.  I don't really have a question but find that very interesting.  

I also find it fascinating that there is an absolute barrier to becoming a farmer if you wanted to "from scratch."  Tell me if I'm wrong but to go out and buy 3000 acres of land or rent it and start up farming isn't even possible or if it is you'd have to have the cash to buy the land and you'd be losing money from day one at least on the return on the initial start up investment?  If that's true then why would anyone farm, unless it's a lifestyle thing. Why wouldn't you just sell your 3000 acres, if you had it, take your $10-15 million or whatever and move on.

I'm not pro or anti farmer.  I'm probably more anti City Slicker and that's me.  Seeing this is the food thread it's close to the right spot for it.  Curious....

Again, you ask some logical questions, the kind people ask when they're truly curious, unlike those trying to start a peeing match.  

Buying a large farming operation outright without huge amounts of capital to start would be very difficult. Just looking at those who started in the past ten years, all of them came from existing operations, starting with a farm or two they rented then took over the reins gradually. Some have married their way into an operation of course and others got it the old fashioned way: They inherited it. Some who had worked off-farm actually rented their owned ground out when they got to retirement age. Not a bad move in light of crop prices the past couple years. No reason to farm for the fun of it. Too much work for the risks involved. 

For some LL, cashing in on the 10 - 15 million is sometimes the way to go. Neighbors will buy it generally and if they won't, investors will. For others, as Reb mentioned, it's just in their blood. There's something about getting up in the morning, doing chores if you have livestock or getting equipment ready if you're a cash grain farmer that sets the tone for the day.

I had the good fortune to grow up on a farm. We still have land in SE MN although it is rented out. I worked with farmers in ND after graduating from the U back in '81 and have worked with SC MN farmers since '84. Never seen two operations that were exactly alike. I have friends who are farmers all over the US and the world for that matter. We've lived on our own little piece of farmland for 30 odd years. Most of it's divided between CRP, pasture and hay ground. It's home and I don't see myself moving anytime soon. Won't say never because that's a long time. I have some grave concerns about the direction agriculture is heading. Slowing down, seeing the world, playing with my cars, along with fishing and hunting more are all on my bucket list. Never heard the guy on his death bed say that he wished he'd worked more. 

 

[nofishfisherman]

That sure would be a tempting offer Bobby.  I'm sure they are expecting some sort of a cut of future profits but depending on numbers it might be a nice gig.  Would there be any chance of keeping some sort of other job and run the farm maybe with some hired help and also do the 9-5 job?  Probably leave you really busy but could be a nice way to increase your income and really set your family up nicely. 

[leechlake]

31 minutes ago, RebelSS said:

Seriously?!?? Ok, I'm firing up the Thread Hijack WHOOP WHOOP Warning system. Engaging right now. 

                                    ***   Disavow this thread and back to the original idea of the OP. ***

no I wasn't serious.  I may be crazy but I know I "used to be" the biggest thread hijacker ever.  Now I've become so much better I think I should get an award.  Then again, sometimes I forgot what the post even is when I'm replying.  That could be a sign of a hijacker!

[RebelSS]

 

*WHOOP*WHOOP*

****ATTEMPTED HIJACK****

[smurfy]

52 minutes ago, leechlake said:

Boar would want you to stay on task too.  The kid is out working his rear off looking for eelpout and your on here babbling with Reb about non farm related issues.  Geez, little respect for the OP 

fine i'll go to sillytown, or the deer river thread or just plain go!!!!!!

[RebelSS]

*WHOOP*WHOOP*

****ATTEMPTED HIJACK****

[bobbymalone]

47 minutes ago, nofishfisherman said:

That sure would be a tempting offer Bobby.  I'm sure they are expecting some sort of a cut of future profits but depending on numbers it might be a nice gig.  Would there be any chance of keeping some sort of other job and run the farm maybe with some hired help and also do the 9-5 job?  Probably leave you really busy but could be a nice way to increase your income and really set your family up nicely. 

Yes there would be a sharecropping or rent situation, but I've been told it would not be structured like normal arrangements and be more financially beneficial on my end.   I'm not sure of the details yet.

There are opportunities for another job, it's commutable to a medium size town and there are even opportunities where I wouldn't just throw away my education.  Not that I really care.  I see the opportunity to work a regular job that I'm more happy with.  I feel like the current rat race has forced me towards a high stress job I don't like but my bank account does.  I could switch to something I'm more happy with but doesn't pay as well and add that to whatever farm income I would receive.

Same goes for the wife who is gung ho on this farming idea.  She might be even more employable in a farm community than I am.

I think one of us would get a regular job and the other would handle the daily farm responsibilities.  But that's dependent on the farm financial stuff.  I'd be fine if neither of us had to go to work for the man.

It's still all up in the air.

 

As far as being mechanically inclined, I'm pretty good at figuring out how stuff works and where it is going wrong.  I doubt I could fix a combine today, but I'm sure I could after I've had some time figure out how they work.  I'm fast to learn and like tinkering.

[reinhard1]

We all have different life styles and I respect that.  I could write a book about why I'm not a city slicker.  It started as a kid in Germany and carried over to this great country.  My wife told me about the love I have of the town of Ely.  And yet even Ely is too big for me.  I respect farmers.  They are our lifeline for our food supply.  Very hard work and very long hours.  I was raised on a communal farm in Germany.  Still remember the adults dispatching the hogs, and a few hours later they gave us kids blood sausage still warm that was made from them.  Well, like I said,  I could go on and on about what inspired me to become what I still am today, and not in what I became as a butcher, but what I became as person.  It wasn't what I experienced in the cities.  It was what I experienced from what I was as a child.  The love of the outdoors, plain and simple.  It will be with me until I meet my maker.  good luck.

[ThunderLund78]

I can tell you FFA is still alive and well - as is 4H.  My wife is the 4H program coordinator for Rice Co.  I was fortunate enough to grow up in the country on a hoby farm but my Dad didn't farm for a living.  We just had a couple of horses and my Dad rode in the Sibley Co. Mounted Posse.  I never got into the horse thing, but the country living is in my blood.  In a small town now and like it, but we're saving up for some land.

My wife's family are HUGE crop farmers in the Owatonna area and she's been a farm girl all her life.  It's a great way of life. Father-in-law won't let me drive the tractors, but it's still cool.

[jmd1]

FFA is Huge in the nation.  I am a life member and have been asked to judge participates at their national convention 3 years.  It is one of the organizations that gives millions of dollars in scholarships to both members and non members.  I work for a global ag company and they give a lot of money to the FFA for these programs.  It is a great group and I am proud to say i was and am a Life member.  

Here is a link to their page, check it out.  

https://www.ffa.org/home

[RebelSS]