Re: What\'s the most profitable way make cash, farming
This is what's known as a loaded question.....
I have a couple business's, work a day job, AND consider myself a "full-time farmer". I currently have in production, about 1400 acres. (Approx. 500 corn, 500 soybeans, 150 hay, and the rest woods or unused pasture)
My family has farmed since 1816.
Long story short, this ain't my first rodeo.....
Doing a corn/soybean/wheat rotation will average out at around a paultry $45 to $60 an acre PROFIT when all is said and done. (averaged over the last 10 years or so) You won't get rich without doing THOUSANDS of acres. In fact, the smaller your operation is, the LOWER those numbers will go....
Hay CAN make more money, but it isn't a lock..... I do a great bit of business with horse people in my area. I manage to grow a good grade of hay. It sells for $4(+) a bale. With fertilizer/pesticide/fuel/labor/equipment/storage cost figured in, I make about $160 an acre on average. (But don't think you can do that on hundreds or thousands of acres.... It's taken me 20 years of "marketing" my product to reach the level of sales I have now)
There's a number of "unconventional" farming practices out there. I have a friend that is part of a family run operation that has U-Pick-It veggie/strawberry, a vineyard, a winery, and a restaraunt. They bag some serious cash, but have a VERY serious investment (of both TIME and money)
Another friend runs an almond operation in norther California. He knocks down some big bucks, but he has spent most of his life getting to the point where he's at now. Literally MILLIONS invested.
You want to know how a farmer gets rich????? You go WAY in to debt, work your entire life to pay your bills, struggle to make a crop, pay off your land about the time you're too old to continue, THEN look at your net worth...... IF your land is paid off, you're worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions......IF YOU SELL OFF YOUR LIFE'S WORK.
Just don't look to amass a big pile of greenbacks in the bank by growing corn. It just don't happen that way....
Sorry for turning this into an editorial on the American farmers way of life..... I'm just a bit passionate about the subject....