Best tractor for acreage

[bp fick]

Specializing is key. Generic "farming" of 35 acres is just hobby farming, really . There are hugely profitable specialty farms of far less than 35 acres that net their owner/operators close to 6 figures. This is far more the result of the skill, knowledge and management of the owner than it is a matter of which tractor. Hope that makes sense. You didn't say whether this was more on the hobby side or on the profit side of the equation.

Just by way of example, I have a friend who organic gardens specialty crops, has a market in Lexington, KY, and does very, very well on less than 3 tilled acres. It is remarkable and couldn't be duplicated by many people as they do not have his 30 years of experience.

I have another friend who owns a vineyard in Napa, CA, and it cannot be more than 20 acres of vines. He too does very, very well.

In both cases, the investment of knowledge and skill took years to dial in.

 

[jenkinsph]

Specializing is key. Generic "farming" of 35 acres is just hobby farming, really . There are hugely profitable specialty farms of far less than 35 acres that net their owner/operators close to 6 figures. This is far more the result of the skill, knowledge and management of the owner than it is a matter of which tractor. Hope that makes sense. You didn't say whether this was more on the hobby side or on the profit side of the equation.

Just by way of example, I have a friend who organic gardens specialty crops, has a market in Lexington, KY, and does very, very well on less than 3 tilled acres. It is remarkable and couldn't be duplicated by many people as they do not have his 30 years of experience.

I have another friend who owns a vineyard in Napa, CA, and it cannot be more than 20 acres of vines. He too does very, very well.

In both cases, the investment of knowledge and skill took years to dial in.

I agree, a small garden plot of 1500 sf is alot to keep up with muchless 35 acres. I can grow most of the stuff I want to actually eat on a couple of table tops.

I place having tractors in the same realm as having golf carts and bass boats, I don't really need them but I like them so I have them.

 

[kingofallconos]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all of your feedback. Financially, I want the farm to cover ongoing expenses. Although, I think it would take me many years to recover the capital investment in the land. I know I need to find a crop that grows best in the soil as well as look at what crops are in the most demand. After expenses I don't plan to make more than $15-$20K per year once I ramp up sufficient skills. I will run at a loss for a while as I come to up speed. Most of the reading I've done seems to indicate that most hobby farms run at a loss and a small percentage make money. I think I can make money just need the right planning. I see this as a long term project maybe 5 years of effort to get a functional farm and house built. In the short term, only farm less than 1 acre to gain experience and observe which crops work out best before committing to sowing many acres.

I didn't think about the type of crop relative to the tractor. This was a good point. I thought I could get away with just getting an entry level utility tractor to suit my needs but it looks like I need to firm down my requirements a bit better.

Thanks for all your input once again. I'll be back once I'm ready! Until then I'll keep hitting the books!

Cheers,
Cono

 

[TripleR]

You have received some very good advice so far and I doubt I can improve on it. The last year my brother and I farmed while I was in college, we broke even so all those hours on the tractor and field labor after school and work were a loss. We have several hundred acres and cash rent it out now.

My wife worked at FSA and saw many people try farming and fail while some were successful. The only advice I could give you are already doing; research, talk to successful farmers, maybe take a couple of courses in what you finally decide to specialize in and don't go too deep in debt as that has been the killer for most of the failures we have seen.

I am like most on here as I only "farm for fun" and get my income elsewhere.

Good luck.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

You have received some very good advice so far and I doubt I can improve on it. The last year my brother and I farmed while I was in college, we broke even so all those hours on the tractor and field labor after school and work were a loss. We have several hundred acres and cash rent it out now.

My wife worked at FSA and saw many people try farming and fail while some were successful. The only advice I could give you are already doing; research, talk to successful farmers, maybe take a couple of courses in what you finally decide to specialize in and don't go too deep in debt as that has been the killer for most of the failures we have seen.

I am like most on here as I only "farm for fun" and get my income elsewhere.

Good luck.

Sounds like any other business to me, most fail. Most people in general have no idea what it takes to be successful. It is always sad to see people start a new business and then see them loose a life's savings. If you pay attention to new start-ups, most are closed in a couple of years.

I saw a figure a long time ago. Half of all businesses fail the first year. Half of the ones that make it the first year, fail the second year. Half of those fail in five years. Half of those fail within 10, and half of those fail within 20. So when it is all said and done, less than 6% of the businesses that start make it to 20 years.