Grain farmers chime in! Advice?

[Illinoisdmax]

90's or newer would be my preference. I'd like to have a new one but at the same time I don't wanna get stuck with a new one that ends up with problems. I have 2 IH dealers within 30 miles of me. I tend ti stick with red or blue because that's what I was raised on. I used to work with a JD 8420 loader everyday for the hog operation I was a a part of, so I know how to run big machinery.

 

[raasd]

No till does not work here !.....I would never get custom combines either , a small acreage like yours will be last on their list and you'l never get them in a busy season and they will want to fit you in when grain is not fit . Buying your own machine will pay for it's self in quality of grain and earlier harvesting. Small combines to fit your acreage are around with very little work on them for peanuts .

Custom harvesters usually work regions and while you may be the last on their list for your particular region they will not leave and then truck everything back 300 miles to get your small farm. I also know a good number of local guys that do custom harvesting work. You can go to the next farm and offer him some extra cash for a half day of work and a lot of times he will take it and be cheaper than the full on custom guys.

 

[flusher]

So if I got a 4 row no til planter, what's the max size HP I would need? After that I would just need a sprayed and harvester, correct? If I was to go the hay route what's a ballpark number it would cost in a good alfalfa seed to do 45 acres? What would I need in equipment to do custom small squares? The equine business is big here, not to mention I know the owners of 2 boarding facilities and my gf and all her family and friends are really big into showing competitively.

Alfalfa is a perennial that grows for many years. My neighbor grows alfalfa on 30 irrigated acres (only 18-20 inches per year rainfall here in the North Sacramento Valley so irrigation is needed for alfalfa) that he planted four years ago. He cuts and bales every 5-6 weeks during the growing season (April-Oct around here).

We have hardpan problems here and alfalfa is deep rooted so he had to use his D7 Cat with a double shank ripper to break up the hardpan down to about 24 inches depth. Since you have river bottom land at your place, that probably isn't necessary.

He uses a 15-ft tandem wheel disc for primary cultivation and plants with a 6-ft wide Brillion seeder. He overseeds every couple of years to fill in bare spots that show up in the field.

He mows with a Hesston windrower (aka swather) that has a 15-ft wide head with sicklebar cutter



and bales with a self propelled NH 3-twine square baler (120 lb bales).



He uses an NH self propelled bale stacker to clear the product off his field although many times his customers pick up the bales right in the field.

All of his equipment is used stuff he's picked up over the years.

Good luck.

 

[D7E]

Custom harvesters usually work regions and while you may be the last on their list for your particular region they will not leave and then truck everything back 300 miles to get your small farm. I also know a good number of local guys that do custom harvesting work. You can go to the next farm and offer him some extra cash for a half day of work and a lot of times he will take it and be cheaper than the full on custom guys.

You must have very unique farmers in your area .Any one i know, Myself included will never do anyone elses combining until our own is done . We did a lot of custom in good weather this year as it was a freakishly long dry fall but usually the guys who wait for custom get a lot of grain loss or spoil.And usually were getting calls close to snowfall as they have been let down .
Why pay all that custom every year when you could buy a good small combine for $3000 .
If we used custom it would cost at least $40'000 a year , Makes our combines look cheap.
Spraying too ...the ability to go at a minutes notice in a small weather window is priceless, we use custom sprayers occasionally but always a better job to do it yourself and time it right if possible .

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I'm a life long farmer, almost 45 years on my own. I have degrees in soil and crop science, as well as having spent more than 15 years on an advisory board @ Univ of Ky School of Agriculture where we lend advice to young upstarts in the farming industry (who have completed studies @ Univ of Ky)

FIRST THOUGHT.....Get LOCALIZED advice. So far, you've received advice on what specifics "you" should consider in Illinois from a Canadian, Up state New Yorker, Californian, ect......I'm FAR closer that any of them, being in central Kentucky, and MY opinions on how to operate a farm probably/possibly have little to do with what works in YOUR neighborhood.

Contact your state/county extension agents, local Universities, and even farmers in your area. THEIR opinions will actually have some bearing on what works and what doesn't in your area. Not that you should discount the advice shared here, as much of this advice is coming from successful farmers in their own right. Just take it with a grain of salt. It's all about what works in your immediate locale.

You ARE in a part of the country where no-till not only works, but is being proven year after year to out yield (at a much lower cost) than conventional crops SO LONG AS IT'S DONE CORRECTLY. In my area, no-till beans comprise more than 90% of what's grown here, and corn is above 75% no-till, with numbers rising every year. Where no till works, profits are well above conventional in MOST cases in a good year, and by the nature of no-till farming, losses are far less in bad years. It's just a safe, practical way of doing business IF it fits your area.

And my PERSONAL advice....With no more "hands on experience" than you have in grain farming, I'd consider looking to rent/lease your farm to a local farmer with the stipulation that YOU will have an active roll in the selection of inputs, the process of applying them, the monitoring of crops throughout the growing season, harvesting, sales, even "closing the books" on the year. Let them know you're wanting to essentially "co-op" with them as a learning process. I'm "small potatoes" now compared to most modern farms, but I've still managed to find room for 2 "apprentice" helpers. They provide me with young, capable labor, and I'll HOPEFULLY teach them a few tricks of the trade.

It's also my opinion that the WORST time to buy into ANY aspect of farming is when times are GOOD. Prices are high and margins are tight with todays prices. When commodity prices drop, you can be left holding the proverbial bag on a bunch of over priced equipment and inputs. IMHO, best time to BUY is when everyone else is hurting and in need of a "bail out". Buy low, sell high.....Farming is the only industry I know of where you pay retail when buying and sell at wholesale.....

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I'm a life long farmer, almost 45 years on my own. I have degrees in soil and crop science, as well as having spent more than 15 years on an advisory board @ Univ of Ky School of Agriculture where we lend advice to young upstarts in the farming industry (who have completed studies @ Univ of Ky)

FIRST THOUGHT.....Get LOCALIZED advice. So far, you've received advice on what specifics "you" should consider in Illinois from a Canadian, Up state New Yorker, Californian, ect......I'm FAR closer that any of them, being in central Kentucky, and MY opinions on how to operate a farm probably/possibly have little to do with what works in YOUR neighborhood.

Contact your state/county extension agents, local Universities, and even farmers in your area. THEIR opinions will actually have some bearing on what works and what doesn't in your area. Not that you should discount the advice shared here, as much of this advice is coming from successful farmers in their own right. Just take it with a grain of salt. It's all about what works in your immediate locale.

You ARE in a part of the country where no-till not only works, but is being proven year after year to out yield (at a much lower cost) than conventional crops SO LONG AS IT'S DONE CORRECTLY. In my area, no-till beans comprise more than 90% of what's grown here, and corn is above 75% no-till, with numbers rising every year. Where no till works, profits are well above conventional in MOST cases in a good year, and by the nature of no-till farming, losses are far less in bad years. It's just a safe, practical way of doing business IF it fits your area.

And my PERSONAL advice....With no more "hands on experience" than you have in grain farming, I'd consider looking to rent/lease your farm to a local farmer with the stipulation that YOU will have an active roll in the selection of inputs, the process of applying them, the monitoring of crops throughout the growing season, harvesting, sales, even "closing the books" on the year. Let them know you're wanting to essentially "co-op" with them as a learning process. I'm "small potatoes" now compared to most modern farms, but I've still managed to find room for 2 "apprentice" helpers. They provide me with young, capable labor, and I'll HOPEFULLY teach them a few tricks of the trade.

It's also my opinion that the WORST time to buy into ANY aspect of farming is when times are GOOD. Prices are high and margins are tight with todays prices. When commodity prices drop, you can be left holding the proverbial bag on a bunch of over priced equipment and inputs. IMHO, best time to BUY is when everyone else is hurting and in need of a "bail out". Buy low, sell high.....Farming is the only industry I know of where you pay retail when buying and sell at wholesale.....

Its about time you chimed in Bill I hope all is well down your way.

 

[Illinoisdmax]

Im just really blown away by everyone's input. It shows that there's still men out there who care enough to give younger guys some direction. I honestly don't care what I have to do and how hard I have to work but I WILL eventually make a career in AG workin for myself. I was just reading up on the history of Rockford, Il (the town I was born near) and its amazing how many implements were invented here that changed and bettered farming forever.

 

[hrcarver]

I'm a farmer too, I'd say farmwith junk absolutely nailed it.

I currently raise 50 acres of flue cured tobacco, 60 acres of turf (sod), 120-150 acres of non irrigated land that I rotate beans and wheat on. I also plant food plots for deer hunters on my weekends.

Around here, a no-till drill and a sprayer will get your beans and wheat done. Too many dry spells for corn here. I hire out my combine work at $35/acre, because unlike the poster that said a decent combine was $3k, I've found that decent used combines start at $50k, and tend to run closer to $80k for a decent used one. This year was good and I made about $26k off of my soybeans, but most years it is less than $10k, and in bad years barely break even.

 

[hrcarver]

Just curious while we have a few farmers here, what types of land make no-till impossible?

If I had to do it conventionally, there is NO way I could come out ahead, but I know that I am on relatively poor soil.

 

[Illinoisdmax]

I'd be curious to know too.

What is it that I need for implements exactly for no-till farming?