Do's and Dont's Advice

[GreenWannabe]

Friend of mine in Kansas goes shares with a farmer who does it for a living, 60% to the farmer and 40% to my friend. My friend bush hogs the perimeter of the fields and sprays weed killer, the farmer does the rest. The fertilizer and seed costs get split 60-40 as well. Since my friend has a regular job too, he would be hard pressed to prepare the ground, plant, and harvest, plus he doesn't have that kind of equipment.

 

[smstonypoint]

It is currently planted with beans and corn. The corn brings in 150 bushels per acre and i think the beans are somewhere around 60 bushels. Some local farmers that I trust are the ones telling me I should tend it myself. They say I'll make a lot more than what the rent is bringing in and that with the purchase of crop insurance that I would be guaranteed not to lose money.

Really? I think I would do some research on my own before I acted on those claims.

Steve

 

[buickanddeere]

I tried the same and was fine until finding somebody to fit my "few acres" into their combine and trucking schedules.
I've made more $$$ share cropping.

 

[smstonypoint]

I have a 38 HP 4x4 Kubota, 7 ft disc,2 row plow, a dump truck that I can haul grain with, and access to a set of 4 row planters. I have no interest in specialty crops; just corn, beans, or wheat. What I want to know is everyone's opinion on is if I could make more money investing in a sprayer and cultivator and tending it myself.( I can easily make arrangements to have the crop picked for me.) Please keep in mind that I have a full time job and am not wanting to make a living on the 50 acres, I just think it could be a nice bonus for me since I already have most of the equipment, I have the time, and I enjoy working on the farm. I

Another issue with small-scale equipment is the time required to perform field operations. If you have a full-time job, your "farming" time is going to be limited. Also, the timeliness of field operations (planting, spraying, harvesting) affects yields. The information at Farm Machinery Selection | Ag Decision Maker should be useful in your research.

Steve

 

[Newtothis1]

Another issue with small-scale equipment is the time required to perform field operations. If you have a full-time job, your "farming" time is going to be limited. Also, the timeliness of field operations (planting, spraying, harvesting) affects yields. The information at Farm Machinery Selection | Ag Decision Maker should be useful in your research.

Steve

The time I don't see an issue with because of my flexible work schedule. I figure about 18 full days of work to turn 1 crop start to finish. I've tried to do some math the best I could and came up with this ..... Seed cost=2,750 Fertilizer=1,500 Harvesting= 2,000 @ $40 per acre Spraying=500 Fuel= 250 I'm guessing around $20 per acre for insurance??? =$1,000.for a grand total of 8,000 in expenses for the 50 acres. I don't wish to include labor because it will be me and my dad doing the work ourselves and I don;t want to list equipment depreciation because I have the equipment and want to put it to good use to justify having it in the first place. Now...........if I harvested a very conservative 25 bushels per acre @ current prices of 13.23 that would give me $16,537.50. Take away the $8,000 of expenses and it leaves a profit of $8,537.50 I tried to be conservative on my figuring but if I can profit anything close to 8K on one crop then its worth my time, as I enjoy it and need something to do anyway. Please remember that I am asking opinions on a side hustle/hobby because I have a full time source of employment elsewhere and will definitely be keeping my day job. Thanks for the comments and please keep them coming

 

[TripleR]

I wont have to deal with driers or grain storage with this small amount. i should be able to pick at correct moisture content and haul strait to the grain buyer(only 10 miles away). I guess what I cant wrap my mind around is that an acre cost x amount of dollars to plant and harvest, and profits x amount of dollars, no matter how many or how few the acres. People are telling me due to our long growing season I can turn two crop cycles per year and should be able to clear about $800.00 per acre. Does this sound very far fetched?

Do you know how long you have to leave corn in the field to get the proper moisture content? We use to do this and wound up with equipment stuck in the fields, waited until the ground froze to get it out or when I was growing up picked by hand. I know of no one who does not pick early, dry their corn and store it until favorable market prices.

Then as mentioned, you are going to be dependent on someone elses schedule as to when they can or will do yours. We tried forward booking, storing and depending on prevailing prices.

My wife spent her career working for USDA doing farm loans, monitoring farmers etc. and you simply cannot appreciate the costs involved and risks. We own one of our farms because the experienced farmer who owned it lost his shirt and had to sell it to keep his other farms and home. I've seen land auctioned on the courthouse steps and one of our other farms was bought this way many, many years ago. Our neighbor had to sell his prime 100 acre farm after trying to farm it about five years ago and he grew up farming that land and had the equipment.

Now maybe I'm all wrong and you can make money with that small acreage and equipment, if you can my hat is off to you and congratulations. I hope everything works out for you.

 

[Newtothis1]

Do you know how long you have to leave corn in the field to get the proper moisture content? We use to do this and wound up with equipment stuck in the fields, waited until the ground froze to get it out or when I was growing up picked by hand. I know of no one who does not pick early, dry their corn and store it until favorable market prices.

Then as mentioned, you are going to be dependent on someone elses schedule as to when they can or will do yours. We tried forward booking, storing and depending on prevailing prices.

My wife spent her career working for USDA doing farm loans, monitoring farmers etc. and you simply cannot appreciate the costs involved and risks. We own one of our farms because the experienced farmer who owned it lost his shirt and had to sell it to keep his other farms and home. I've seen land auctioned on the courthouse steps and one of our other farms was bought this way many, many years ago. Our neighbor had to sell his prime 100 acre farm after trying to farm it about five years ago and he grew up farming that land and had the equipment.

Now maybe I'm all wrong and you can make money with that small acreage and equipment, if you can my hat is off to you and congratulations. I hope everything works out for you.

I know all I am doing is trying to plug in numbers for a baseline and hoping for some positive feedback telling me what I wanted to hear. You are correct that my lack of experience gives me no concept of the costs and risks involved. Your opinion kind of sounds like the others.....to stay away from it. I have to trust what experienced farmers tell me and i appreciate you telling it like it is. I hate that it sounds like I have to settle for $80 an acre rent money

 

[smstonypoint]

The time I don't see an issue with because of my flexible work schedule. I figure about 18 full days of work to turn 1 crop start to finish. I've tried to do some math the best I could and came up with this ..... Seed cost=2,750 Fertilizer=1,500 Harvesting= 2,000 @ $40 per acre Spraying=500 Fuel= 250 I'm guessing around $20 per acre for insurance??? =$1,000.for a grand total of 8,000 in expenses for the 50 acres. I don't wish to include labor because it will be me and my dad doing the work ourselves and I don;t want to list equipment depreciation because I have the equipment and want to put it to good use to justify having it in the first place. Now...........if I harvested a very conservative 25 bushels per acre @ current prices of 13.23 that would give me $16,537.50. Take away the $8,000 of expenses and it leaves a profit of $8,537.50 I tried to be conservative on my figuring but if I can profit anything close to 8K on one crop then its worth my time, as I enjoy it and need something to do anyway. Please remember that I am asking opinions on a side hustle/hobby because I have a full time source of employment elsewhere and will definitely be keeping my day job. Thanks for the comments and please keep them coming

Several points.

The earliest you could expect to harvest soybeans is this fall and November 2014 beans are trading around $11.30/bushel. Unless you hedge (and incur basis risks) or forward contract with a local buyer at his new crop contract price, you are not "guaranteed" a price. If you sign a forward contract, you have to worry about having a sufficient yield to fill the contract. I don't know about the nearby soybean basis in the Rocky Mount area in say October, but I suspect it is negative.

I would recommend that you look at some of the enterprise budgets at Enterprise Budgets : Extension : Clemson University : South Carolina. I think you are too optimistic in estimating the variable costs of soybean production.

Your crop insurance cost is going to be based on your yield history, your coverage level, etc.

What you say is "profit" is anything but. Profit = Total Revenue - Total Fixed Cost - Total Variable Cost. You say that you want to ignore depreciation, a component of fixed cost. Your tractor and equipment are going to wear out sooner or later. The more you use your tractor in row-crop production, the sooner you will have to replace it. If you don't at least breakeven by covering your fixed and variable costs, you are going to have to come up with the money for the replacement from your day-job earnings.

Steve

 

[murphy1244]

I know all I am doing is trying to plug in numbers for a baseline and hoping for some positive feedback telling me what I wanted to hear. You are correct that my lack of experience gives me no concept of the costs and risks involved. Your opinion kind of sounds like the others.....to stay away from it. I have to trust what experienced farmers tell me and i appreciate you telling it like it is. I hate that it sounds like I have to settle for $80 an acre rent money

How is the Renter Farmer making money?

 

[ljohnson778]

The time I don't see an issue with because of my flexible work schedule. I figure about 18 full days of work to turn 1 crop start to finish. I've tried to do some math the best I could and came up with this ..... Seed cost=2,750 Fertilizer=1,500 Harvesting= 2,000 @ $40 per acre Spraying=500 Fuel= 250 I'm guessing around $20 per acre for insurance??? =$1,000.for a grand total of 8,000 in expenses for the 50 acres. I don't wish to include labor because it will be me and my dad doing the work ourselves and I don;t want to list equipment depreciation because I have the equipment and want to put it to good use to justify having it in the first place. Now...........if I harvested a very conservative 25 bushels per acre @ current prices of 13.23 that would give me $16,537.50. Take away the $8,000 of expenses and it leaves a profit of $8,537.50 I tried to be conservative on my figuring but if I can profit anything close to 8K on one crop then its worth my time, as I enjoy it and need something to do anyway. Please remember that I am asking opinions on a side hustle/hobby because I have a full time source of employment elsewhere and will definitely be keeping my day job. Thanks for the comments and please keep them coming

Actually, your realized net gain is only $4,537.50 since you receive $4,000 for doing nothing. Lotta work for $4,500.