Are there any real farmers out there???

[TillerofdaEarth]

Well, I used to be a real farmer. Economy forced me into another profession years ago.

That being said, if I had a Montana during the farming years, it would of been used only for cleaning out barns, moving some gravel and light brushhog duties. The real work would of been done with tractors 120hp up to 325hp.

However, on my hobby farm, my 5740 will see much heavier use in the form of plowing, grubbing trees, pulling a baler, moving round bales and such.

In short, I don't think you will find a "REAL" farm farmer, who would be using anything smaller than a 100hp machine as the primary work horse.

 

[zionview]

I farmed full-time until '96. Low prices, poor labor pool, bad knees and nobody interested in taking over the farm made it more attractive to do something else with my time. We still own the farm but rent it out. Being 8 miles from a major university with an agressive growth plan, there is alot of pressure to develope. There's housing against 60-70% of our farm.

 

[ribchord]

I mean "Real" as their main or only source of income, comes from the farm.... You know, the people that need to get up early tomorrow so the rest of us will have something to eat!!! (And I want to thank each and every one of them for that!!)

you wont find many, if any on this site. i wish there was.

 

[ihookem]

Zionview, don't sell out! with 155 ac. you have something worth more than any amount of money can buy. Pride of ownership!

 

[D7E]

I can tell you that in my area, there are very few "farmers" left and most of them have a second job so that they can afford to live and farm. I do have some tractors out there doing "commercial" duty and some tractors on large acre horse farms maintaining riding rinks and doing hay work, but I only have one Montana out there that I know is plowing. It belongs to a very well off local business owner who is just farming for the fun of it. I do know of dealers in timber areas that sell a lot of utility tractors with winches and bucket grapples that are being used for commercial use and holding up very well, but not really farming I guess.

Most of the large working farms near me seem to have some old iron working in the fields because the money is not there to replace what they can make do with. We do have one very large working farm that has their own market and they also sell food at the local market in the city. They do replace their equipment pretty often for tax reasons but are using much larger equipment in the well over 100HP range.

It seems there are also a lot of guys who can afford it buying tractors for food plots for hunting.

I would say most of my sales end up on 5 to 40 acre plots and are used for mowing, rotary cutting, backhoe work, road maint and clearing and loader work.

I have some units out there tilling small family gardens and with the question of the quality and safety of all of this imported food, I think this trend will continue to grow.

With rising energy costs, I also have a lot of tractors out there being used for fire wood gathering and processing and I think this trend will be growing too.

Ken

I don't think anyone here could imagine a farmer with a second job ,We farm 1400 acres,sell lumber/firewood,Buy sell equipment,Custom combining...Any thing to keep the income "on-farm"? The few bucks earned in a job is nothing compared to the money lost neglecting a farm or not farming it properly ,Some years you only get a couple of days where conditions are perfect for certain jobs ,A couple of days spraying lost can cost tens of thousands in the long run ,Why waste time with a job ? Maximum inputs = Maximum output ,You cannot afford to cut corners ?

Back to the topic....Farmers use ,Case IH,Newholland,JD,MF....Little else ?

 

[zionview]

ihookem, with 6 developements on the borders of the farm, that decision may not be ours to make.

 

[gemini5362]

part of what might drive you out is taxes. If the local government decides to tax you on what your land is worth to a developer you might get nailed very heavy with taxes.

 

[zionview]

Absolutely. Years ago there was talk of a "green area" that took in our neighborhood. Not only was that idea thrown in the weeds, but the township changed the our zoning on 22 acres to R2 without asking. The schools, water system and road system in the township are already taxed, but nobody seems concerned. I guess they figure the larger tax base will solve everything.

 

[rox]

Yes myself and my husband are real farmers, olives, but we don't own a Mahindra. If you can beleive it we earn a modest living on only 12 acres. Our olive oil sells for 15 euros a liter...

 

[gemini5362]

I don't think anyone here could imagine a farmer with a second job ,We farm 1400 acres,sell lumber/firewood,Buy sell equipment,Custom combining...Any thing to keep the income "on-farm"? The few bucks earned in a job is nothing compared to the money lost neglecting a farm or not farming it properly ,Some years you only get a couple of days where conditions are perfect for certain jobs ,A couple of days spraying lost can cost tens of thousands in the long run ,Why waste time with a job ? Maximum inputs = Maximum output ,You cannot afford to cut corners ?

Back to the topic....Farmers use ,Case IH,Newholland,JD,MF....Little else ?

This is back to what I was saying earlier. This topic wants to say unless you are a professional farmer you are not a farmer. You are saying farmers use, case, ih, new holland, jd, mf and little else. There are people out here that are farmers. They may not derive all their income from farming but they do farm. I believe the amish are considered farmers and I think they use horses. People who grow marijuana could be considered farmers I guess by your definition and I think they use buckets or hand cultivate. The People in my area that would fit the topic definition of farmer like Belarus tractors or at least some of them do. The People who are PROFESSIONAL FULL TIME farmers probably use the brands you mentioned, I imagine that has a lot more to do with nobody else making tractors in the sizes that are needed to farm 1000+ acres. The other thing is that If my sole income came from farming I would want an establishyed brand if for no other reason that parts support. I understand that reasoning 100 per cent. But if you are not a professional farmer and have smaller fields and are trying to watch your profit ratio one of the other brands of tractors may be a much better fit for you. My montana can do anything a John Deer, or IH or NH of the same size can do and it is a lot cheaper investment. We will see how it holds up because it is a relatively new brand. At one time Kubota was a new brand and look how many people rave about their reliability now