Don’t Buy A Farm Unless You Understand A few Things

[Ledgemere Farm]

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1 acre of strawberries 15,000 plants
10,000 lbs of strawberries produce 2,500 gallons of wine, or approximately 12,500 750ml bottles of wine, sold at $15 each. $187,500 potential retail sale. From one acre.

Depends upon the market . The profit margin on strawberries here is tiny for even the best farmers

 

[dirttoys]

Not sure what I need to understand actually. I was city born and raised and married a wealthy country gal who decided we'd have a farm so she bought the land, built a huge barn and I got to fence it and became a cattle rancher. She bought the stock, I bought the tractors and implements and we have been at it for 35 years now and we have never run in the red either. Farm is in her name. Along the way I bought a couple rental properties and last year sold off the herd and converted everything into alfalfa mixed hay. I have one huge customer that buys it all and has for 5 years now. He buys all I can produce, cash on the barrelhead. Picks it up right out of the fields with his tractor trailers, all I do is load it.

Along the way, I picked up my applicators license and did a lot of reading and studying and now we are one of the premiere forage growers in this part of Michigan and to think I started out as a city boy. All it takes is some common sense, a good accountant and a good wife (and dog) too.

Final comment is, never try to cheat anyone and be true to your word because out here, your word is everything. I play it straight all the time even if I loose money. Part of being honest.

Folks around here think we have been here all our lives. I never say anything, I prefer to let them think what they will.

Farming isn't hard so long as one, you don't over extend yourself and two, use your head for something other than to space your ears apart.

The old saying about 'farming until you go broke has never applied to us'.

Everything you say is good. I do think a number of people could make it if they had a sugar spouse to buy the land. When I made my first land transaction it was 160 for 65k, mix of pasture and row crop, roughly 50/50. We could make about 70 bucks an acre. If we took nothing out, and didn't have anything go to crap, we could pay it down in 6 years. Now that land (if it wasn't all cut up with houses on it would be about 2k per, I haven't really farmed in 30 years, but I bet that 70 bucks an acre hasn't gone up 5X.

My last land transaction was 60k for a short 40. The entire place doesn't have a loader bucket of top soil. I needed a dozer, 14 ton x just to get a flat spot for a little house and a shed. Get a whooping 35 per acre rent for cattle............

Long way to say, if I had free (usable) land, I would be a profitable farmer.......

Best,

ed

 

[Torvy]

Horses=ranches. Christmas tree= plantation or orchard. Dogs=kennels or breeders. People using language incorrectly repeatedly does not make them correct.

12500 bottles of strawberry 'wine'? Is that the entire sales in the US for a year? Wine is made from grapes. Also, sales revenue does not equal net profit.

Selling strawberry wine should get you prison time. 1 year for abusing the language and 20 for contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Sarcasm may be present, if you are allergic to sarcasm or any of the ingredients in sarcasm, I am truly sorry, as far as you know.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Pretty sure mine came from a factory in China…and every year since the year before we got married I tell the wife we need to get rid of it.

Choose your battles etc.

Never underestimate the ability of the general public to miss the point.

 

[Torvy]

Never underestimate the ability of the general public to miss the point.

Kinda ironic, huh?

 

[tractortroof]

Horses=ranches. Christmas tree= plantation or orchard. Dogs=kennels or breeders. People using language incorrectly repeatedly does not make them correct.

12500 bottles of strawberry 'wine'? Is that the entire sales in the US for a year? Wine is made from grapes. Also, sales revenue does not equal net profit.

Selling strawberry wine should get you prison time. 1 year for abusing the language and 20 for contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Sarcasm may be present, if you are allergic to sarcasm or any of the ingredients in sarcasm, I am truly sorry, as far as you know.

You’re right alcohol sales probably won’t do good in America.

 

[tractortroof]

Depends upon the market . The profit margin on strawberries here is tiny for even the best farmers

People don’t buy alcohol in Maine?

 

[Torvy]

The point here is that there are a million better alcohol choices than strawberry 'wine'. If that is what you regularly drink, you are either under 21 or have a serious problem.

 

[riptides]

The point here is that there are a million better alcohol choices than strawberry 'wine'. If that is what you regularly drink, you are either under 21 or have a serious problem.

Dandelion wine. Better!

 

[lilburr]

My dream was always raising catfish anyway. No fencing !