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

[Ledgemere Farm]

My dream was always raising catfish anyway. No fencing !

I sure do love me some catfish (horn pout up here).

 

[tractortroof]

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.

But, do you have an opinion on the matter ?

 

[ovrszd]

My farm won't sell in my lifetime nor in my boy's lifetimes. They already know and appreciate that they will end up with the responsibility at some point.

 

[ovrszd]

I live in Cattle and row crop land (corn/soy beans). I have a half dozen or so young friends in the neighborhood that farm. Started with very little input from their families. It's very possible. With that said, very few young men have the stamina to do it successfully. I appreciate the ones that do.

I need them in my community to keep things active. Old men don't. City "transfers" don't. It takes a deep devotion to the community. That comes from our young men and women.

Farmers are asset rich and cash poor. Most people can't live like that.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

I live in Cattle and row crop land (corn/soy beans). I have a half dozen or so young friends in the neighborhood that farm. Started with very little input from their families. It's very possible. With that said, very few young men have the stamina to do it successfully. I appreciate the ones that do.

I need them in my community to keep things active. Old men don't. City "transfers" don't. It takes a deep devotion to the community. That comes from our young men and women.

Farmers are asset rich and cash poor. Most people can't live like that.

My father and oldest brother were the best at making do with what they had. It’s a talent few posses these days unfortunately. I’ve never seen another as thrifty as them. They weren’t cheapskates, they were very generous, but with their time and attention, not money they didn’t have.I miss them horribly

 

[Larry Caldwell]

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.

Around here, Christmas trees are farmed. In the South, cotton is farmed. In the whole country, saw logs are a crop just like wheat.

As for the strawberry "wine," strawberry juice is about 8 brix, while wine grapes are picked between 19 and 25 brix. Somebody would have to vacuum evaporate 2/3 of that strawberry juice to get sugar high enough to make wine from it. Or they could just dump beet sugar into the juice. Plus, they would have to hire about 30 pickers for a month and a half to keep up with the harvest, so there goes $120,000 in wages, comp, FICA, etc. Have you ever picked strawberries? Mold, mildew, and rot are terrible, and it will make some people very sick. There is many reasons strawberry wine is not popular.

Then there are minor expenses like cultivation, fertilizer, fungicides, insecticides, which the farmer will be lucky to hold under $200/acre per year. Bottles. Barrels. Labeling. Storage.

For one who found riches by mining,
Perceiving that hundreds grew poor,
I made up my mind to try farming,
The only pursuit that is sure. - Acres Of Clams, old folk song.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

My dream was always raising catfish anyway. No fencing !

I would love to see more catfish in the markets here in the PNW. All we seem to get is Tilapia, which tastes like crap. If they up the soybean crush for biodiesel, catfish feed may get a lot cheaper. If you flood the market with catfish, I'll be a happy guy.

 

[JethroB]

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.

Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. Used in the 70’s to get your date in the mood.

 

[Jstpssng]

Nobody has mentioned one of the latest farming fads... "Solar Farming". I'm not sure exactly what it's about, but assume it's based on the assumption that our sun will wear out someday and they are trying to grow a new one.
Or perhaps people are so afraid of the dark they want to grow another for nightime?

 

[tractortroof]

Around here, Christmas trees are farmed. In the South, cotton is farmed. In the whole country, saw logs are a crop just like wheat.

As for the strawberry "wine," strawberry juice is about 8 brix, while wine grapes are picked between 19 and 25 brix. Somebody would have to vacuum evaporate 2/3 of that strawberry juice to get sugar high enough to make wine from it. Or they could just dump beet sugar into the juice. Plus, they would have to hire about 30 pickers for a month and a half to keep up with the harvest, so there goes $120,000 in wages, comp, FICA, etc. Have you ever picked strawberries? Mold, mildew, and rot are terrible, and it will make some people very sick. There is many reasons strawberry wine is not popular.

Then there are minor expenses like cultivation, fertilizer, fungicides, insecticides, which the farmer will be lucky to hold under $200/acre per year. Bottles. Barrels. Labeling. Storage.

$200 per acre for fungicide and fertilizer? Closer to $2000. One bottle of Regalia is close to $200.

Strawberry wine is sold out on farms in this state. And yes there are quite a few vintners in Florida.

Vacuum evaporation, no I don’t think so.

Large families do have a labor advantage. Between that and you pick it’s pretty good.