Farms disappearing at alarming rates

[JJT]

I am in dairy country;there used to be about 27 family farms milking 50-100 cows.Now there are three left milking 1K-2K each.Just no money for the small guy any-more.
Even the Amish got out of milking;they only did 25-50 by hand.
The big guys spend money like water on land and equipment.

Even the big dairy farms are taking it on the chin. The biggest in town is counting on a large solar installation to save the day. With a 30 year guaranteed income stream by leasing half farm's acreage. I've seen other upstate farms get saved by leasing land for wind turbines.

 

[ultrarunner]

I am in dairy country;there used to be about 27 family farms milking 50-100 cows.Now there are three left milking 1K-2K each.Just no money for the small guy any-more.
Even the Amish got out of milking;they only did 25-50 by hand.
The big guys spend money like water on land and equipment.

Same with grandparents… dairy in family for hundreds of years just like their neighbors…

Only one or two left and they got bigger leasing fields of those that no longer farm…

When my cousin divorced that was it… sold off the cows, hay equipment, etc.

His wife was a farmer at heart… cousin preferred driving a city bus…

 

[ultrarunner]

M

I'm not a big fan of regulations, but I would be for a law that prohibits ownership of property by non-citizens. Also prohibit occupancy of US territory by foreign governments except when part of an embassy or consulate.

Other countries should do the same thing. Foreign individuals can lease/rent. Entities owned all or in part by a foreign government have no business even occupying non-embassy space in another country.

Many countries outright ban foreign purchase of land…

The US has been one of the few wide open… I remember well when Pebble Beach was bought by foreign buyers.

 

[ultrarunner]

Even the big dairy farms are taking it on the chin. The biggest in town is counting on a large solar installation to save the day. With a 30 year guaranteed income stream by leasing half farm's acreage. I've seen other upstate farms get saved by leasing land for wind turbines.

Also methane co-generation made a big difference in a northern CA farms bottom line…

 

[Hay Dude]

That's just horrible.

Look who was at the ground breaking.

Who???

 

[ruffdog]

Foxconn’s Wisconsin Project: Largest Greenfield Foreign Investment In U.S. History​

Foxconn’s Wisconsin Project: Largest Greenfield Foreign Investment In U.S. History

 

[riptides]

Foxconn’s Wisconsin Project: Largest Greenfield Foreign Investment In U.S. History​

Foxconn’s Wisconsin Project: Largest Greenfield Foreign Investment In U.S. History

Here's a short timeline of Foxconn's plans and development in Wisconsin

Wisconsin officials hailed Foxconn's arrival, but despite massive public investment the technology company largely failed to deliver what it promised.

www.jsonline.com

 

[ruffdog]

I'm not a big fan of regulations, but I would be for a law that prohibits ownership of property by non-citizens. Also prohibit occupancy of US territory by foreign governments except when part of an embassy or consulate.

Other countries should do the same thing. Foreign individuals can lease/rent. Entities owned all or in part by a foreign government have no business even occupying non-embassy space in another country.

Wisconsin does have a law limiting of foreign owned land on the books. The limit is 640 acres but the Foxconn boondoggle went WAY over that number....something like 3000 acres of great farm land. To take the land, the leaders called it "blighted". How is great farm fields "blighted"? Wisconsin is also part of the Great Lakes basin agreement that limits water diverted out....that was also twisted to allow >10 million gallons per day to Foxconn.

Great Lakes Compact and diversions | | Wisconsin DNR.

 

[Eagle1]

Wisconsin does have a law limiting of foreign owned land on the books. The limit is 640 acres but the Foxconn boondoggle went WAY over that number....something like 3000 acres of great farm land. To take the land, the leaders called it "blighted". How is great farm fields "blighted"? Wisconsin is also part of the Great Lakes basin agreement that limits water diverted out....that was also twisted to allow >10 million gallons per day to Foxconn.

Great Lakes Compact and diversions | | Wisconsin DNR.

I believe laws just mean legal for a price........ Just that the average people can't afford the price.

 

[Paddy]

My father died young in 1965, he had accumulated 100 ac of his own but worked with my grandfather's farm. The farm started in 1860's from a sale of a land grant.

My family still has most of it and it's rented out. Because I'm from a big family, each member would get only $5000/year in rent. Or we sell it because the new 4 lane road upped the zoning to commercial. Neighbor just sold 10 ac for $1,000,000, yes $100,000/ac
Selling and investing would net $50,000 each kid each year for ever.

We will sell because the city swallowed us up.

Each farm going away has a story.