For those that have quit farming. what was deciding cause?

[Ken]

For the past year several family and friends have suggested my quiting and retire .
Retired from power company 25 years ago and returned to where I grew up . Rebuild the fences, bush hogged the acres. and leased to neighbor to raise cattle.
then tornado 2008 took away the barn/tractor shed including 30 acres old oak timber. took a few years to clear the stumps and move the large rocks to gullies .to improve the grazing area.
Several years drove neighbors cattle truck hauling cattle and rebuilding tractor's .

Consider my health still good for the age of soon 84 and not ready to sit on porch twiddleing my thumbs.

So my asking what caused your quiting let some one else do the "needs to be done."
ken

 

[Big Barn]

I retired from row crop farming and running two large farm markets.
I will list a few reasons in point form, not necessarily in order of importance.

Labor:lack of individuals WILLING to work

Marketing boards

Restrictive government agencies and endless paperwork and red tape. Examples. Food Safe, Environmental Agencies, OSHA/Workers Compensation. All good policies in theory, but poorly implemented.

Dealing with the public. Both customers and neighbors who don’t understand the lovely “green space “ we are maintaining for their viewing pleasure is sometimes accompanied by dust, late night illumination, noise and heaven forbid maybe even odors.

We mostly lowbedded tractors and equipment between farms but the few times we didn’t you would not believe the hateful impatient drivers.


Selling to wholesalers who use the “Buy Local” mantra to look good but source from wherever is cheapest.

Inadequate monetary compensation for farm product.

BUT the number 1 reason I retired from a lifetime of farming at age 59 was to spend time with my (then) nine year old daughter. No regrets. NONE

Sorry ken. Didn’t mean to rant.

 

[ruffdog]

In WI, we lost about 700 dairy farms last year and the nation lost about 3000. A small farm has a hard time making money.

 

[CalG]

For the past year several family and friends have suggested my quiting and retire .
Retired from power company 25 years ago and returned to where I grew up . Rebuild the fences, bush hogged the acres. and leased to neighbor to raise cattle.
then tornado 2008 took away the barn/tractor shed including 30 acres old oak timber. took a few years to clear the stumps and move the large rocks to gullies .to improve the grazing area.
Several years drove neighbors cattle truck hauling cattle and rebuilding tractor's .

Consider my health still good for the age of soon 84 and not ready to sit on porch twiddleing my thumbs.

So my asking what caused your quiting let some one else do the "needs to be done."
ken

Ken

Not to detract from your efforts, but "retired from the power company" and Leased to the neighbor" I don't feel like you have a farm to to quit. I do admire you keeping a hand in it, I wish I would have.

Farming is high stakes and big business. Dabblers be ware!

 

[Ken]

This is area where no row crop acres only hay and beef cattle . Used to be several dairy's as well chicken raising buildings now there about all gone also.
many neighbors have had pine trees planted.
My Father in mid '40's purchased his first tractor a JP John Deer steel wheels and farmed the then 160 acres . in the early 50's bought a H Farmall which he wore out sickle mower and raising hay.
by this time his health was going and I knew out side employment about only way to help him remain on this place. So leasing to others to run their cattle kept the brush and scrub trees from the fields. And after the Estate my portion was reduced to 90 acres .
Just not liking the idea to sell and have it broken up into lots for modern mobile homes.

My question of when and what caused those who have stopped. I used the word farming should of maybe said keeping the home place from growing back into brush and scrub trees.
Just not ready to move into assisted living ,or even into small town housing area.
Just trying to get idea of what others have done in this situation of life.
ken

 

[Agvg]

Seems to be the same in the US as here, small farms are reduced to a hobby, almost all my neighbors have quit and are hiring out their land to those that tries to grow larger.

 

[BRMyers]

Our small 80 acre family farm was farmed until 2007. My grandparents purchased it back in the 1940s. They raised, chickens, pigs, and cattle and planted crops. They had about 60 acres of tillable land. Grandpa passed in 2003 and grandma wasn't able to keep up with all the livestock, so they were sold off. The cost of repairing/replacing the equipment to continue to farm the ground wasn't feasible, so we went to share cropping out the tillable land. My grandma passed away about two years ago and my dad now has the farm. Over the years my dad was caretaker for my mom and grandma until they both passed. Dad and I started at the end of May this year working on restoring the old farm. The areas not being planted have become extremely over grown. It is a slow process, but we are working little by little to get it restored back. I'm enjoying working with dad on the weekends and it does him good to get out and do work. I haven't seen him this happy in years. I told the wife if he drops dead working out there, at least it will be with a smile on his face.

So that is how we got to where we are today with our little farm. I don't see me buying the equipment to plant the tillable land and living about 30 minutes from the farm makes it to difficult to consider livestock. My guess we will just work on cleaning up the non-tillable, restoring the barns, getting rid of old equipment, and just enjoying it and leave the farming to the those with bigger, modern equipment.

 

[drssg]

Just not ready to move into assisted living ,or even into small town housing area.
Just trying to get idea of what others have done in this situation of life.
ken

I’d say keep doing whatever you are financially and physically willing and able to do. My father lived to be 94, and he never moved into assisted living. He let a neighbor use his farm and fields for free in return for keeping the place up. He lived independently until the last eight months of his live, and he passed away in the recliner chair in his own living room.

It’s your life - your choice.

 

[Big Barn]

I’d say keep doing whatever you are financially and physically willing and able to do. My father lived to be 94, and he never moved into assisted living. He let a neighbor use his farm and fields for free in return for keeping the place up. He lived independently until the last eight months of his live, and he passed away in the recliner chair in his own living room.

It’s your life - your choice.

 

[Birdhunter1]

The row crop farmer I worked for retired in 2014, he row cropped about 2500 acres that he owned or rented, at the time his oldest machinery was less than 10 years old with his combine being 3 years old. Everything was immaculate, well maintained and for eons all his parts and service was done by one dealer who had all the records on everything.
He had two years of no farm debt, everything was paid for and at age 59 he just decided there was not going to be a better time.

He had an auction, sold equipment and grain bins, kept his small tractor (125 hp Case, cab, 4wd, loader) and an old JD planter for food plots. He now lives well with cash renting the ground he owns and probably getting in rent more than most couples combined salary.