Grain farmers chime in! Advice?

[Illinoisdmax]

Trust me, I'm very fortunate to even have a job in Illinois in this economy. I'm just so tired of workin for the man. I was homeschooled through high-school and started workin full time for my uncle's contracting company when I was 15. That was anywhere from 60-75 hours a week. Since then I've worked for commercial farms, working long hours for little pay. Now I finally have a good payin job, $18 an hour but the downside is its part time and 3rd shift. Good thing is, my days are wide open for work around the farm!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

By then things could get complicated because I have no vegetable farmers around here to get advice from.

Don't rely on other farmers. Talk to the local college extension people who are there to help the farmers. Your local AG office should be able to help as well to direct you to other crops that grow well in your area. There's so many ways to make that land pay you if you work at learning something other then corn or soybean. I am just letting you know there are other options. Heck, you can work just 10 acres and lease the rest and have a good income if you plant the right crop. Pick your own berries are fairly easy with a little research. Don't just rely on one crop. You have a 50 horse tractor, you can get started with such a minimal investment by starting small and not following what all your neighbors do. Trying to go corn is going to be a constant battle for more ground, bigger equipment, better equipment ..... it never ends unless you find a niche where you can stay small, make a good income and not stress yourself crazy. Plus you can have a large variety of crops each year so if one crop doesn't do well you don't lose everything.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Who in their right mind would think they could live off 110 acres.? That's what I was tellin everyone I could start with, obviously leasing more land every year.

You could live off 10 acres if you manage it intensively, grow the right crops and/or livestock, and market it well. Commodity agriculture isn't the only way to make money farming....

 

[Robert_in_NY]

You could live off 10 acres if you manage it intensively, grow the right crops and/or livestock, and market it well. Commodity agriculture isn't the only way to make money farming....

Exactly, I make more money off my current 9 acres of Concord grapes then I do off 100 acres of grass hay and way more then off the 30 acres I put into row crops. My grape acres are expanding this year to 33 with the addition of another farm. My current goal is to have around 100 acres of grapes in the next 7 years (by the time I am 40). Then my dad can semi retire from construction and can help with the farm. He won't completely retire since he enjoys what he does but he wants to be able to pick and choose his jobs more. 100 acres isn't going to make us both rich but it will allow us to live off of the farm income and enjoy life more. Plus I will still have my hay and corn/soybean ground to manage.

 

[Negligence]

I hate to be negative because I am also a young farmer that started when I was 24 with no machinery (or even farming experience), and young farmers need encouragement to get into the business. But in your case, I think you need to re-evaluate your approach as to not jeopardize your finances.

With no machinery you have a big problem. You will go broke in minutes trying to acquire machinery just to farm 120 acres in beans or corn. You will lose money for years - guaranteed. Trying to spread the cost of machinery over 120 acres is a lot harder than over 500 acres. You need at least $50K in machinery on the low end (not including sprayer or combine), plus seed, fertilizer, custom work (spray/harvest/haul). Short of sitting on $60K in cash, it would be terribly difficult to make it work for 120 acres in the first few years.

Whether you do row crops, hay, or specialize in something else, the only way to do this properly is to slowly acquire machinery until you have what you need. You can't get everything at once, at least not without an operating loan which you'd be lucky to get (since I don't think you own the land). To put things in perspective, I have about $90,000 invested in machinery for a smaller operation (350 acres, about 250 tillable, mostly hay with some grains) and I don't quite have enough equipment to cash crop 500 acres. I'm about $10-15K short of machinery to be able to do it.

As someone else suggested, I tend to think hay is great alternative. The upfront cost is small to get 120 acres established in hay (heck, you can seed with an ATV or 3pt spreader). For $30K you could buy enough hay equipment to do small squares. You'd just need hired hands to help load/unload, but otherwise it's a one-man operation. Don't have to pay yearly for spraying/combining/hauling, or deal with fluctuations in bushel prices (since hay is generally stable in price)...

Anyways, that's my opinion. I'd gladly talk to you more in private if you want to -- I've been there, done that, and went through the growing pains of starting with one tractor to where I am today. It's not easy but it's not impossible either.

Don't give up the dream -- but don't let it cloud your vision and lead you to make the wrong decisions now. Worst thing you can do is burden yourself in debt with machinery.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I hate to be negative because I am also a young farmer that started when I was 24 with no machinery (or even farming experience), and young farmers need encouragement to get into the business. But in your case, I think you need to re-evaluate your approach as to not jeopardize your finances.

With no machinery you have a big problem. You will go broke in minutes trying to acquire machinery just to farm 120 acres in beans or corn. You will lose money for years - guaranteed. Trying to spread the cost of machinery over 120 acres is a lot harder than over 500 acres. You need at least $50K in machinery on the low end (not including sprayer or combine), plus seed, fertilizer, custom work (spray/harvest/haul). Short of sitting on $60K in cash, it would be terribly difficult to make it work for 120 acres in the first few years.

Whether you do row crops, hay, or specialize in something else, the only way to do this properly is to slowly acquire machinery until you have what you need. You can't get everything at once, at least not without an operating loan which you'd be lucky to get (since I don't think you own the land). To put things in perspective, I have about $90,000 invested in machinery for a smaller operation (350 acres, about 250 tillable, mostly hay with some grains) and I don't quite have enough equipment to cash crop 500 acres. I'm about $10-15K short of machinery to be able to do it.

As someone else suggested, I tend to think hay is great alternative. The upfront cost is small to get 120 acres established in hay (heck, you can seed with an ATV or 3pt spreader). For $30K you could buy enough hay equipment to do small squares. You'd just need hired hands to help load/unload, but otherwise it's a one-man operation. Don't have to pay yearly for spraying/combining/hauling, or deal with fluctuations in bushel prices (since hay is generally stable in price)...

Anyways, that's my opinion. I'd gladly talk to you more in private if you want to -- I've been there, done that, and went through the growing pains of starting with one tractor to where I am today. It's not easy but it's not impossible either.

Don't give up the dream -- but don't let it cloud your vision and lead you to make the wrong decisions now. Worst thing you can do is burden yourself in debt with machinery.

I agree with you for the most part. A small specialized farm though requires very little equipment to get started and you can build from there. A few acres of pick your own crops can be handled with a 3pt rototiller, simple sprayer and tractor he already owns. If he has help and wants to make things a little more efficient he can buy a 3pt mulch layer with integrated transplanter to have a helper or two (depending on model). That would be the most expensive implement of the entire operation but still would be around $5k for a good used unit. Then he has the plastic mulch to control weeds down and plants in the ground with a single pass. I would think $10k at the high end for all slightly used equipment and he would be in the business and able to set up strawberries in one field, black and red raspberries in another section, maybe even plant blue berry bushes in a year or two if things go well. He can also do regular vegetables to sell at a farmers market or local grocery store. Equipment wise its all the same and uses small tractors. He just needs to be able to market his crops and building small is easy to build the pick your own part up by word of mouth.

And if things really went well he could plant different varieties of grapes (rows, not acres) and other tree type crops for pick your own. There are so many possibilites for him if he is willing to learn something different and to be honest, these crops are actually quite easy to grow. A good rotation on the vegetable fields helps keep soil based diseases down and the pick your own berry fields get rotated every so many years as well for the same reason.

 

[Haoleguy]

IllinoisDmax - I'm late to this thread but I smiled when I read your questions as my spouse and I are "much older" new farmers and found similar startup hurdles. A couple exceptions are that state and/or federal programs for young farmers and new ag viability grants do exist. From the previous posts I think if you take all the advice given together and distill it down to an approach I think you have a basis to start. In terms of crop selection I think Robert makes many good points about hitting a specialized niche which can give a good return per acre. Also the more you can move to no till the better as it decreases your input costs. Paying attention to your capital costs and learning how to effectively buy used equipment in a staged manner will help keep you financially solvent. With used equipment watch out for high maintenance items. Developing a network of local "consultants" from your local Farm Bureau, Farm Credit, University Ag Extension, USDA NRCS branch, etc. will help you in many ways including introducing you to farmers that have developed successful businesses. These will be not only some of your best consultants but also friends that will keep an eye out for your benefit.......like finding used equipment. Also I should point out that most areas have USDA, Farm Bureau, university, & other sponsored meetings that discuss specific farm topics of interest to the local farmers. These are great venues to ask questions and meet folks. Keep us posted on your business.......Cheers, Gary

 

[Haoleguy]

One other point I did not make was that "specialized grains" that are non-GMO are a growing business for small farms throughout the country for local markets. Many of these grains are heirloom/heritage varieties that have been hidden in the closet or in some cases moved towards extinction. These farmers develop relationships with their potential customers and then grow what they are interested in purchasing. One example would be grains for artisan bakers that are looking for specific protein, carbohydrate, oils and flavor compositions and milled in a particular way. With this example some farmers are able to mill the grain with antique used equipment and thus add value to the product and directly market to the customers. This is an example of specialized niche product, providing added value to product, and then working directly with customers which can be more profitable and fun......Gary

 

[Cyclone Jake]

Here is an Ag Decision Maker put out by Iowa State University. Might be worth a check.

Ag Decision Maker - Business, Economic, and Financial Solutions