How agriculture works thread

   / How agriculture works thread
  • Thread Starter
#31  
Nice to see some folks know how the Ag industry really works. (y) Here is a boat, being load with grain at Duluth MN but over sea's boats are in Duluth every day to get grains. This terminal was owned by Cargill and I'm not certain who does today. This boat would be loaded with some Midwestern grain. Lots of Canadian grain gets loaded at the Thunder Bay Ont harbor. Seems I real somewhere that harbor ships the most grain in the world. The salty boats (ocean freighters) who get to Duluth are at the most inland harbor on earth.
072720.N.DNT.PortGrains1.jpg
 
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   / How agriculture works thread #33  
I'm totally amazed at what it takes to be a farmer, and wonder at how they can afford all of the equipment to get the job done. Some of the barns they have are truly amazing, and it seems like in some of the videos that I've watched, there is over a million dollars in equipment sitting around all over the place. Do they pay cash, or are they in massive debt to keep the farm going? And what if they are financing the land, how much money can you make off of a crop in order to pay for the land and the equipment, and everything it costs to keep it all working year round?
 
   / How agriculture works thread #34  
We lease our 80 acres to a local farmer who does 40 acres of beans and 40 acres of feed corn. He alternates the crops each year.

He no tills the beans but has always tilled the corn. This year for the first time will plant the corn no till.

From my observations, no till is a ton less work - but I’m guessing the equipment costs are greater?

MoKelly

Definitely not an expert (mostly just learning myself at this point), but from what I've seen the planting equipment tends to be quite different, so independent of the cost differences it could involve replacing existing (potentially paid off) planting equipment. More likely it'd involve adding to their equipment collection (initially at least) as I'm not sure many farmers would fully switch their entire operation over to something new from what they know before trying the new methods first. ...and when the implements cost as much/more than a SCUT (or even CUT) buying something new isn't a trivial decision.

So new planting equipment, increase in chemical usage (which may also drive purchasing new/additional spray equipment as well).... and then there's the learning curve to ensure it's suitable for both the region (heavy crop residue from a prior year can delay the warming of the soil), and the crop type. For example: corn tends to leave behind a lot of residue which can create a few different challenges.

All of which makes changing over from traditional tillage practices to no-till a non-trivial endeavor and in turn plays a role in driving difference in tillage practices and chemical application.

So as noted by others no-till trades fuel and time for increased chemical usage for weed control/field prep --- and it may not be suitable for all crop types, in all soil types (thick soils that retain moisture can plug up equipment especially planters in a hurry and tillage with appropriate equipment can help dry it out enough to plant), or in all climates (e.g. delayed warming of the soil combined with already short growing seasons). ...and if the field is near an ecologically sensitive area that may further hinder no-till field prep as broadband/non-selective herbicides are typically used to kill everything on the field before no-till planting.

Apologizes for getting long-winded, but it really gets into there being cost & challenge considerations beyond just the equipment costs and since farming is generally an exercise in cost reduction (yield can only be maximized to a point for a given crop), and making major changes to method of operation may very well result in betting the farm on the outcome (given there are a great many variables - like weather- a farmer can't control or even influence) it really starts to get to a major differences between farming and gardening.

If a garden doesn't produce well the gardener can likely go to the store and they won't lose their home, if a farm doesn't produce the farmer may lose everything (more likely if it happens multiple years in a row) and the store may have reduced stock levels.

...but just to be clear this is the rambling of an engineer who grew up around some agriculture, and is trying to grow/get back into more of it. Really from what I've been seeing successful farming can be more of a challenge than most engineering since the constraints & variables in engineering tend to be more easily controlled or understood than they are in farming.
 
   / How agriculture works thread
  • Thread Starter
#35  
I'm totally amazed at what it takes to be a farmer, and wonder at how they can afford all of the equipment to get the job done. Some of the barns they have are truly amazing, and it seems like in some of the videos that I've watched, there is over a million dollars in equipment sitting around all over the place. Do they pay cash, or are they in massive debt to keep the farm going? And what if they are financing the land, how much money can you make off of a crop in order to pay for the land and the equipment, and everything it costs to keep it all working year round?
I wonder as well. Machinery costs I kind of know but the whole business model I struggle with. I asked my brother-in-law once about contracts grains, this is when they contract grow something for a set price. And they do, do contracts for a percent of there operation. he said they tend to keep there tractors for 10,000 hours. They run this type.
r4f105759_R1.jpg
 
   / How agriculture works thread #36  
I'm totally amazed at what it takes to be a farmer, and wonder at how they can afford all of the equipment to get the job done. Some of the barns they have are truly amazing, and it seems like in some of the videos that I've watched, there is over a million dollars in equipment sitting around all over the place. Do they pay cash, or are they in massive debt to keep the farm going? And what if they are financing the land, how much money can you make off of a crop in order to pay for the land and the equipment, and everything it costs to keep it all working year round?
Can be well over a million (especially on on a medium to large farm) ... for example some of those articulated tractors cost half a million plus new.

Some may pay cash depending on the implement, but there's a lot of debt and financial planning and management required. Sometimes taking on that debt is the smart move since it leaves cash in the account to potentially deal with other unexpected problems.

Really tends to be a high capital cost, low margin business that isn't particularly forgiving. ....which is why the saying "the easiest way to get a small farm is to start with a large one" is so valid and why so many farmers in the US don't have farming as their primary/only occupation. Though the farmers who do rely solely on farming tend to have pretty large operations and produce a majority of the agricultural products in the US (which isn't to say all the other farms aren't needed because they are).
 
   / How agriculture works thread
  • Thread Starter
#37  
Can be well over a million (especially on on a medium to large farm) ... for example some of those articulated tractors cost half a million plus new.

Some may pay cash depending on the implement, but there's a lot of debt and financial planning and management required. Sometimes taking on that debt is the smart move since it leaves cash in the account to potentially deal with other unexpected problems.

Really tends to be a high capital cost, low margin business that isn't particularly forgiving. ....which is why the saying "the easiest way to get a small farm is to start with a large one" is so valid and why so many farmers in the US don't have farming as their primary/only occupation. Though the farmers who do rely solely on farming tend to have pretty large operations and produce a majority of the agricultural products in the US (which isn't to say all the other farms aren't needed because they are).
This is what I'm used to. Sully county in my home state of SD has 1,070 square miles and is farmed by six family operations. The whole county is pretty much fields and below is some pics from there. Those people don't work in town at 2nd jobs. :)
93977_886667_XL.jpg
Aerial-Wheat-Harvest.JPG
 
   / How agriculture works thread #38  
I work in ag research and get to travel the country and work with just about any crop you can think of. Coming from MO where it's mainly just corn and beans, it's really interesting to see all the differences.... and the similarities in farming practices around the country.
How very true. Sounds like a great occupation. Do any instances of unusual or region-specific crops come to mind?
 
   / How agriculture works thread
  • Thread Starter
#39  
Can be well over a million (especially on on a medium to large farm) ... for example some of those articulated tractors cost half a million plus new.

Some may pay cash depending on the implement, but there's a lot of debt and financial planning and management required. Sometimes taking on that debt is the smart move since it leaves cash in the account to potentially deal with other unexpected problems.

Really tends to be a high capital cost, low margin business that isn't particularly forgiving. ....which is why the saying "the easiest way to get a small farm is to start with a large one" is so valid and why so many farmers in the US don't have farming as their primary/only occupation. Though the farmers who do rely solely on farming tend to have pretty large operations and produce a majority of the agricultural products in the US (which isn't to say all the other farms

X9 | X-Series | Combine Harvesters | John Deere US​

https://www.deere.com › harvesting › x-series-combines


Most new John Deere combines are priced from $380,000 to $480,000, said Michael Cessna, a sales representative for the Arends-Hogan-Walker (AHW) dealership east of Urbana IL. With add-on features, farmers might be looking at $500,000 for a combine, "but you could get up to $600,000 real easy," Cessna said.Nov 2, 2014

 
   / How agriculture works thread #40  
Can be well over a million (especially on on a medium to large farm) ... for example some of those articulated tractors cost half a million plus new.

Some may pay cash depending on the implement, but there's a lot of debt and financial planning and management required. Sometimes taking on that debt is the smart move since it leaves cash in the account to potentially deal with other unexpected problems.

Really tends to be a high capital cost, low margin business that isn't particularly forgiving. ....which is why the saying "the easiest way to get a small farm is to start with a large one" is so valid and why so many farmers in the US don't have farming as their primary/only occupation. Though the farmers who do rely solely on farming tend to have pretty large operations and produce a majority of the agricultural products in the US (which isn't to say all the other farms aren't needed because they are).

I agree. You need a meaningful scale to make good money due to high capital costs.

All capital intensive businesses need large scale.

MoKelly
 

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