Buying Advice New farmer need tractor advice for a smart purchase.

[LD1]

Trying to make a living farming 40 acres is gonna be hard to do. Prepping and planting the soil is only part of the operation.

Are you gonna buy a sprayer and get licensed? or you gonna hire the spray out?
What about harvest time. You gonna buy a combine or hire it out?
What are you gonna do with that ~6500 bushels of corn? (350,000+ pounds). Are you gonna have to hire it to be trucked to the mill? are you gonna but a grain truck? Do you have storage capacity?

Than anticipated gross of ~$21k goes down quickly when you factor cost of seed and fertilizer, hiring someone to spray, hiring someone to haul grain, fuel, maintenance on equipment (especially budget equipment), etc. You'd be lucky to net 8-10k per year. And corn is one of the higher yielding crops. Gotta rotate to take care of the soil.

Even if you had the additional 80 acres to farm, you might be able to clear 24k-30k per year after expenses. But 30k/year aint really a good living and at those prices, how long would it take you to pay off the land you are farming?

 

[bigtiller]

I have only 30 acres for row crops. I figured I can't afford to farm it myself. To have any chance of turning a profit, I would have to use old 4 row equipment. Trying to keep the old worn out stuff working will take to much of my time, even if I could find repair parts. I decided to cash rent the land for 30% of the crop. The farmer keeps rotating his equipment for new, so the accuracy and efficiency are continually improved on. The new planters have very accurate seed placement and the combines drop far less than the old equipment I would have to use.

 

[rustyshakelford]

Most tractor manufacturers and dealers offer competitive financing. Always a bonus to pay cash but with 0% from 60-84, it makes it more attractive to finance sometimes and leave the cash reserves intact. I have more money than time (sounds snooty and I promise I'm not) but I can't sit in the tractor for 3-4 days to mow what could be done in 1 day. Same goes for running a disc. You could get a 25 hp and. 4-5' disc and use it for your 40 acres and be at budget but I would rather spend the money and buy big. That gives me more time to work and make the money to pay for it. I would be considering a 60-75 hp tractor minimum and go from there. 4wd can make up some for going with less hp but if you got a 4wd 75 hp or up you could prolly run 10-12' disc for example. Also get the bigger loader with bigger tractors

Brett

 

[rustyshakelford]

Trying to make a living farming 40 acres is gonna be hard to do. Prepping and planting the soil is only part of the operation.

Are you gonna buy a sprayer and get licensed? or you gonna hire the spray out?
What about harvest time. You gonna buy a combine or hire it out?
What are you gonna do with that ~6500 bushels of corn? (350,000+ pounds). Are you gonna have to hire it to be trucked to the mill? are you gonna but a grain truck? Do you have storage capacity?

Than anticipated gross of ~$21k goes down quickly when you factor cost of seed and fertilizer, hiring someone to spray, hiring someone to haul grain, fuel, maintenance on equipment (especially budget equipment), etc. You'd be lucky to net 8-10k per year. And corn is one of the higher yielding crops. Gotta rotate to take care of the soil.

Even if you had the additional 80 acres to farm, you might be able to clear 24k-30k per year after expenses. But 30k/year aint really a good living and at those prices, how long would it take you to pay off the land you are farming?

Not to mention it's actually work and any repairs kill you with unexpected costs. Fluctuations in fuel and commodity valuations. Unless your growing gold from corn seed, I don't see how you can make a living in 40 acres. I was assuming this was a hobby farm for tax reasons or fun. Can see it be profitable.

Brett

 

[LD1]

IMO the only way to be successful farming is either

1. Have inherited enough land to make it worthwhile to purchase big equipment.

or

2. Go deep in debt.

Land is expensive. But things scale. We established you can gross ~20k on 40 acres of corn. After taxes and expenses, that aint enough to live on.

However, if you had 400 acres, thats 200k gross. Take off the expenses of seed, spray, etc. And you can afford some decent equipment and keep nice things around, while still managing to pay the bills.

The problem becomes "how does one get enough land" to be efficient at farming, and will yield enough to actually make a living.

Revert back to 1 and 2. Either inherit the family farm, or go deeply in debt, (farmground around here is ~5k-7k per acre, so that 400 acres will cost you about 2 million, yet will only gross 200k per year, and only put ~40-50k in your pocket after expenses. Can you afford a $2 million debt on a 50k salary?)

 

[rustyshakelford]

IMO the only way to be successful farming is either

1. Have inherited enough land to make it worthwhile to purchase big equipment.

or

2. Go deep in debt.

Land is expensive. But things scale. We established you can gross ~20k on 40 acres of corn. After taxes and expenses, that aint enough to live on.

However, if you had 400 acres, thats 200k gross. Take off the expenses of seed, spray, etc. And you can afford some decent equipment and keep nice things around, while still managing to pay the bills.

The problem becomes "how does one get enough land" to be efficient at farming, and will yield enough to actually make a living.

Revert back to 1 and 2. Either inherit the family farm, or go deeply in debt, (farmground around here is ~5k-7k per acre, so that 400 acres will cost you about 2 million, yet will only gross 200k per year, and only put ~40-50k in your pocket after expenses. Can you afford a $2 million debt on a 50k salary?)

Well put. Need an unexpected motor rebuilt and hyd pump rebuild and there goes 20k. Unplanned breakdowns have crippled many many places. If you have warranty, then your paying a ton of money for the machines.

Brett

 

[mobilemike73]

If you really are serious about tilling 40 acres... here is some big cheap diesel iron near you. You will need at least 50 hp to pull implements (plow, disc, planter, corn picker). Or you will be out there all month just getting it planted. It will take you a good week anyways to get it worked and planted with smaller stuff.

MASSEY FERGUSON 65

You don't NEED a loader though it would be nice. We farmed our 28 acres with no loader. You can find loaders for these old tractors but you have to search a while.

This guy lists a loader frame for a MF 65... how serious are you ? go buy both and then work on putting a loader on it. All in you will probably have 5 - 6k in a decent diesel tractor with loader by the time you get hoses, cylinders valves.. and possibly hire some work on it done.

TRACTOR LOADERS, TIRE CHAINS 9.5-24, GRAVELY WEIGHTS

Thanks for the research! That MF is a nice tractor. Do they still make parts for tractors that old or would I be stuck searching junkyards and the internet to find parts?

 

[mobilemike73]

Trying to make a living farming 40 acres is gonna be hard to do. Prepping and planting the soil is only part of the operation.

Are you gonna buy a sprayer and get licensed? or you gonna hire the spray out?
What about harvest time. You gonna buy a combine or hire it out?
What are you gonna do with that ~6500 bushels of corn? (350,000+ pounds). Are you gonna have to hire it to be trucked to the mill? are you gonna but a grain truck? Do you have storage capacity?

Than anticipated gross of ~$21k goes down quickly when you factor cost of seed and fertilizer, hiring someone to spray, hiring someone to haul grain, fuel, maintenance on equipment (especially budget equipment), etc. You'd be lucky to net 8-10k per year. And corn is one of the higher yielding crops. Gotta rotate to take care of the soil.

Even if you had the additional 80 acres to farm, you might be able to clear 24k-30k per year after expenses. But 30k/year aint really a good living and at those prices, how long would it take you to pay off the land you are farming?

I've got a 9-5 job. I'm a certified master gardener and enjoy working outdoors. I need a hobby and the business part of me like the thrill of trying to make a few bucks doing something I enjoy. Also looking forward to the tax advantages.

 

[mobilemike73]

Trying to make a living farming 40 acres is gonna be hard to do. Prepping and planting the soil is only part of the operation.

Are you gonna buy a sprayer and get licensed? or you gonna hire the spray out?
What about harvest time. You gonna buy a combine or hire it out?
What are you gonna do with that ~6500 bushels of corn? (350,000+ pounds). Are you gonna have to hire it to be trucked to the mill? are you gonna but a grain truck? Do you have storage capacity?

Than anticipated gross of ~$21k goes down quickly when you factor cost of seed and fertilizer, hiring someone to spray, hiring someone to haul grain, fuel, maintenance on equipment (especially budget equipment), etc. You'd be lucky to net 8-10k per year. And corn is one of the higher yielding crops. Gotta rotate to take care of the soil.

Even if you had the additional 80 acres to farm, you might be able to clear 24k-30k per year after expenses. But 30k/year aint really a good living and at those prices, how long would it take you to pay off the land you are farming?

I'm hoping to make enough farming to pay for my health insurance. $12,000 per year. Would you agree that would be realistic if I keep expenses down? I have done a lot of research and many farmers have tremendous equipment expenses which makes a huge difference when grain prices dip.

 

[mobilemike73]

I have only 30 acres for row crops. I figured I can't afford to farm it myself. To have any chance of turning a profit, I would have to use old 4 row equipment. Trying to keep the old worn out stuff working will take to much of my time, even if I could find repair parts. I decided to cash rent the land for 30% of the crop. The farmer keeps rotating his equipment for new, so the accuracy and efficiency are continually improved on. The new planters have very accurate seed placement and the combines drop far less than the old equipment I would have to use.

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I have considered that as an option. Do you get 30% before or after expenses?