Utility Tractor SALES RED HOT

[schmism]

its intresting to get the view of how diffrent farming is across the country.

Round my parts its still mostly small time. Second generation is taking over the small 300 acer farm dad worked. married, 2 kids, mom works a normal 9-5 which mostly pays the bills...dad leases half the land to the "big guy" in the area, of the other 1/2 he works 1/4 himself with smaller used equipment. the other 1/4 he keeps 20-40 head on. sells a dozzen or so a year when the price is right....

(i have at least 4 neighbors) one of them has about 15-20 head on ~10 acers of untillable land the creek runs though, (that shares a fence with my west edge) but he also has probibly 200-300 acers of corn/soybeens he works.

round these parts the farmers seem to work 4 diffrent types, corn, soybeens, hay (farrow for a year or 2) and pasture for 20-40 cattle (hay round bailed off of own feild for own use) the beans, corn, hay rotate.

shure there are a hand full of guys driveing 300hp mosters working 800+ acers but in these parts, it seems the little (classic) guy outnumbers them 2 or 3 :1

you drive down the road, and seems like every 2nd farm you pass you can spot 20 head grazeing. and along with it theres and an old 60-100 hp JD doing chores...

 

[odleefs]

I agree with the theory of professionals moving out into the country and trying their hand at hobby farming. Look no further than Jim Cramer (the zany host of CNBCs Mad Money) who always touts himself as a gentleman farmer like Thomas Jefferson.
Alot of these individuals are affluent baby boomers who unlike their parents are not moving down to Florida or another sunshine state to retire into leather-skinned oblivion but instead buying a dream farm and doing something with it. While their livelihood does not depend on the proceeds of farming, they enjoy the tasks of a farm life...like driving a large CUT or utility tractor or the like.

 

[daTeacha]

Those of you who have a fair chunk of ground and who want to make sure it is not developed yet want to get some of the value in it should look into conservation easements. You basically sell the right to develop the land while continuing to hold title to it. The check you get is for the difference in value between development land and ag land right now. Since the land can't be sold for development, the value will stay relatively low for tax purposes. There are several different organizations that will hold the easement and it's pretty variable from state to state, but something you might want to at least examine in your area. You might have a nice chunk of change coming for just doing what you want to do anyways.