Have you ever wondered what there is to do on a farm after the crops are harvested?

[Hey-O]

My Ford friend spent five years running the family farm, about 250 acres, including some leased property. Now he leases his land to the big guy in the area who runs thousands of acres. The margins are too tight to make it worthwhile on a smaller scale in my area.

Like my first comment, big time farming, that was almost 50 years ago. I know a few people who farm, thousands of acres and don't own any of it. Buying the equipment alone will kill you.

 

[SlingLow]

I live next to a 460 acre, 300 cow dairy farm. Our house is between the main barn and the hay barn and those guys are running 365 days a year. There is no day off. I see the 70 year old owner running his equipment back and forth almost every day. Because of the constant investment in equipment and the operation, the modern farmer lives poor and dies rich.

 

[LowBikeMike]

We farm. Farming is economies of scale. Big enough to afford equipment to get the job done quickly and weather the storms. If you run any type of livestock there is no time off. If you're looking for time off it's not your gig. We do have hobbies and aren't missing a thing, a casual evening ride in the country is more enjoyable than others vacation. Depends on what you want in life. And yes, we build some cool ****.

 

[Budnicks]

My family has had a farm or a ranch since the 1800s
when they moved here from St. Louis area, where they were 1st
my dad's mom side, have been in Calif since later 1700's, Ft Bragg area
Germans/Norwegians in the Coastal Calif. Russian fort settlement area
engineers, loggers & ship builder, farmers, later owned a fishing process
& hunting/guiding operation, in what was Klamathton Calif., Camp Lowe
they also had a crapload of land they farmed to be self sufficient
(how many acres ? not sure) that area/town now burnt to the ground
(like in the late 50's ?, I don't remember exactly) before I was born

1943 IIRC as far as you could see we owned it
next to the Klamath River

again in the 40's some time IIRC

Camp by Town in the 1930's sometime

Other 1/2 of the family my dad's Uncle's side
Had a 1,000+ acres
in/on Bethal Island, he had his own island too
he/they had all kinds of animals & grew all kinds of crops, a lot of corn
100% self sufficient, other than fuel & electricity...
Uncle Tink (& Aunt Anne), he was a retired lifer, a Soldier, she was a garment gal at Macy's
he was a Marine Lt. WWII & Korea a Maj. & then, re-upped as a Green Beret Col. during Viet Nam

He described it, like it was his way to not got to work in the city, daily
he then drove trucks/semis, when he wanted to, when not working the farm/ranch
many were for use on his own land or for hauling animals/livestock
or hauling news paper huge loads, for one of the bigger publications in the Bay Area

I think he worked harder & more fun than any other person I ever knew
sorry I don't have any digital photos of Tink's place...

My dad had a 165 acre ranch with like 40 head constantly, of prize Herefords or Angus
I had pigs, ducks, chickens, goats & Charolais bulls 4h & FFA, we had horses
someone in my family had some sort of land &/or ranch or farm until like 1997-ish
I moved to a gated community, the land was sold in 2007-ish, when I moved to Tuolumne Co.

me & dad Mothers Day parade

my pet pig Pacillio & my Morgan/Quarter horse Diamond, in my HS years, sort of hard to see well
a lot of family photos dad's collection

 

[not so famous bob]

Used to live next door to a dairy farm in my 4th and 5th grade years and spent a good bit of time over there. Don't recall how many head but there were quite a few....and plenty of work.

we had a dairy on the north , not a huge one tho , 30ish milking head..

 

[toolmanmike]

Used to live next door to a dairy farm in my 4th and 5th grade years and spent a good bit of time over there. Don't recall how many head but there were quite a few....and plenty of work.

And with livestock (especially dairy) the work never ends or goes on vacation. If you have beef cattle in a pasture or corn field with a creek for water, you may be able to take a few days off. Dairy? Nope, those cows need milked morning and night. Same with poultry. Specifically egg layers.

 

[68BabyBlue]

And with livestock (especially dairy) the work never ends or goes on vacation. If you have beef cattle in a pasture or corn field with a creek for water, you may be able to take a few days off. Dairy? Nope, those cows need milked morning and night. Same with poultry. Specific egg layers.

The best drivers I worked with in the tank truck industry grew up on dairy farms, graduated to hauling milk.

 

[Hey-O]

These days if you can afford to buy the land and equipment to run a real money making farm. Keep the money, you're already rich.

 

[68BabyBlue]

These days if you can afford to buy the land and equipment to run a real money making farm. Keep the money, you're already rich.

My buddy leased the land after he figured that out. Got a job working for a towing company. Only multimillionaire working there.

 

[toolmanmike]

These days if you can afford to buy the land and equipment to run a real money making farm. Keep the money, you're already rich.

We bought Grandpa's farm after Grandma passed. We (Wife and her brothers) used the inheritance as a down payment and borrowed the rest. Low interest. Still a **** ton of money. I probably won't see any of it but my kids will eventually. My BIL farms it and is part owner of course. He's getting close to retirement age so who knows, They might sell it to the neighbors some day and split the proceeds.

 

[Hey-O]

We bought Grandpa's farm after Grandma passed. We (Wife and her brothers) used the inheritance as a down payment and borrowed the rest. Low interest. Still a **** ton of money. I probably won't see any of it but my kids will eventually. My BIL farms it and is part owner of course. He's getting close to retirement age so who knows, They might sell it to the neighbors some day and split the proceeds.

Theresa's cousin has 50 or so acres left and asked me what I thought about his neighbor wanting to buy 20 acres. First, if he sells to anyone else, he'll need to give them easement to get back there. The neighbor is next door bordering it. Then he said the kids wanted to still use it to hunt. I told him, at 17,000 an acres he could buy them each a hind quarter and call it a day. He's 75 and broke down. They can't afford to buy him out and he's in no shape to keep it for them to inherent.