Who has MOVED from their home state ? How difficult was it for you?

[barbee6043]

You know, nobody I know around here eats grits. I know I don't. Only place I've seen them available
is at Waffle House, actually.

I remember some years ago, my aunt moved from SW Ga to her son's up in NE Tn, I forget the town. King something maybe? She and her husband farmed all their lives and always had a big garden (like 1 ac or so) an sweet corn down one side of a corn field. She said those people in Tn do not row the same veggies we did i back home. She was referring to peas and butter bean varieties I think mainly.
I was raised on grits! But you have the South and then you have the real South!!! lol
Sorta like Tx. You have the real South , and then you have Texas!

 

[ckessel]

Grits are awesome. Since you are looking at an area that actually gets rain, unlike here and a good portion of the state, look for property on high ground so you can avoid flooding.

 

[barbee6043]

Grits are awesome. Since you are looking at an area that actually gets rain, unlike here and a good portion of the state, look for property on high ground so you can avoid flooding.

There is always a flood plan map furnished by the gov for everywhere that i an issue, but yes something to think about.

 

[moparedtn]

I remember some years ago, my aunt moved from SW Ga to her son's up in NE Tn, I forget the town. King something maybe? She and her husband farmed all their lives and always had a big garden (like 1 ac or so) an sweet corn down one side of a corn field. She said those people in Tn do not row the same veggies we did i back home. She was referring to peas and butter bean varieties I think mainly.
I was raised on grits! But you have the South and then you have the real South!!! lol
Sorta like Tx. You have the real South , and then you have Texas!

Yeah, for some reason I consider the SE to be "the south" - but I've never met anyone from TX
I didn't like, either.
Corn is probably the second most popular crop here - ok, 2nd most legally grown crop, anyways.
In this part of the state, it was always tobacco just like NC - but that's obviously changed a BUNCH.
Lots of farms here now that the now passed farmers' children opted out of continuing on....such a shame,
but I guess independent small farmers in this neck of the woods can't hardly make a living with anything
else.
The kids inherit the property and immediately, it's sold off at auction to strangers...
all the kids want are the proceeds. :-(

 

[moparedtn]

Grits are awesome. Since you are looking at an area that actually gets rain, unlike here and a good portion of the state, look for property on high ground so you can avoid flooding.

I'll eat 'em at a restaurant once in a blue moon - sugar and butter, please.

 

[moparedtn]

Winter in GA IS a "snap", ya wuss.
Actually, they get an ice storm ever so many years that just throws them into a royal tizzy....
With us, if we see measurable snow more than twice a winter, we're setting records....but it DOES
happen:

By the way, everything you see plowed in this video was me - all done the previous day on a compact
tractor (no cab) with a 5 foot grader blade, running backwards. As you can see about 50 seconds in,
it was around a foot of snow by then - and all those roads, save a couple driveways, are gravel.
That's a fine art I've learned - how to plow snow off loose gravel without completely wrecking it.
That road actually is a county right-of-way....but you'll never prove it by them.

 

[barbee6043]

I was talking about garden for the table, freezer not farming. Farming is corn,soybeans, small grains, hay, cattle, used to be hogs before the corp. hog farms.
A 100 ac is a hobby farm now. It take large acreage to make a living.
The areas where kids want to sty on the farm tends to be the corn belt, Ia, Il, In, Oh etc. Then it takes a kid that wants to live the lifestyle. Not all do. But it takes a real farm that is productive to make a living, otherwise it is living in the country, part time farm and full time job in town.

 

[Dennis H]

Reverse circumstance. Going back to the Hometown to visit after a lot of years. Tied with the Carlisle trip. Something tells me that the All American City (Allentown) won’t be found. I’ll probably regret it.

 

[Lexi]

By the way, everything you see plowed in this video was me - all done the previous day on a compact
tractor (no cab) with a 5 foot grader blade, running backwards. As you can see about 50 seconds in,
it was around a foot of snow by then - and all those roads, save a couple driveways, are gravel.
That's a fine art I've learned - how to plow snow off loose gravel without completely wrecking it.
That road actually is a county right-of-way....but you'll never prove it by them.

That’s impressive! I couldn’t do that.

 

[moparedtn]

That’s impressive! I couldn’t do that.

Thanks, but there honestly was no other option if we all were going to get off the ridge anytime soon.
Neighbors are either inept city people who inherited property - or elderly folks who can't do it
anymore, so I'm the default "road department" since I have the compact tractor and can drive it a
little bit.
Froze my *** off that winter - it was freaky weather that stretch, with new snowfall every day for a
week seemed like....so every morning, insulated coveralls over long johns and away I went again.
I had permanent bone freeze for a month.

 

[moparedtn]

I was talking about garden for the table, freezer not farming. Farming is corn,soybeans, small grains, hay, cattle, used to be hogs before the corp. hog farms.
A 100 ac is a hobby farm now. It take large acreage to make a living.
The areas where kids want to sty on the farm tends to be the corn belt, Ia, Il, In, Oh etc. Then it takes a kid that wants to live the lifestyle. Not all do. But it takes a real farm that is productive to make a living, otherwise it is living in the country, part time farm and full time job in town.

It's become mass production, corporate farming now, hasn't it?

 

[moparedtn]

Reverse circumstance. Going back to the Hometown to visit after a lot of years. Tied with the Carlisle trip. Something tells me that the All American City (Allentown) won’t be found. I’ll probably regret it.

Last time I was in that neck of the woods was right after TMI.
I always liked PA and going there, but things changed that trip...it was so scary!

 

[barbee6043]

It's become mass production, corporate farming now, hasn't it?

Hog farming is 98% corporate. Poultry is a combo where the farmer owns the building and provides the labor, the co. provides the birds/ feed.
The grain farmer and cattle rancher owns and pays for it all and gets what the middleman wants to give, the so called free market system. Who controls the market? ha

 

[moparedtn]

Hog farming is 98% corporate. Poultry is a combo where the farmer owns the building and provides the labor, the co. provides the birds/ feed.
The grain farmer and cattle rancher owns and pays for it all and gets what the middleman wants to give, the so called free market system. Who controls the market? ha

Yeah, we've all witnessed what happens when the majority processor owner in the country decides not to open
back up, eh? Union help decided Covid was a good reason not to report to work....
and beef went NUTS at the store, while it was wasted and ranchers suffered losses.
I loved the story of the group of ranchers who decided to open up their own processing facilities, though - that
was pretty awesome!

Just like anywhere else, here the folks who still farm and ranch do so under contracts with bigger entities.
Smaller farms do it to sell locally, of course.

 

[barbee6043]

Yeah, we've all witnessed what happens when the majority processor owner in the country decides not to open
back up, eh? Union help decided Covid was a good reason not to report to work....
and beef went NUTS at the store, while it was wasted and ranchers suffered losses.
I loved the story of the group of ranchers who decided to open up their own processing facilities, though - that
was pretty awesome!

Just like anywhere else, here the folks who still farm and ranch do so under contracts with bigger entities.
Smaller farms do it to sell locally, of course.

Yes forward contracts etc sets them in a price.... but
Yes the country needs more smaller and independent processors. Also ag process price fixing is also being "looked into by the current administration!
The beef processors are basically a monopoly. 4 large processors tied together and some smaller ones that do what the big one do.
For a rancher or group of such to even think of opening a processing plant, the USDA has to approve of it and supply inspector.
The rancher gets a very disporportinate share of the beef $$

 

[moparedtn]

For a rancher or group of such to even think of opening a processing plant, the USDA has to approve of it and supply inspector.

Yes, the ranchers I read about had to learn the whole process and in the end, the USDA inspector was quite helpful
and wound up pleased at how well they had done refurbishing the old plant.
Since then, groups all over the country have taken heart and done a similar thing in their areas.
With any luck, the monopoly on processing can be broken one day.

 

[BrianS]

It's become mass production, corporate farming now, hasn't it?

Pretty much so. My cousin farms several thousand acres on the Oklahoma panhandle and he is the little kid on the block. Listening to him farming is a whole different animal now, GPS on all his tractors keeps rows nice and straight and saves big dollars on seed, fertilizer ect. When his irrigation jams up it sends him a text and he heads out to free it up. He was telling me many of the Farmers don't even combine their own crops anymore, there is a company out of Texas that travels in caravans around the country doing all the combining on the corporate farms-they can do in one day what it takes him a week to do. He does it because he wants to but says he basically just breaks even. Family farms are a thing of the past

 

[Kern Dog]

This area seems to be really patriotic. Flags are out and waving, road signs with flags on them, even the Comfort Inn hotels that we have stayed in have special up front parking for Veterans. I like seeing that. I do NOT see that sort of patriotism in California.
Still have yet to see any bums. No tent cities, no broken down RVs on dead end streets, very few panhandlers either.
We drove up to Henderson, Kentucky today to see another one of her friends. It was green up there too.
We are down in Georgia now and are flying home tomorrow.
We accomplished what we set out to do. We felt some humidity. We set our feet on Tennessee soil. We saw some great places and chatted with nice people. We flew by the seat of our pants and did not stress over any set schedules. There were no exact matches of homes and property that are what we want but we aren't ready to buy this minute anyway. This trip allowed us to see the locations, the roads and the people for ourselves. We did like what we saw.
Here is the rub....
I feel a bit like the guy in the airplane with the parachute on my back. THERE is the window...and I'm hesitant to jump out of it. Part of me knows that it could be a whole lot of fun yet I'm not quite sure. One thing that nags me is regret. I hate to make mistakes and wish that I would have stayed, gone, eaten the cookie, not eaten the cookie, etc.
Yeah, I know...That is life. You take in all the information, mull your options and make a decision and live with it.
We still want to look at Texas. Part of my anxiety might be from the thought that any move is one that puts me FAR away from everything that I am familiar with.
Final thought for now...The Wife looked at the Zillow listings and saw that our place back home was "valued" at $60,000 more than I was thinking!

 

[moparwacko]

Reverse circumstance. Going back to the Hometown to visit after a lot of years. Tied with the Carlisle trip. Something tells me that the All American City (Allentown) won’t be found. I’ll probably regret it.

Don't do it Dennis, Allentown is nothing like it was back in the day. Nearly everything east of 9th st you will need an interpreter and is not safe for a "cracker" after dark.
My corporate headquarters is located there (the ivory tower), and i hate going there - even rarely. You're better off visiting Lancaster county, even then you'll be surprised how built up that area is.
Urban creep is everywhere. Give me my 5 acres on top of the ridge, no neighbors within sight and I'm good.

 

[alfaitalia]

This area seems to be really patriotic. Flags are out and waving, road signs with flags on them, even the Comfort Inn hotels that we have stayed in have special up front parking for Veterans. I like seeing that. I do NOT see that sort of patriotism in California.
Still have yet to see any bums. No tent cities, no broken down RVs on dead end streets, very few panhandlers either.
We drove up to Henderson, Kentucky today to see another one of her friends. It was green up there too.
We are down in Georgia now and are flying home tomorrow.
We accomplished what we set out to do. We felt some humidity. We set our feet on Tennessee soil. We saw some great places and chatted with nice people. We flew by the seat of our pants and did not stress over any set schedules. There were no exact matches of homes and property that are what we want but we aren't ready to buy this minute anyway. This trip allowed us to see the locations, the roads and the people for ourselves. We did like what we saw.
Here is the rub....
I feel a bit like the guy in the airplane with the parachute on my back. THERE is the window...and I'm hesitant to jump out of it. Part of me knows that it could be a whole lot of fun yet I'm not quite sure. One thing that nags me is regret. I hate to make mistakes and wish that I would have stayed, gone, eaten the cookie, not eaten the cookie, etc.
Yeah, I know...That is life. You take in all the information, mull your options and make a decision and live with it.
We still want to look at Texas. Part of my anxiety might be from the thought that any move is one that puts me FAR away from everything that I am familiar with.
Final thought for now...The Wife looked at the Zillow listings and saw that our place back home was "valued" at $60,000 more than I was thinking!

I know that feeling well....been looking to move to Cornwall for about 15 years!..looked at quite a few properties......but I also worry It might be a big mistake and so have now pretty much decided not to do it until I retire in about 6 years.....mainly because I quite like my job and am good at it....starting at a new place and possibly doing a new job or being the "new boy" is not something I particularly want at my age. Cornwall will still be there in 6 years or so....even Biden visiting has not put me off!!....beautiful part of the world.
Very interesting thread....learned lots I did not know about your country. Hope you find what you are looking for.