how did you get started farming

My grandpa got out of.the army worked a outside job bought the farm got it doing enough to support himself and family and farmed full time then milking cows! Grandpa retired sold the cows off! and sold the farm and equipment to my dad! Dad and mom got a outside job! Started over milking with 4 cows dad kept of his own and finally after ten years of.working and milking they were big enough the farm could support itself! So thier full time milking now! So now on to me been working off farm job for 8 years making decent money living on my own trying to get started fatming rented 20 acers last year got 20 more this year want to get more for.next year! Dad isnt ready to retire dad is 20 years younger than what my grandpa was when he was my age! and my sister wants to milk cows so me taking over from my dad isnt happening anytime soon! So i half to go find my own farm somewhere and with these prices for farms these days it just seems imposible for a young person im 26 to pull it all off! Even buying older equipment the good stuff isnt cheap have a 1066 966 two 806s a 400 and a M so im good for tractors for now! Love my old girls! But grandpa and my dad niether one had to or even just hoped to be able to afford to run 40 year old equipment! My corn planter i hire that out new planters just do better worth the.money i think! Did it seem imposible to start in your beginning days?

Brian, I started liking farming helping my veterinarian G-dad when I was a kid. Then, I helped milk for a neighbor in high school. I started working for the phone company, and got called up during 'Nam, and went back to work for Ma Bell when I got out. Then, I started helping a neighbor bale hay part time and helped another with milking. Between the two of them, I started farming a few acres on my own, and bought a farm ten years out of the service. I have added acres and cows and equipment slowly, borrowed when I needed to, hired custom operators and swapped labor. After thirty years of Ma Bell, I retired and started farming full time. That was 12 years ago.

You may be able to get Dad to help you some, but you cannot expect him just to give you his operation. At the best, he will retire and pass it over to you; at worst he'll give it to Sis and never think of you. Ideally, you'll help him without asking what's in it for you, and build yours as you go. And, maybe he'll just pass it to you when he and you are ready. Or, at least a part of it. You have to remember- that is HIS retirement. He has to live on what he has for the rest of his life. So, if there is anything left at the end, it's yours if you have earned it.

Remember, no one owes you anything- you get what you earn. In farming, respect is worth almost as much as anything you will ever do. Do it right, and it will reward you well. Blood and sweat will take it's toll, but you can make it. Time, patience and perserverance will make you a good farmer.

raised on farm dad dead set against me faming on my own .finnally gave up trying to work with him went on my own started slow and small .after a couple years got a break and i guy was going to help me get started dad found out made all sorts of promises in spite of a lot of warnings not to went back on home farm dad locked up everything again finnally blackmailed him into selling farm.
next day he went to bank and told them to sell me out. we proved forgerys and other wrongs still lost wish i could tell more. anyways buckled done milked cows worked factories and hung on.
got a chance to start nephew unfortuntly he hooked up with feds and got iron desease some machinery is nice but. i put up most of my crops by grazing .best chance is niche marketing stick with cattle and find somebody like me no kids but would love to find hardworking kids and love to see them start helping out a couple right now
good luck and success is in a can YOU CAN DO IT and a good partner is also very very important

Brian: I got out of the service in 1978 at the age of 28. I had a JD "G" and a Ford 6000 commander for tractors. We bought a house and ten acres of ground. I rented almost 200 acres of ground with the biggest field being 20 acres in size. I only could get the small stuff the bigger farmers did not want to fool with. Rented livestock buildings on four different farms as well as the barn on the ground/house we bought.

My wife and I worked like slaves an walked every bushel of corn off the farm in a hog or cow/calf. We where able to get a toe hold. I was able to buy a NEW IH 1486 in 1981. Only kept it for six months and sold it an bought a JD 4440.

I was able to gain more ground as the farming crisis got worse in the mid 1980s. I was just handling money not making much of a profit.

I had to start working off farm just to cover family living expenses. I kept working off farm until 2005. We gained ground and assets in the early 1990s. My wife and I where farming 1500 acres and I still worked full time off farm all during the early 1990s.

We had to change what we where doing when her cancer got worse but we where able to pay the home farm off before she passed on.

The land values today are inflated right now. You just need to be building a nest egg and a good working relationship with a local bank right now. With grain prices coming back down there will be opportunities in the next few years to rent/buy ground at more reasonable prices.

There is an old saying that goes kind of like this. "Luck is when preparation and opportunity meet"

So build a nest egg. Gain knowledge and assets. Then watch for when there are reasonable rents/land available and then jump in hard.

Bought 37 acres 21 years ago when retired from the government. Rented the paster out to a guy who ran registered limosine cattle after two years I bout two heifers and was on my way to a small herd then I went into haying with my neighbor but after my second bout with heart trouble I just gave up and went back to renting my pasture out to a friend.
Walt

Well said donjr! Many times when the generations are close age wise and the elder generations don't want to let the reigns go at an early age, the business skips a generation. That being said, just because your name isn't on the title doesn't mean you can't take pride and responsibility like it was. If nothing else look at it as building (or maintaining) an opportunity for your children.

Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice.
Granddad milked cows and delivered with a horse and buggy.
Dad worked on the wholesale side of milk delivering bottled milk to stores and houses.
I RAN from anything to do with milk.
Yes I have been know to raise baby calves and sell as springers but never wanted to do anything with milking.

On the other hand I know a friend that milks cows. His dad milked cows but was not ready to retire or even partner when the kid was old enough to venture out on his own.
So what he did was he found a older guy who's kids wanted nothing to do with cows.
My friend provided all the labor on the farm.
The old man provided all the land and paid all the bills.
The old man owned X percent of the cows and the friend owned Y percent of the cows.
They split the milk check with the old man getting X percent and the friend getting Y percent.
After a few years of this my friend wanted to increase his herd size so he worked a deal to pay Z percent of his milk check to the old man for housing; feed; ect on these extra cows.

Fast forward a few more years. The old farmer has died and the kids are ready to sell off the land and run with the money. The friends dad is also older and ready to retire.
The friend already has his cow base; buys out his dad on a rent to own payment that goes to siblings if his mom and dad die.

When I was a young lad, my Dad had to retire from his electrician job. My 2 oldest brothers had worked for Dad, but us 2 youngest boys were too young to do much more than hand him tools. Mom and Dad bought a farm to "keep busy" but truth be told, they wanted to instill a work ethic in me and my next oldest brother. We raised hogs until I left for college.

While I was away at college, then the Navy, then married and living far, far away, the farm didn't see much use. Just a garden in the field, a billboard over on the highway 54 side and one timber harvest. Mom and Dad lived in town. When I got divorced and moved back to the farm, I figured it might be a good idea to get it back into production.

So, 2 and a half years later, I fenced off a small patch and bought 9 feeder pigs. I've been trying to buy 10 or so more pigs each month. I now have 42 head and 10 ready for market. (plus one in my freezer, one in Mom's freezer and one sold to a customer)

My dad turned 70 and decided he had pulled t!tts long enough,..i was 22 and rearing to go so i bought the magpies from him, been livestock farming ever since and on two continents.
Had some second jobs as well.

Dumb luck.

Rick

Got born! Within a short time I was milking and spreading manure.

When I had to move to a new job I needed a place with a few acres because my kids had a couple of horses. What I found was a dairy farm that was for sale because the owner was being foreclosed on. I bought the 150 acre farm for less than a house in town.
My early farming was just doing hay and some replacement cows. I eventually expanded into some crops that I sold to local farmers and later into beef cattle. Today I farm over 300 acres, mostly grain crops and some beef. I have a good retirement income from my job so I am not as concerned about farm income although I admit I do make some good money. I also run some other business from home and that helps me keep busy.

My advice to a want to be young farmer is thus.
Get a good job and save all of the money you can and keep good credit. And then when the moment comes and there is that farm for sale you can use your savings and good credit to buy it.

Rember, NOTHING BEATS DUMB LUCK.

That's more than believable.

Got out of the Army and took my entire life savings and bought 139 acres of rock infested wooded hillsides with a run down house and a decent barn. I cleared some of it, remodeled the house, and spent a few years just getting by. After I'd been there a few years, the developer of a near by industrial park made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Took the money and ran. Bought 275 acres of much better ground, built a new house, bought some better equipment and started to actually make a buck here and there. Rented more ground, bought a few more acres, had a few good years, and now have everything paid off just in time to get old and retire. Been a good ride, mostly in the right direction. Not rich, but well off anyway. No complaints.

I am in the same boat as you. I have been fighting and scratching for a few years now. It is frusterating that my family won't help me at all get started farming. My dad lost the farm due to bad timing and poor decisions and now is retired from a town job. My mom and dad are very financially secure and refuse to help me one cent worth. My neighbors have been more supportive and helpful than my family. My dad will joke that he can't understand why this or that keeps breaking down, when he farmed with a similar pieces of equipment it never had problems. That is because it was 40 years newer. I farm with all the old stuff and make it work. I get very similar yeilds as my neighbors on a much smaller equipment budget. I have self taught my mechanical skills and my farm skills. We are chugging along very slow, but you have to keep your head up and stay focused. Push the nay sayers out and listen to the ones that care. I have learned that family isn't always the ones that want to see you succeed. A lot of the older generation really like to see a young guy work hard and succeed. They tend to be the most supportive. Take their advice and listen well. Good luck, I am with ya. I have the same dream as you.

I will start with one piece of advice, never, ever get involved with the government, no matter the terms, no matter the supposed deal, if you become entangled with the federal government in any capacity you lose your freedom, period. Have you ever thought about going where the land is cheaper? Thats what people have been doing for centuries, there are still plenty of places in the US where you can get started in farming without being a millionaire. Both of my sons have bought land and cattle on their own before age 30 same as I did and same as my Dad did, my Granddad never owned his own place until he was 56 but he stuck with it and made it happen. I was born and raised in a poor place where land was and is affordable but if that had not been the case I would not have hesitated a second to go somewhere else. Opportunity rarely knocks, most of the time you have to smoke it out of the bushes.

Readers Digest version,Dad was tired of it,had the place paid for. He had a full time job as a school bus mechanic. He got mad at the milk instector a few weeks before my 16th birthday. He told me if I wanted to keep milking he'd give me two thirds of the milk check if I'd do all the work,if I didn't,he was selling the cows. So I took him up on it. I bought the place on a land contract in 1980 and he and Ma moved to town in to Grandma's old house where she and Grandpa had moved to after Dad bought the place from them.

Well, I was born. When I arrived I became the 5th generation on that farm. Went to high school and took 4 years of Vo Ag./ FFA, went to MU for a degree in Ag. and the next thing I knew, I was a farmer. :lol:

Gene

My late dad had a degree in Agriculture. Just about everything they earned was put back into machinery. My mom went to work in a defense plant about 72 years ago when I was eight. We had money then as she worked 7 days a week making 20mm ammo. My dad had bought a new 1939 Ford car
since he said things will get scarce if we go to war. My wife's parents bought the last 1941 Chevy that the dealer had. Tires and gas were scarce so was sugar. My mom could get coupons for gas and tires since she worked at a defense plant. They even gathered up scrap metal and tires at our school for the war effort.

When my brother and I went into the military that all changed at home my dad quit farming and went to work for a chemical company. Hal
PS: He's the fourth picture in the bottom row counting right to left.

I posted too quick, my dad's picture is the third picture counting right to left in the bottom row. Hal

We had a old German in our area that told his kids to marry for money, that love would come later. But that way you will pay for it the rest of your life.

I started with my dad after I got of the Army in 1966. My wife worked away from the home for a couple of years and little by little we rented more ground. I know over the years I have spent a lot on machinery and now wished I had bought more ground. I kept thinking that my dad would buy ground that I could farm but a brother got that. My dad ended up loosing it during the 80's so I didn't inherit anything. My brother got 85% of my rich uncle's trust and I got nothing. So now, I have a rich brother but I don't have a brown nose with a ring in my nose also. We are out of debt but over the years, I have seen 3 sets of good years. When they come save up for the bad times or opportunities. And be your own person. Respect is much more important than being liked.

Graduated high school at 17, got a job in the city. working straight night, 1;00am till 9:am. After about two weeks , I took on a second job as a painter. No big money for sure, but I did save.By 1981, I had $10,000.00 , Got a chance to rent a 64 acre farm with a 15 cow dairy stable, So I junped on it, I was 20 years old and living my dream of being a dairy farmer. Had to borrow another $10,000.00 from my Dad to get things rolling, and after 5 years he was so pleased that I made it , he forgave the loan. Wife and I married in 1982, and just marked 31 years , and we are still friends. Mrs works off the farm as a Librarian, and comes to the barn with me every morning. We still milk cows, around 50-60, and have one son out of three that is keen. The farm we have our cows on now, we bought in 2004, and our son lives on our heifer farm. There is no right way to get started , everyone is different. You have to take chances and work hard, and perserver, it will come. Make plans, set goals, be realistic. Bruce

paid for my places with home improvement bizniz I started doin in junior yr in hi school,,, I worked my az off, and fed hawgs on the fat slatted floor at dads place many a nite at midnite ,got by on 4 hrs sleep many a nite .,would not change very little ..,wife always loved rainy days because I took it out of gear and practiced makin babies with her ,..

I grew up with dad that raised cattle on rented land. I bought my farm 10 years ago and share cropped. I learned that way and work with him now on more land.

Im trying to do the same thing as you Brian. Its tough going now a days to get started. I work with my Father-in-Law and have a town job as well. We run about 14 head right now with my wife and I owning 2 cows currently. We will slowly build up the herd and increase our ground if the market dips more so we can afford it. Great thread, a lot of good advice from the others and I am going to save this thread....Thank you and Thank all you Veterans for your service to our Country and to the land.

Kris A NC (now IN)