Lost money this year

Well did some book work tonight and seems my little 50 acers of corn and 25 acers of oats lost money this year! Well got some new ideas to try next year! Maybe get lucky and turn a profit for once! Ha

Round a bout where are you located?

My part of Minnesota had nearly perfect weather, record crops. The lower prices made is scrape by, but everyone pretty happy with the yields.

Next year with the market forecast and assume typical yields, and it looks kinda bleak.....

How do you market your crops, could maybe do some direct marketing on small scale and get a bit of a premium price?

Paul

My beans. Input was $60 fert, $60 seed, $25 preplant, plant machine $25 chemical, $20 harvest.
or $190/Ac. Yield was 50 bpa, sold at $8 or $400/a . Taxes $20/a Land is paid for. .
Net profit $190/a
I bought this place as a hobby/wildlife/hunting property. But beginning to see some value in farming it.
I have about 80k in machinery investment. Tractor, planter, sprayer, wagons, disc,
But I need the hunting more than I need the $ from farming. But the winter wheat this fall has been the best wildlife event ever, And it is supposed to be a pheasant nesting magnet.

Lost actual money as in crops did not return enough income to offset inputs and property tax or lost money on paper when depreciation etc. was factored in? Big difference, if you lost actual dollars out laid then you don't want to wait for luck to kick in, you need to figure out how to get your costs down or your yields up, or both, maybe look for other markets. If a tax loss well that can easily be a good thing, as long as I have a job I will continue to spend every dollar of farm income on improvements to my farm, equipment upgrades, herd upgrades etc. because #1 I am doing business in the area where I live and #2 whatever I buy is at an effective tax adjusted 42% discount, otherwise the money would go to the federal and state governments to squander.

I use to joke that the less we farmed, the more money we made.

My dad and I both had health problems, not enough land to really make a living (314 acres) We were row crops, livestock and custom farming.

So I got a job.

Retired at age 58, took the companys early out program

Looking back I am glad I decided to hobby farm. I kept 125 acres of the best hunting ground around, the family home farm, and now play.

I guess looking back, had I not had kidney failure in 1982 I might have tried to make a living farming.

Things have a way of working out.

Take care everyone.

Gene

Im in north central Pennsylvania

LOL,if you're trying to turn a profit,you'd have a better chance if you quit farming and became a flea market vendor.

I am in Davison county, close to Mt Vernon.
I sold my beans the day we combined them Next time I will wait.

Dad would say he never made money farming, but he was back at again each year. We always had good clothes, and plenty of food. We did eat a lot of Lima Beans. Stan

The old joke goes:

A farmer won a million dollar lottery, and when the TV news came by to ask what he was going to do with the money, he drolly replied: "Well, I s'pose I'll keep farming 'til it's gone."

We've been at this as a real (1040 schedule F) farm for 8 years, and have yet to make a profit (on paper). We have about broken even twice. We do eat well, get lots of fresh air and exercise, haven't seen a doctor in years, and hope to keep it that way, but I thank God for my part-time off farm work that keeps the wolves from the door.

Oats and cash crop is an oxymoron....Here, land rent is $200 to 250 an acre. Since my farm is now also debt free, if I can't realize at least the rent as profit,then I'm just wearing out equipment.

Ben

Hmmmmm....... the farmer lives on a million dollars worth of real estate in a house that elsewhere would sell for at least a quarter of a million. Drives a $200,000 tractor, a $500,000 combine and a $40,000 pickup.

Right there is more money than most people will see in a lifetime, but the farmer is not making any money????? While the average blue collar guy is struggling to pay for a $100,000 house and property, drives a 10 year old sedan, and lives from paycheck to paycheck listening to a framer cry poor.

I give farmers all of the credit they deserve. We would all starve to death without them. I appreciate all that they do to provide the world with food. BUT, please don't cry poor. Farmers are richer than anybody else that I know.

(quoted from post at 03:22:36 12/16/15) Well did some book work tonight and seems my little 50 acers of corn and 25 acers of oats lost money this year! Well got some new ideas to try next year! Maybe get lucky and turn a profit for once! Ha

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Well, you're optimistic enough to keep farming. The old story about the old farmer who had won the lottery. When asked what he planned on doing with all that money, he thought for a second, and then said;" I suppose I could keep farming until the money is gone."

Well first I bet you dont farm! Second a farmer handles alot of money! He has to buy the 400000 dollar combine cause thats all they build now and when you have 100s of acers to cover it has to run! No time to be working on old junk cause everyday the crop stands your losing crop! And for the blue collor worker he gets his paycheck no matter if the bussiness makes money that week or not the blue collor worker has nothin invested so he doesnt care as much cause all he has to lose is his job and he can go get another! The farmer gambles alot and they dont get paid crap for thier investment! I know I grew up on a farm! I farm now on the side and I work the blue collar job!

Hi There jimg
The one big thing you forgot to mention in your educated opinion is there are a lot of guys out there like you describe where the bank owns more of the land than they do and the finance or lease company owns more of the machinery than they do to.
I know that as I fix equipment for a few guys like that. One went bankrupt 10 years ago and there are another few round here the same lost it all in the bad years and started again. Plus a lot of guys that have never been bankrupt that don't own much apart from the few acres with the house on. The rest is borrowed money! Wait another year and see if the farming financial climate tanks more, and see how many rich farmers are gone over night. There is names disappeared round here that came as a big shock the day the sale was announced. Do not assume anything buy looks. I Have had the big look at me guys bounce checks, the guy that tells you he's struggling usually manages to pay his bill somehow as you tried to help him out when he was stuck.

Quit criticizing the "poor farmer " while your mouth is full. Lets see you do it any better.

Hi Gleanerk
He don't farm like us from memory I think there was a member here met him a few months ago at a farmers market. I think he sells organic vegetables and produce to rich people with more money than brains L.O.L

Just so you know.....

I work (volunteer) for a local farmer part time.

I also raise a substantial garden in my back yard.

I also preserve and can as well.

So, if my mouth is full, it is because I raised, preserved, and cooked the food that I have in my mouth. And, what little meat I eat, I could easily do without should I choose to do so.

Just so you know....

(quoted from post at 19:14:11 12/17/15) Just so you know.....

I work (volunteer) for a local farmer part time.

I also raise a substantial garden in my back yard.

I also preserve and can as well.

So, if my mouth is full, it is because I raised, preserved, and cooked the food that I have in my mouth. And, what little meat I eat, I could easily do without should I choose to do so.

Just so you know....

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So that explains the arrogant and ignorant comment about "poor farmers." It's ok if you don't know what it actually is like. At least you were honest enough to make it known that you don't know.

Want me to quote a famous nnalert concerning the true nature of farming?

"Here is a concept which strikes to the heart of the farmer's problem. It does not concern itself directly or solely with prices - with what the farmer receives - but with his net income, his return, the only figure which is meaningful in determining his standard of living, particularly in this age of the cost-price squeeze. For the farmer, is the only man in our economy who has to buy everything he buys at retail - sell everything he sells at wholesale - and pay the freight both ways."

J.F.K. Sept 22, 1960.

(quoted from post at 19:14:11 12/17/15) Just so you know.....

Just so you know....

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Just so you know...

I don't hold it against you at all. I live close to the City of Pittsburgh. I live with the labor union workers, and same rhetoric that pops up from time to time and I am used to it. The reason I come here is to associate with fellows who live like me and understand what I deal with. To read what you write, and reply to your baited comments is just a knee jerk reaction on my part. I mean you no harm or ill will, but I just wish you could find a better hobby than saying things like that on a website full of farmers.

Just so you know...

(quoted from post at 15:11:06 12/16/15) Hmmmmm....... the farmer lives on a million dollars worth of real estate in a house that elsewhere would sell for at least a quarter of a million. Drives a $200,000 tractor, a $500,000 combine and a $40,000 pickup.

Right there is more money than most people will see in a lifetime, but the farmer is not making any money????? While the average blue collar guy is struggling to pay for a $100,000 house and property, drives a 10 year old sedan, and lives from paycheck to paycheck listening to a framer cry poor.

I give farmers all of the credit they deserve. We would all starve to death without them. I appreciate all that they do to provide the world with food. BUT, please don't cry poor. Farmers are richer than anybody else that I know.

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No harsh words here, there have been too many in this post, and we all know the word "farmer" covers a wide range of people with vastly different financial situations. Ted Turner is a farmer and so are thousands who are just hanging on by their fingernails.

I do want to paraphrase the statement:

the farmer lives on a million dollars worth of real estate which he can't use for anything but farming. If he mortgages it, he may lose it the next bad year. He has a million dollars but he can't invest it. He live in a house that anybody else with a million dollars in real estate would not even want to set foot in. He has expensive equipment the bank owns which takes almost all of his profit every year, a $200,000 tractor, a $500,000 combine and a $40,000 pickup. The farmer gets a big paycheck once or twice per year, and has to pay back money borrowed for seed, fertilizer, and fuel, and then has to have enough left over to live on the rest of the year after making his equipment payments.

Yep, the farmer owes more money than most people will see in a lifetime, but the farmer is not making the money that a non-farm business would with similar investments. While the average blue collar guy is struggling to pay for a $100,000 house and property, drives a 10 year old sedan, and lives from paycheck to paycheck listening to a framer cry poor me, one down turn and my business risks can ruin me. But give the farmer a good year or two and expect him to replace his 80 year old house or at least upgrade it.