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Another small farm lost - the oldest one

1. It hasn't sold yet.
2. If you look at the asking price, you will see that it isn't too small.
 
What makes me sick is that act like they are proud to be selling it. If they want to retire then rent it out or pass it down to the kids before they die. Let the next generation have a chance instead of just being greedy.
 
They may be being greedy and want to sell to the next generation, not just pass it down. At least that is what happened to our century farm in Wisconsin. The debt load would bankrupt any farmer.
 
134 acres in New Hampshire is a good size farm. Maybe you soy-bean and corn guys have fields that size, but here in New England that is typical for a full farm.
 
If you read the article it says that they have been "lovingly discouraging" the next generation from taking over the farm as they would be "saddled with a considerable amount of debt". I take that to mean they are in debt and are having a hard time competing therefore they are trying to sell it. They don't want to pass the debt along to their kids. I don't think they're being greedy. At least that's not what I got from it. Perhaps others know more than the article alludes to.
 
The only difference in a big operator and a little one is the number of zero's. Small operators can make a good living if they do not try to fly with the big boys. It is fun to have big tractors and equipment but!
gitrib
 
Its their property, we still live in a nation that at least pretends to value private property rights, and they have decided to discontinue production and sell. Sounds like a decision that takes place all over the country every day. Farming may be a lifestyle, it may be nostalgic, it may be a lot of things but unless someone is independently wealthy, its first and foremost a business.
 
The days of making a living on a 134 acres are over. They have been raising high value crops but still are just making ends meet, maybe not even that.
Like I stated in an earlier post. By the time they pay Uncle sam and split it three ways there will not be that much left. Plus pay any debt. It is theirs to do with as they please. I would not call them greedy. I bet the farm is their main asset. I don"t see to many farms around here being "given" to the nest gereration. Maybe a reduced price but most still sell. Not many farmers make enough to have retirement money plus the farm.
As for the restrictions. I read that no strip malls or condos. I wonder if normal housing might be allowed???
 

You're absolutely right hayman - It is theirs to do as they please. However, I don't read in the article that they really WANT to sell it. It seems to me that they HAVE to sell it. There's something wrong with a country when a fellow can't make ends meet on a couple hundred acres and some hard work.
 
Its always sad to see a family farm get sold. It happens more and more. The reality of it is that in todays world with input costs what they are and a very narrow profit margin it is very easy to pile on a lot of debt wheather you farm 100 acres or a 1000 acres.
 
The reality there is in the asking price...
Someone wants to cash the lottery ticket. With those kind of dollars you can't afford to farm that land. It has to be cut up for housing.
I'd be willing to bet that for a more reasonable purchase price the farm could still be quite viable. The truth is that the current owners have no interest in that outcome and likely never have had any interest in that outcome.
They're not alone in that regard either... A lot of people ought to quit blaming the rest of the world for their problems and look in the mirror sometimes.

Rod
 
That and it seemed like their's was just a hobby farm anyway. Anyone making a living selling things at the "farmer's market" ain't making much of a living unless the yuppies in the area haven't figured out what a grocery store is.
 
It isn't a couple hundred acres its a little over hundred.

My BIL farms over 600 acres while teaching school, the farm roughly pays for itself with maybe a little extra towards their personal income. When he retires he'll have a three quarters to a million dollar asset to sell or rent but that's after busting his *** for 40 years making it pay while working a full time job.

His father raised 8 kids and made a good living on 800 acres but those days are long past. Just like how a generation earlier could make a good living on 160 acres and the generation before could do the same on 80 acres.

As stated below the big farmers are the same as the little farmers only with more "0s". The differance is can you live on $5000 a year or $50,000 a year?
 
I would tend to agree as that would be outside a bid the Mennonites or Amish would make. Those are the groups that would throw an unusually high bid around these parts. Some open space preservation agreements are made around here (Rochester, NY area) but those normally close the door on ANY development for at least a few decades after they are made. I believe a few call for the farm to be left to the town if no heir is in place (I don't think that has happened to this point).
 
I don't know a thing about New Hampshire farming so I'm an outsider looking in, but I do know a farm owner/operator needs to keep his eyes open to new ways to make money. Sometimes staying with the old tried and true way that grandpa farmed can run out of gas. Eventually, down through the line of decendents a family farm will run into heirs that don't have the flexibilty or management abilities to get through a time when the economy is less than desirable. The family has done well to make it this far. I once read a quote that said " The granddad built the business, the son enjoyed it and the grandson lost it" Jim
 
(quoted from post at 12:36:13 08/02/10) It isn't a couple hundred acres its a little over hundred.

My BIL farms over 600 acres while teaching school, the farm roughly pays for itself with maybe a little extra towards their personal income. [b:d76e6ec819]When he retires he'll have a three quarters to a million dollar asset to sell [/b:d76e6ec819]or rent but that's after busting his *** for 40 years making it pay while working a full time job.

His father raised 8 kids and made a good living on 800 acres but those days are long past. Just like how a generation earlier could make a good living on 160 acres and the generation before could do the same on 80 acres.

As stated below the big farmers are the same as the little farmers only with more "0s". The differance is can you live on $5000 a year or $50,000 a year?
Click to expand...

Probably could have exchanged all that *** busting and taken a small part-time job or worked some overtime, invested that income and end up with a couple million... 3/4 of a million is chump change for the work done working 600 acres for 40 years.

I invested roughly 1/4 million to take over our piece of ground. Clarification... the ground is leased or inherited, the 1/4 million was for equipment, animals and existing infrastructure. About all I'm doing is breaking ever, sure not making a living from the investment. Would have made about 1/4 million in the past 5 years had I stayed on the job I had.
 
Your post reminds me of what my dad used to say back in the 70's regarding farming i.e. "to be successful, one needs be vigilant in your search for ways to re-invent oneself". The problem with this idea is that it usually requires an money, sometimes a lot of money.
 
What I read... is that they've been doing this for 40 years. So they're old. They can't do it anymore because of health. I also read that they've actively discouraged the next generation from having anything to do with it.
That says to me right there all I need to know. They're not forced to sell. They intended to sell, probably since a very long time. There's no need shedding any tears for them.
We see it all the time around here with dairy farms. Guys depreciate their investmets down so that the gear is worn out. The buildings are worn out or obsolete... but the bank account isn't too bad... then they decide to turn around and dump their quota on the market because sunny boy 'doesn't want to farm'. In reality... sunny boy isn't stupid enough to pay the 1-2 mil they'll demand for quota because that's what the 'average' farm has (priced on the open market)... then he's still got to build a barn, buy the farm and often fully reequip the farm because there's really nothing left that's of much use.
In those situations nobody can afford to keep it going... because it's not a matter of keeping it going. It's a matter of more or less completly rebuilding and starting over at a large scale and dealing with meddling from people who won't leave and are still trying to run it...and there's a LOT of those situations out there. They're quite actively planed out that way too...


Rod
 
Do a little more researching, Tuttle sold the developement rights to the Farm and enrolled into a conservation easement back in 05 collecting $3.3 million. So if it sells for its asking price which is $3.35 million, I say walking away with $6.6 million for 134 acres is a good deal.
Poke Here
 
134 acres that they inherited and have already collected 3.3 million on and they still can't afford to keep. Kind of makes you feel sorry for them don't it?
 
I have watched the current owners develop that farm into almost a local produce supermarket. they have demonstrated very strong interest in their heritage and the land. Incidently they have also had their '55 Ford 700 cultivator tractor's engine rebuilt three times.
 
If you don't make the big bucks you don't make big dept.That is plain and simple.If small farmers would be happy with there small tractor and other equipment they could make it work.
In todays soiciety people think they HAVE to have the best of everything and that is what hurts the econamy the most.I would love to have a nice tractor but i can't make80-125 thousand in 4-5 years to pay for it.And to many people do exactly that,borrow to the hilt and 1 thing goes wrong and there dun for.
 
as i was driving to monroe wi today i got to thinking about dairy farms that have quit milking on the way there from home about 12 mile drive i counted 12 places that non longer milk 2 more i think did at one time and 2 that still milk cows.
one place they quit as the man had brain cancer another the man died of burns he got in house fire.
 
If any of you guys had ever tried to scratch out a living planting and growing crops between all the rocks up here,you would know why they are selling out. Hoss
 
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