Farmers how do you afford to farm?

[reno1014]

With diesel being so high how in the world are you going to pull a crop this year?  When fuel is high it makes EVERYTHING else go high.
Fertilizer, and chemicals must be up there too.  I know irrigation is expensive.  I feel for all of you, I would like to know what you plan
to do to even pull out even this year?

 

[shortyjock89]

Ummmmmm....take out a bigger operating loan next year lol?  You have to look at the price of the crop too.  Corn is over $6 here, and our waxy corn w/ a premium is close to $7, so while input costs are high,  we get a prety good price for the product too.  I'm not sure what we'll have to yield to break even this year, but it's probably going to have to be a little higher than average, and depending on how the rest of the summer goes, we could do pretty well.  We are getting rain here (IL), and we're lucky to have all our our crop in the ground.  I don't know how some people will break even, but we've been there before, and we certainly feel for them.

 

[TJ]

You rent it all out like we do.   

In all seriousness, according to our main current tennant (who likes to talk too much    ), they lost pretty big the first year, but made enough in year 2 to make up for year 1 plus some.   Years 3-5, they made an unreal amount of money.  This is year 6 and they will have to lose a ton of money just to get back to the break even mark.

Of course, we hope they make a lot every year!  Not all of the crop has been planted around here & what is, looks to be about 2-3 weeks behind where it is normally.  However, if we have a decent summer, I expect a 200+ per acre yield for corn.  Also, the wheat around here looks really good.   

 

[BCCC]

you hope next years better ;D ;D or do like we are doing....selling out :'(

 

[Turkey Creek Ranch]

high grain prices, and the cattle are what keep us going. we also just watch for a low price, and lock in our fuel and seed and chemicals for the next year or sometimes longer. it seems to be working out for us, but we farm a lot of ground, it would be hard for a smaller farm.

 

[simtal]

make money in something else, then farm. )) )) ))

 

[racekannon]

I burn 150 gals a week cutting, tedding, raking, baling, and putting hay in the hut another week at home and then I start custom work.  This year I am charging $16 per 4x5 to get your hay done.  Hay around here is being priced at $40 and trading at $35 and I fertilized in Feburary with the rain I am having to cut in a lower gear.  I am going to do better than years past and we depend on the money from custom baling and hay sales.  Last year with the drought in KY I had to buy some hay.  We also have a hotel, gas station,Subway, and residential and commercial developments that the bank owns and we work at in our spare time from trying to raise the next great one.

 

[red]

we just bite the bullet. We're doing all our spraying & mowing now. They also get some discounts because they buy in volume.
I forsee a lot of farm sales next year.

Red

 

[kanshow]

Red, we do the same thing.  I just paid some astronomical bills and it's only the beginning of the season.

Around here cash rent on cropland has become very very competitive, with a lot of it going to the highest bidder - that is rent.    There doesn't seem to be as much loyalty to long standing tenant/landlord relationships as there used to be.