Frustration that we cant buy a farm...

brynseiri said:

Everything is as relevant now as years ago, our farm in 1920 cost £2000 how much would that be in today's money?

Click to expand...

Wales probably less?

think our place cost previous owner 6k in 1969, 130 acres

In 1890 our farm was £3500
Not sure on the 1919 price
In 1945 it was £10000
Not sure on the 1971 price
In 1980 it sold for £180000
Now its worth about £1.5m

Know how you feel. We viewed a placed yesterday that is a wreck and is going to auction with a guide of £300k. Its only a 3 bed run down stone house,1 knackered stone building and 2.8 acres...

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...tion-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html
This is quite good

bigw said:

I love the idea of having a place in france as a second home/hobby farm can't see me ever doing it though!!

Click to expand...

I'll go 'halfers' with you...

Selectamatic said:

Not sure what I'm after here, other than somewhere to vent my frustration by beating up the keyboard! But any comments, suggestions, ideas, etc always welcome!

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if I'm sympathetic or not, really - we all know that, if you want to buy a place to farm, you've got to emigrate, right?

If I know this, so do you; can I ask whether you are planning to do so?

PDRD said:

Know how you feel. We viewed a placed yesterday that is a wreck and is going to auction with a guide of £300k. Its only a 3 bed run down stone house,1 knackered stone building and 2.8 acres...

Click to expand...

That's why I'm only a 'smallholder'! Got a few more acres now but I'm still working on the run-down house.
SS

I have just a few acres bought after expensive divorce and I count myself very lucky to have a "base". I count myself doubly lucky to have access to HLS grazing albeit quite widespread. I work more than full time in a non farming career and I feel lucky and privileged to have my small herd and a passion in terms of where I want to take it over the next 20 years.

I suppose if I were to look backwards, I could rue what might have been but I had my life and I've lived it to the full, travelling and seeing the World at a Company's expense, I am rewarded with riches in terms of three wonderful children and a wonderful partner and life style. I have no regrets.

I bought a "project", a late 40's Council House style semi built up a private lane by an estate too tight to use an architect. I've got some buildings and independence. I am a livestock man in a sea of big arable farms with hardly any livestock markets, breeding stock buyers and very low rainfall.

I feel for the OP and others. Yes those established farmers can say " it has always been thus", "why special exceptions now?" etc. But that isn't really the reality is it? As other posters have said, in the past things were commercially "do-able" and there were growth opportunities, grants, etc.

Blair continued the rot basically ignoring the rural economy. I can sometimes see why as a bucolic idyll doesn't always flag up dire situations like you see in inner city situations.

Even in France, I see a Government and a Nation struggling to maintain their principles of supporting their Country cousins.

Around here every truly local enterprise, shop and infrastructure such as schools struggle, so why would anyone worry about the first rung on a farming ladder?

It would bring a wry smile to my face when I listened to a few (only a few) at College who judged someone by how many acres they had and when I read of owner occupiers with SFP and established businesses complaining of their lot. The real outside World would (justifiably) say they don't know how lucky they are. And that's part of the problem isn't it when those self same folks bid excessive rents for marginal additions to their holding, buy entitlements, cross subsidise their farming activities AGAINST those like myself who don't / will not take subsidy etc etc.

It won't happen in my lifetime but a mix of taxation reform, tenancy law / slipper farmer reform and SFP reform may impact things in a positive way in the future. Time will tell.

Good luck and count your blessings

Selectamatic said:

So perhaps, Walter, I'm just whinging about price over here, because I don't have the balls to do anything about it, like go over there?

Click to expand...

I'll tell you a story: my brother was, so he said, the 'farmer' in the family but - when presented with the choice of taking the cash and a 'safe' and easy life, or farming his way through the costs of buying out a family member (viz, me) - he took the money. His account of himself as a 'farmer' was based on how he chose to look at himself, rather than an innate and burning desire to farm come what may.

Moral? Capital isn't the be-all-and-end-all; determination to do it leads people abroad, and sorts out those that'd like to do it, from those who do. No one was more surprised than me, when he chose, basically, to retire and live off his (actually, my) capital.

In the end, it is often about the choices people make in life.

Taken from Farmer and Stockbreeder Nov 1954. Was it any easier then?

Selectamatic said:

Aye, ok, I see your point, but its a grim do when a local lad cant find his way to follow in footsteps of his predecessors without digging his passport out...

Make no mistake, this is no passing fad, I want to be a farmer, but a very long and hard think and a lot of discussion is required before looking abroad...

Click to expand...

Well from having friends going abroad and some have loved it and other's have hated it and been on a plane home a few months later then if you do consider going abroad then you should rent out the place you have here and live in the country of your choice for 12 months before you commit to buying anything to see if you like the country/people lifestyle..etc etc

Anyone can get into farming ( esp at your age ) in this country, best way to do it would be to start small and build your business/land etc up over a number of years ( without borrowing too much money) alongside a day to day job, can be done if you run a simple farming system.. ( ie : not bucket rearing calves for example ).

Price's for land/farms etc 60 years ago are relative to now in many ways ( esp the return from farming ) people struggled then as now to buy land/ farms and it would have seemed as expensive then as now but long term land/farms have always been a very good investment and always will be !!

Selectamatic said:

Looks like what I'm going ho have to do... and I'm quite happy to do this!

Local farmers waving each other down, 'my cheque book is bigger than yours' is the big problem though...

Click to expand...

Normally the one's that wave their chequebooks around like that are spending the bank's money not their own!! all very well when you can meet the payments but all it will take is a couple of bad harvests/ price's for cattle,sheep etc and things don't look so rosy.... better to own 1 cow and its all yours than own 10 cows and 9.5 belong to the bank!!!

Selectamatic said:

Looks like what I'm going ho have to do... and I'm quite happy to do this!

Local farmers waving each other down, 'my cheque book is bigger than yours' is the big problem though...

Click to expand...

Just get a job on a proper farm and get out your system before you become a broke smallholder making a mess.

Selectamatic said:

Aye, Dad's used to be a Farmer, and has been a contractor for over 50 years, so what I know, I have learned from him. I'd hope I should be ok on this front.

The beauty about the modern age is there there are things such as this forum, and willing members willing to give advice is not too far away.

Click to expand...

Contracting is harder way to make money than farming and the only ones with any money have farms behind them usually subsidising there contracting problem.