Essex contractor bankruptcy

[Cowcorn]

I baled 1,000's of round bale, hay, straw and silage, welgar rp200, baler wasn't dear, and I used a jd1640, not a lot of money tied up, then upgraded to a class rolant, and a zetor crystal, modern balers would be much faster today, but how much money does a new system cost ? both baler and tractor were paid for, so no pressure, today's set up costs £10,000's, and contractors are reliant on farmers paying on time, and the machine working to full capacity, and in reality, all contractors rely on the above, for all their kit, and neither are reliable. The older I get, the more certain I am, that we have been talked into subsidising a machine manafacturers, they keep making, we keep spending, but our products prices are basically static, there's a massive industry behind farmers, if sales slow, they up the price, the trouble is, we can't, and, I fear, a day of reckoning will come, because, at the moment, every one is chasing us, for every penny we earn, to keep themselves going, we keep buying bigger kit, so have to look for more acres, stock, to spread the costs, it's a vicious circle, and that day of reckoning, is fast approaching. Young lad we use a bit, forced to sell most of his kit, the money didn't come in quick enough, and like he said, it's not because they won't, it's because they can't.

Thats it in a nutshell, you have to invest tens of thousands nowadays to take in hundreds !!! When i was a young lad i drilled hundreds of acres of winter and spring corn with a 3 metre MF30 grain + fert 15 quid an acre grain only 12 . Pulled with an IH 784 i would often hit 40 acres a day if there was help with the loading . . 3 or four five gallon drums of diesel and a large lunchbox was enough to keep everything fueled !!! Today for very little more an acre a contractor will have a large combi behind a large fendt or deere using as much fuel an hour as i did in a day !! Progress i dunno........

 

[Bossfarmer]

That is ridiculous. People who rely on the subsidy cheque to make an enterprise profitable and pay a contractor's bills are surely just losing money every year?

you might say its ridiculous but its also the reality, not all farms are productive and weather is very extreme these days

 

[Bossfarmer]

As said, why do you need a sub payment to make a difference on whether you are profitable or not ?

Surely it's better to cost the job without relying on a sub

Depends where you are, farm shops are doing well in the affluent areas of England and Wales - combine it with a cafe/restaurant and the grey pound comes for lunch and then fills their shopping bags on the way out

Plenty of thriving farm shops in Yorkshire - some have even moved them into the town - in Harrogate for one

Then there are other farmers diversifying into .......


Ice cream making & parlours/cafes
B&B
Holiday lets
Cheese making
Farm Butchery
Kid's playing barns & cafes
Swimming pool parties & lessons
Farm Gyms and Leisure Centres
Farm Machinery selling
Farm Machinery repairs and fabrication
Farm Machinery manufacturing
Petting Farms & Cafes
Farm theatres and cinemas
Farm Activity centres
Fishing lakes and cafes
Farm caravan sites
Farm camping sites & holiday lodges
Music festivals
Horse 3 day events and equestrian
Vineyards
Farm light industrial units
Bulk storage facilities
Leisure Spa's
Golf Courses and Leisure Spa's

Build it and they will come !!

Plenty of diverse income streams not purely from arable or livestock farming

Non of which requires an EU subsidy - all profitable in their own right, Mr Boss Farmer

Diversity is the future of UK farming

this sounds easy lets just build it and they will come, perhaps you could tell us for every successful farm diversification how many fail? also the reason that everyone isnt jumping into these sectors just now is because of the bps cheque, take that away and watch what happens

 

[Bossfarmer]

the issue is world commodity prices not machinery prices, minimum wage is near 10 pound an hour now inflation happens

 

[ajd132]

you might say its ridiculous but its also the reality, not all farms are productive and weather is very extreme these days

If a farm is not productive and needs subsidy to keep it going then it’s a completely worthless entity and should be given to the environmentalist to re wild.

 

[CowBale]

Sat across the office from a bloke going bust who owed me for £24k worth of onions in 2003. We'd credit checked him, the lot. At the time I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me in business. There was literally nothing we could do, nothing we could take against the debt. It's too easy to walk away from liabilities. The worst thing was, the guy was a farmer himself, he still is & he's liquidated another company since then. These people shouldn't be allowed to be Directors again.

I had a ‘situation’ a few years ago when owed around 18k. Was sent a cheque for £500 after 3 months, with the promise of the rest within 6 months. Cheque subsequently bounced!
About 3 weeks later, lounging on the sofa watching crap on the TV, about 10pm, phone rings.
Some ‘Agricultural Finance Company’ had taken over the running of this farming company, told me I was ‘a few places down the creditors list’, and offered me 11p in the pound!?

 

[Chae1]

Do people, businesses never take direct action against these individuals owe them lots of money?

We were once owe a bit by a dairy farmer, a early morning visit to him in the milking parlour, and the account was settled.

I'm perhaps wrong, but i take it personally when someone tries to steal from me.

 

[d williams]

Do people, businesses never take direct action against these individuals owe them lots of money?

We were once owe a bit by a dairy farmer, a early morning visit to him in the milking parlour, and the account was settled.

I'm perhaps wrong, but i take it personally when someone tries to steal from me.

I have and be very careful how you go about it as with most things in farming your word is so posed to be a bond but the courts don’t see it this way they like a paper work trail of contracts and agreements so go about recovery money in a very careful way get a cheque even if it’s going to bounce it’s a way of them admitting to the debt

 

[Bossfarmer]

If a farm is not productive and needs subsidy to keep it going then it’s a completely worthless entity and should be given to the environmentalist to re wild.

you can be the one to tell the majority of beef/sheep guys

 

[AT Aloss]

Do people, businesses never take direct action against these individuals owe them lots of money?

We were once owe a bit by a dairy farmer, a early morning visit to him in the milking parlour, and the account was settled.

I'm perhaps wrong, but i take it personally when someone tries to steal from me.

I turned up that day with a plant trailer to take at least a forklift truck away with me, but that belonged to the finance company & ultimately the liquidators of the business. There's very little protection for honest people.

 

[som farmer]

we very nearly lost a slurry tanker, a friend borrowed it, bailiffs turned up, and wanted to take it, hell of job, with about 2 min notice, to find all the paperwork to prove it was ours. Those blokes don't mess about.

 

[Courier]

If a farm is not productive and needs subsidy to keep it going then it’s a completely worthless entity and should be given to the environmentalist to re wild.

you can be the one to tell the majority of beef/sheep guys

There is a massive difference between a farm not being "productive" and not being "profitable" .....

 

[goodevans]

Do people, businesses never take direct action against these individuals owe them lots of money?

We were once owe a bit by a dairy farmer, a early morning visit to him in the milking parlour, and the account was settled.

I'm perhaps wrong, but i take it personally when someone tries to steal from me.

You were able to leave with the money because there was some in the coffers,the cases that end up in liquidation don't have any

 

[som farmer]

you can be the one to tell the majority of beef/sheep guys

the problem with your post, is simple, who tells some of these farms ? I know a few, they would be much better off, both financially, health, and family if they moved out of farming.
But, how do you tell, advise or even suggest it ? Many farmers think they know nothing other than farming, but in reality they are very competent people, they are used to seeing a problem, and sorting it, whether its a water leak, a machine, basic carpentry, etc, people with skills like that, are actually valuable in non farming industries. But, when farmers are in that situation, to accept it, causes all sorts of problems, some mental, it's a problem that, unfortuantly, is going to increase.

 

[Bossfarmer]

the problem with your post, is simple, who tells some of these farms ? I know a few, they would be much better off, both financially, health, and family if they moved out of farming.
But, how do you tell, advise or even suggest it ? Many farmers think they know nothing other than farming, but in reality they are very competent people, they are used to seeing a problem, and sorting it, whether its a water leak, a machine, basic carpentry, etc, people with skills like that, are actually valuable in non farming industries. But, when farmers are in that situation, to accept it, causes all sorts of problems, some mental, it's a problem that, unfortuantly, is going to increase.

subsidies were brought in to try and maintain a level of production where food is plentiful and cheap for the consumer, this has worked, the problem is now they want the cheap food but dont want to pay the subsidies, this is wrong its one or the other

 

[ridger]

subsidies were brought in to try and maintain a level of production where food is plentiful and cheap for the consumer, this has worked, the problem is now they want the cheap food but dont want to pay the subsidies, this is wrong its one or the other

You are subsidys on the brain

 

[Pilatus]

Many years ago when I was a younger farmer and had spent more on machinery than I should of (on finance)done,a farmer/crop consultant gave this advice, “if things are starting to look as if you may getting close to going bankrupt, sell up while you have a little bit left, rather loose everthing”.
Advice I remembered when things did not work out for me when we had a go at farming at Bonanza ,Alberta,Canada.
Eating humble pie is extremely difficult,but at least I left with no debts and I don’t think any enemies.I still
go back to say Hi.
I feel sorry for some that hit financial difficulties in business, but then there are the odd one or two big mouthed big headed guys who we can all see it coming to them!!

 

[bovrill]

Many years ago when I was a younger farmer and had spent more on machinery than I should of (on finance)done,a farmer/crop consultant gave this advice, “if things are starting to look as if you may getting close to going bankrupt, sell up while you have a little bit left, rather loose everthing”.
Advice I remembered when things did not work out for me when we had a go at farming at Bonanza ,Alberta,Canada.
Eating humble pie is extremely difficult,but at least I left with no debts and I don’t think any enemies.I still
go back to say Hi.
I feel sorry for some that hit financial difficulties in business, but then there are the odd one or two big mouthed big headed guys who we can all see it coming to them!!

Someone once told me that anyone can get themselves into a muddle. It's how you get yourself out of it that matters.

I reminded him of his comment in a conversation about the very subject of this thread back in the summer.
I notice he's on the list of those owed money though, but not as much as we spoke about four months ago.

 

[puppet]

Do people, businesses never take direct action against these individuals owe them lots of money?

We were once owe a bit by a dairy farmer, a early morning visit to him in the milking parlour, and the account was settled.

I'm perhaps wrong, but i take it personally when someone tries to steal from me.

I know a retired salesman who has lots of stories of direct action against farmers. Basically turn up and ask for the cheque right now.
'I can't pay'
'We will be back for your new tractor and your wife's Mercedes in the morning.'
Cheque then produced.
He was sometimes met with some threats but stuck to his guns.

 

[kiwi pom]

Back years ago when I was self employed I did a lot for a slurry pumping contractor. When I put my bill in each month I often got "farms haven't paid the bill". At which point I'd say lets call on some then and we'd both head off to the slow payers, I'd stay in the car and he'd go in with a copy of the bill. The only time it didn't work was a large dairy farm with a heap of different partners that went bust owing heaps.
A lot of the smaller farms just liked you to visit so they could have a yarn and we didn't lose customers because of it, in fact sometimes the boss came away with a cheque and a new booking.