How do you …. Get out of farming?

[Wood field]

Mulling things over … now I love farming ( mostly) and as some of you know, I’ve said it’s all I ever wanted to do .
But times are changing and with the weather on top of poor ground plus my age and aches and pains, I’ve been wondering if it’s time to say enough
Part of me feels guilty as if I am giving in and part of me daydreams about riding my old bike on a summer’s evening or walking in the hills.

The thing is how do we go about it , the farm is spread over 4 main parcels and we have the livestock.
I actually ( think) I want to farm but am to old to finance moving to another place.
to downsize Would still have the ties of livestock so may as well grow bigger !
I’ve thought about selling the bulk of the sheep at the backend when we sell the lambs and keeping some hoggs and gimmers over winter , my theory being in spring the place will look fresher ( not eaten up) and if we chose to carry on we will have a nucleus of home bred sheep
Thoughts much appreciated

 

[Bald Rick]

Moved to Agricultural Matters for more traction

Personally, I would let land and wind down stock numbers. No one who isn't young needs the aggro coming down the line

 

[Wood field]

Moved to Agricultural Matters for more traction

Personally, I would let land and wind down stock numbers. No one who isn't young needs the aggro coming down the line

If we were to stop we would move back to Cumbria, so would sell rather than rent

 

[Clive]

depends on a lot of factors ?

are you a farmer or do you also own land ?

do you have any dependants you want to leave anything to ?

what’s your nett worth today ?

how much do you need to live on per year ?

how many years do you think you will still be around for ?


don’t answer here but answers to these questions will make the best option clear to you

 

[Yale]

Good accountants opinion first.

Think there are tax breaks for one off retirements.

 

[czechmate]

Thé simplest, quickest most straightforward answer to the actual title, is….

Die

Watching with interest as im
In the same situation with the added complication of a younger wife

 

[Wood field]

Thé simplest, quickest most straightforward answer to the actual title, is….

Die

Watching with interest as im
In the same situation with the added complication of a younger wife

My wife wants to keep farming, I do in honesty but we looked at the outgoings versus the income and hours worked and it’s frightening.
I find it grossly unfair that she works off farm to feed us whilst others demand holidays and cheap food , I told her she is subsidising the work shy fekers

 

[Rich_ard]

If we were to stop we would move back to Cumbria, so would sell rather than rent

I'd get some good tax advice if selling up completely. It would make me sick to get a big tax bill.

 

[tullah]

It's going to be how to get back in after all this. They'll give us a months notice to go drilling and the kit will have all gone.

 

[czechmate]

My wife wants to keep farming, I do in honesty but we looked at the outgoings versus the income and hours worked and it’s frightening.
I find it grossly unfair that she works off farm to feed us whilst others demand holidays and cheap food , I told her she is subsidising the work shy fekers

or… to maintain the status que, I take my advice from Clint (Eastwood) - « Don’t let the old man in »
Crikey, if you can be making films in Hollywood in your 90’s, what in earth are we huffing and puffing about?

 

[teslacoils]

Flog some. Keep the main steading. Rent the bits out that you can see from your house to a young person so you can look at their sheep and offer occasional advice. Spend winter abroad using whatever airBnB you fancy. Come back and enjoy watching someone else do the work.

 

[Rich_ard]

My wife wants to keep farming, I do in honesty but we looked at the outgoings versus the income and hours worked and it’s frightening.
I find it grossly unfair that she works off farm to feed us whilst others demand holidays and cheap food , I told her she is subsidising the work shy fekers

Not sure of your enterprise, but I'm guessing stock if your in the hills. Can you simplify it, or partner with someone else who has similar ideas. If your over different parcels of land you can spend a lot of time driving and moving stock.

 

[Tim W]

Share farming agreement with a youngster?
They can buy stock etc from you over time, eventually renting land from you?
Leaves you still with a ( reducing) hand in the game & a chance to try something else?

This is my strategy

 

[Nearly]

If we were to stop we would move back to Cumbria, so would sell rather than rent

I'd get some good tax advice if selling up completely. It would make me sick to get a big tax bill.

Move further down the hill, but not far enough to be in a puddle.
Roll over and business asset disposal relief will help.
Taking a week off and doing something you enjoy is a good step towards realising that there is more to life.

 

[soapsud]

Are upland prices going to keep going up?
Or are they near the peak and going to change because of SFI?
i.e. is your land a pension pot?

I live in a matriarchy (wife, MiL and gran daughter) and just labour for the wimmin I live with.
Occasionally I'll suggest an idea, so the wimmin can know what they definitely don't want!

I own nothing. Not even a SBI or a CPH! But I'm on the partnership rental agreements we have.

From experience here, having younger hands about makes the aches and pains much easier.

 

[czechmate]

@Wood field … i think we row very similar boats.
In 1968, at 8 years old, my mum was a school teacher, my dad was a milk float salesman. We lived in a normal house on the edge of town. My grandparents - out of London after the war - had a 2 acre small holding.
At that time I took to announcing to anyone who would listen (not many), that I was going to become a farmer. It was my dream .
It was an incredibly long and winding road, but in 2013 at 53, we moved here and for the first time I felt I could call myself a farmer .
In worse times, to people who ask, I say this was my dream but it’s turned into my living nightmare, in better times I’ll say « it’s not what I hoped »
Obviously I was 8 , but anyway, farming in 2024 is a totally different kettle of fish to farming in 1968.
But now… it seems even harder to get out of than it was to get into

 

[Wood field]

@Wood field … i think we row very similar boats.
In 1968, at 8 years old, my mum was a school teacher, my dad was a milk float salesman. We lived in a normal house on the edge of town. My grandparents - out of London after the war - had a 2 acre small holding.
At that time I took to announcing to anyone who would listen (not many), that I was going to become a farmer. It was my dream .
It was an incredibly long and winding road, but in 2013 at 53, we lived here and for the first time I felt I could call myself a farmer .
In worse times, to people who ask, I say this was my dream but it’s turned into my living nightmare, in better times I’ll say « it’s not what I hoped »
Obviously I was 8 , but anyway, farming in 2024 is a totally different kettle of fish to farming in 1968.
But now… it seems even harder to get out of than it was to get into

Fairly similar although I really do like and want to farm but … I would love a wage

 

[czechmate]

Fairly similar although I really do like and want to farm but … I would love a wage

ah, combined I would say myself and my wife make A prettt good wage, per annum. But to achieve that, combined, we work close to 7,000 hrs per annum.
So wage per year
Wage per hour

which makes life…. Tireing

 

[Wood field]

ah, combined I wousay myself and my wife make A prettt good wage, per annum. But to achieve that combined we work close to 7,000 hrs per annum.
So wage per year
Wage per hour

My Mrs is on a decent wage , I feel guilty she pays the household bills, the farm just wipes its nose
I am 60 this year , and was always jealous of my time , meaning if I wanted to go up the hills or out on my old bike nothing stopped me , now the livestock ( rightly) come first .
I suppose if we could change things to get better value for the stock then at least I would be able to pay my own way rather than relying on the boss

 

[Wood field]

Are upland prices going to keep going up?
Or are they near the peak and going to change because of SFI?
i.e. is your land a pension pot?

I live in a matriarchy (wife, MiL and gran daughter) and just labour for the wimmin I live with.
Occasionally I'll suggest an idea, so the wimmin can know what they definitely don't want!

I own nothing. Not even a SBI or a CPH! But I'm on the partnership rental agreements we have.

From experience here, having younger hands about makes the aches and pains much easier.

We built the farm up by buying parcels of land , the final one had the house ( we were in a static with a view to building a house)
That’s part of the problem we have , everything we have has had to be bought or built from scratch.
SFI isn’t looking any better than mid tier for us
The biggest issue at the moment is standing typing this with sleety rain hammering the roof and a shed of ewes looking at me wanting bedding and feeding , as well as a few trying their best to die , it can suck the will out of you.
And I know I am not alone , see the f**k up fortnight thread