New entrants, have we made a mistake?

We're fine with not making any money.
We've no debts, nothing on finance.

We live in a beautiful place, nearest neighbours are half a mile away, what we pay in rent would barely get a nice house with sheds and a pony paddock...

There is more to life than money, it's the lifestyle.

That’s totally brilliant in your circumstances. If I hadn’t done what I did I’d probably still be living with my parents or in a tied house, working for someone else.
Having said that, I’m now a lot less ambitious and hanker after living on a nice little farm, getting by.
 

roscoe erf

Member
Livestock Farmer
I started with very little, a very long time ago.
There have been a few times when I have had to very seriously consider whether it was worth, or possible to carry on and i'm very glad that I found a way through the problems and stuck with it.
I love the job, and sometimes have to stop and think and look at all around me to realise that. Also as @unlacedgecko has said of himself, `I am otherwise unemployable.
same here and i've still got most of it left
 
Location
Cumbria
If you're both working full time then the farm needs to make a loss almost every year and you reclaim most of your paye tax back. ;)
That's what paid the mortgage when my dad started.

OK till you are furloughed?!! Then your stuffed we found out ???. Still, life is passing by all the time and if you enjoy life and can afford to keep going and enjoy it do just that. Our ‘farming’ costs us a fortune but gives us a life we love and that is priceless I reckon.
 

haybob

Member
Livestock Farmer
My husband and I are 3 years into our 5 year FBT in the north of England, it's a small farm with 50 acres and a big yard. We have a suckler herd on the rough ground and then sell stores in the Autumn and retain a few heifers to sell in the spring with calf at foot. We also have a small calf rearing unit which we also sell as stores.

When we came here the landlord made noises that there would be grass leys and cover crops available on the larger part of the estate and the business plan we submitted was that we'd graze these with the reared calves and the weaned calves from the suckler herd to sell as finished. That has never materialised (for various reasons beyond ours and the landlord's control) and we are feeling a bit disenchanted as whilst we aren't losing money we certainly aren't making a sensible return on our investment.

We both work fulltime with good jobs so we aren't destitute but we sold our house to put up the capital to start the farm here and last year we took a small loan to put up a new shed, which is a tenants improvement so at the end of the tenancy we'll get the value back. We've had a long hard look this week and we think with the removal of stamp duty this Autumn we'd be better handing back our FBT, selling up and buying a house.

Our ultimate goal was to move to a larger holding from here or buy a house and a barn that would serve as a base that we could rent more land from. We think if we stay here for another 2 years we'll have barely kept up with inflation, whereas with a house in 5 years time all the money we are putting into rent will be equity. For those who have gone from no farming background to tenants to owner-occupiers what did you do?
Good on you for having a go. Don't give in and don't give up the day jobs. I find Suckler cows use and consume a lot of silage / straw which costs a good lump of money. More costly to build up a herd . Also Tie up shed space which could be used for more productive things. Have you thought about trying sheep? I find them better for faster cash flow than sucklers.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
This is buy house , buildings and roughly 18 acres, or 6, 8 Hc. Rent the rest at roughly 40 euros an acre or 100 euros a Hc.
25 year secure tenancy .



If you could get in before the end of the year you would come in as EU citizen under transition period.
I fancy that, ...how many years young does one have to be ?
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
If you're both working full time then the farm needs to make a loss almost every year and you reclaim most of your paye tax back. ;)
That's what paid the mortgage when my dad started.
This ^^^^
also, there seems to be a real phobia around the world when it comes to letting a cow get fat over summer, and melting it off to feed her calf over winter.
A hell of a lot of profit is lost stopping the cow from doing what they're designed to do: making money from forage that's too rough for anything else to graze. Calving late spring to early summer. Using her fat to ensure survival of her calf.

There's beef, and there's sucker farmers. Don't be anyone's sucker.
 

teslacoils

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
out of interest what kind of % would you say is a good or reasonable ROI ?

1.5 on land at present values
20 to 25 percent on crops on a rental equivalent basis
8 to 15 percent on any capital investment depending on how comfortable a fit it is.

You still need a fair few ££££ lain out to compare with a tube driver.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
1.5 on land at present values
20 to 25 percent on crops on a rental equivalent basis
8 to 15 percent on any capital investment depending on how comfortable a fit it is.

You still need a fair few ££££ lain out to compare with a tube driver.


I know whats realistic, I was wondering how realistic the OP expectations were and what they thought was possible when coming into this ?

as we all know ROI fro Ag is pathetic vs many other uses of capital or just a regular job .................... or at least it has been historically
 

egbert

Member
Livestock Farmer
My husband and I are 3 years into our 5 year FBT in the north of England, it's a small farm with 50 acres and a big yard. We have a suckler herd on the rough ground and then sell stores in the Autumn and retain a few heifers to sell in the spring with calf at foot. We also have a small calf rearing unit which we also sell as stores.

When we came here the landlord made noises that there would be grass leys and cover crops available on the larger part of the estate and the business plan we submitted was that we'd graze these with the reared calves and the weaned calves from the suckler herd to sell as finished. That has never materialised (for various reasons beyond ours and the landlord's control) and we are feeling a bit disenchanted as whilst we aren't losing money we certainly aren't making a sensible return on our investment.

We both work fulltime with good jobs so we aren't destitute but we sold our house to put up the capital to start the farm here and last year we took a small loan to put up a new shed, which is a tenants improvement so at the end of the tenancy we'll get the value back. We've had a long hard look this week and we think with the removal of stamp duty this Autumn we'd be better handing back our FBT, selling up and buying a house.

Our ultimate goal was to move to a larger holding from here or buy a house and a barn that would serve as a base that we could rent more land from. We think if we stay here for another 2 years we'll have barely kept up with inflation, whereas with a house in 5 years time all the money we are putting into rent will be equity. For those who have gone from no farming background to tenants to owner-occupiers what did you do?

gone from no farming background to tenants to owner-occupiers????
wowser...that would be a rare group.

As for your situation...welcome to our world I'm afraid.
As others have said, if you enjoy it, stick at it.
remember...house prices could collapse, while farming fortunes may improve!
(and then I woke up)
 
This is buy house , buildings and roughly 18 acres, or 6, 8 Hc. Rent the rest at roughly 40 euros an acre or 100 euros a Hc.
25 year secure tenancy .



If you could get in before the end of the year you would come in as EU citizen under transition period.

That is gorgeous.
 
Anyway, borrowed from the meme thread:

44v5xb.jpg
 

czechmate

Member
Mixed Farmer
This is buy house , buildings and roughly 18 acres, or 6, 8 Hc. Rent the rest at roughly 40 euros an acre or 100 euros a Hc.
25 year secure tenancy .



If you could get in before the end of the year you would come in as EU citizen under transition period.


C and Z?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 35.1%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,290
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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