Savings & On-Hand Cash

[ajcc]

Do you have more badgers than foxes on your ground? That would be the yardstick to use imo.

 

[glasshouse]

The devil is in the details i'm afraid. In Section 6 Return on capital employed "more than half (56%) of
farms had a negative return.

Tenant farms would be way ahead on ROC
At about 15 to 30%

 

[Hilly]

the badgers move north every year, its only a matter of time, unless we fence the border

Badger movements cant be controlled cattle can be, just a matter of time before it escapes from infected moved cattle into the Scottish wild life and that will be that for a generation.

 

[brigadoon]

The disease moves north in the badger population, but same effect.

Out of interest do you boys have large badger populations?

more badgers than cows

 

[exmoor dave]

Effing everywhere now.
Twenty yrs ago seeing a badger was an event.
See them every night now

That's exactly what happened down here before the TB arrived,
Hardly ever saw a badger, then the population expoded, the TB went through them and spilled out into the cattle and deer

 

[neilo]

Tenant farms would be way ahead on ROC
At about 15 to 30%

That would surely depend on the level of rent being paid, as well as how many new Fendts were sitting the yard, etc.

 

[glasshouse]

That would surely depend on the level of rent being paid, as well as how many new Fendts were sitting the yard, etc.

High rents and fendts are best avoided.
The scrapheap challenge model has a high ROC

 

[d williams]

That's exactly what happened down here before the TB arrived,
Hardly ever saw a badger, then the population expoded, the TB went through them and spilled out into the cattle and deer

Do they do anything like culling deer the same as badgers to try to get it under control

 

[neilo]

High rents and fendts are best avoided.
The scrapheap challenge model has a high ROC

If you head over to the machinery threads, you’ll find plenty of argument for best economics being with new tractors, changed in every 3 years or so.

To be fair, if nobody thought like that, there’d be no ‘better value’ tractors coming down the line I suppose.

 

[7610 super q]

Much lip trembling on the " is it worth it " thread a while ago because those " outside " farming had only £5k to put into savings/ pensions every year.
How many on here can afford to put £5k into savings every year ?
Very few, I'll wager.

 

[exmoor dave]

Do they do anything like culling deer the same as badgers to try to get it under control

Sick looking deer get culled as per usual herd management by the landlords.
TBH deer seem to get quite sick with TB and die out quite quickly, there has been a lot of dead deer lying about over the last winter.

 

[ilovebalingtoo]

To say machinery is guaranteed to go down in value isn't true. Massey 165 massey 590, Ford 7810, case 5150, John deere 6910. All of these tractors have gone up in value/not lost any recently, slot these In to your everyday operations. An appreciating savings fund you don't have to take away from your business and you can still use daily on your farm to move your business forward. Win. Win.

 

[Danllan]

the badgers move north every year, its only a matter of time, unless we fence the border

How about a wall...?

 

[ThatsSomeSheep]

Credit card, especially 0%, can be good for helping to keep the wheels turning.

But @Hilly makes a good point re stock - hopefully they will give a better return than cash in bank, and don’t be afraid to cash in if needs be.

TSS

 

[michael N123]

Have piled plenty into the business but always have kept a significant reserve available with instant access ability in private accounts.
Guess its part of my risk management strategy ........

And it’s also good if you see a fancey car

 

[brigadoon]

Do they do anything like culling deer the same as badgers to try to get it under control

The only significant reservoir of TB in deer is at Baronsdown and they don't do any culling there.

http://www.thedeerinitiative.co.uk/uploads/guides/119.pdf

 

[DRC]

Credit card, especially 0%, can be good for helping to keep the wheels turning.

But @Hilly makes a good point re stock - hopefully they will give a better return than cash in bank, and don’t be afraid to cash in if needs be.

TSS

As I said earlier, the good old days of needing a bit of cash, so deciding on the day, to take something to market, are long gone around here due to TB.
You need to plan ahead and cross your fingers.
Imagine all your money was tied up in stock you couldn't sell, and to make matters worse, you had to find more cash to keep feeding them.
I also think the margin and risk of cattle is quite poor. Might be different if you've always had cattle, but to go out and buy a bunch, then feed them for a year, doesn't leave much margin.

 

[Hilly]

As I said earlier, the good old days of needing a bit of cash, so deciding on the day, to take something to market, are long gone around here due to TB.
You need to plan ahead and cross your fingers.
Imagine all your money was tied up in stock you couldn't sell, and to make matters worse, you had to find more cash to keep feeding them.
I also think the margin and risk of cattle is quite poor. Might be different if you've always had cattle, but to go out and buy a bunch, then feed them for a year, doesn't leave much margin.

Sheep can be kept, sometimes if cattle are a good trade rather than let the money sit their for 6 months i buy store lambs and fatten them during winter, makes no fortune but makes alot more than nothing and i get soil fertility, the field they were in last winter has been under attack fro moles, had mole man in today said he has never seen soil with so many worms, made my day that.

 

[DRC]

Sheep can be kept, sometimes if cattle are a good trade rather than let the money sit their for 6 months i buy store lambs and fatten them during winter, makes no fortune but makes alot more than nothing and i get soil fertility, the field they were in last winter has been under attack fro moles, had mole man in today said he has never seen soil with so many worms, made my day that.

I take up to 1000 sheep on tack. No money to put out either. Granted I don't hit the highs of selling store lambs last year, but don't loose money either. Less work as well, no trips to market or fencing or handling them.

 

[DRC]

@Hilly . What do you think are the best off farm investments?