selling up

[Tim W]

At least the civil servant doesn't have to stick his arm up a cow's @RSE to earn his money. Gets up 9am, stroll down for the papers, golf in afternoon, grandkids whenever they want.

The civil servant probably gets up at 5am to commute 2.5 hrs to work ,spends all day with his tongue up his bosses arse and has to play golf to keep in with the management set (my idea of hell)
Worst of all he has to wear a suit and tie every day and doesn't get to wallow around in sh!t

Glad it's not me

 

[kiwi pom]

Me too but I suspect the need to improve infrastructure to meet ever increasing standards, or lack of decent staff will be the deciding factor.

Sell the shiny gear to pay for the infrastructure, get contractors in and milk the cows yourself

 

[ollie989898]

The civil servant probably gets up at 5am to commute 2.5 hrs to work ,spends all day with his tongue up his bosses arse and has to play golf to keep in with the management set (my idea of hell)
Worst of all he has to wear a suit and tie every day and doesn't get to wallow around in sh!t

Glad it's not me

Who on this thread has had any kind of dealings or experiences with civil servants?

Forget their salary, their commute or their pension.

Does anyone here want their existence? The bulk of them have no nous, won't even tie their own shoe laces without written approval from someone higher up and spend the bulk of their day in endless and pointless meetings throwing out buzzwords. It's all a game. Not their money, not their life. It's just clock ticking down. None of us here would be able to stick it, we'd all jack it in within days, it's so utterly pointless.

The bulk of the participants of this thread (and possibly the entire forum), should at all times keep an eye on what life really looks like for them and their peers, maintain some off-farm investment (and activities), go on holiday at least once per year (even if it is only 5 minutes down the road to a hotel for 1 night, just do it) AND investigate other income streams and possibly some diversification. You all have assets, skills or experience to some varying degree which puts all of you well above the average joe on the street- look at what you can do to make these work best for you.

This thread should be a source of positivity. The title shouldn't be 'selling up', with all the negative connotations and feelings that such a phrase will generate, it should be 'what next?'

 

[FonterraFarmer]

Who on this thread has had any kind of dealings or experiences with civil servants?

Forget their salary, their commute or their pension.

Does anyone here want their existence? The bulk of them have no nous, won't even tie their own shoe laces without written approval from someone higher up and spend the bulk of their day in endless and pointless meetings throwing out buzzwords. It's all a game. Not their money, not their life. It's just clock ticking down. None of us here would be able to stick it, we'd all jack it in within days, it's so utterly pointless.

The bulk of the participants of this thread (and possibly the entire forum), should at all times keep an eye on what life really looks like for them and their peers, maintain some off-farm investment (and activities), go on holiday at least once per year (even if it is only 5 minutes down the road to a hotel for 1 night, just do it) AND investigate other income streams and possibly some diversification. You all have assets, skills or experience to some varying degree which puts all of you well above the average joe on the street- look at what you can do to make these work best for you.

This thread should be a source of positivity. The title shouldn't be 'selling up', with all the negative connotations and feelings that such a phrase will generate, it should be 'what next?'

I do feel positive with regard to politicians and bureaucrats, but the problem is my solution to them might not be deemed "legal".

 

[Nearly]

Milked 200 cows, then 1000 goats, I feel like we retired 15 years ago because now with a mix of investments and income streams the days are always different and usually start later than they used to.

If we sold up totally then we'd buy this farm again just to not have neighbours, so why sell?

 

[Flatlander]

By the end of autmun I’ve got to a stage that I’m ready to retire. Between the short sometimes non existent nights and weather stresses I find working on my own can grind me down. As soon as the ground freezes and nothing else is happening in the fields I book a week away somewhere warm. I dont get to see much of the wife and kids from may til november so it’s a good chance to re boot and spend time together after that week I’m ready to go again

 

[ColinV6]

Sell the shiny gear to pay for the infrastructure, get contractors in and milk the cows yourself

You were doing good until the last part

 

[onthehoof]

Dad's cousins both in their 80's, what they do could barely be called farming, several other non farming have share of farm but seem to have no intention of retiring.

 

[Hfd Cattle]

.....thinking of it all the time but just can't bring myself to do it yet .we don't need to 'sellup' as it were as we have built the house as we want it .
Plenty around here would take the ground on.

 

[Against_the_grain]

Must be a bugger to be stuck 5 generations down hating farming with all the guilt of giving up

Another way to look at it is that you are doing your kids a favour by selling up and not tying them into a life of hard work and low returns.

 

[czechmate]

.....thinking of it all the time but just can't bring myself to do it yet .we don't need to 'sellup' as it were as we have built the house as we want it .
Plenty around here would take the ground on.

But your a baby at 57

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I’m thinking of selling up….just wish I owned it to sell it

 

[Simon Chiles]

The civil servant probably gets up at 5am to commute 2.5 hrs to work ,spends all day with his tongue up his bosses arse and has to play golf to keep in with the management set (my idea of hell)
Worst of all he has to wear a suit and tie every day and doesn't get to wallow around in sh!t

Glad it's not me

That’s why I used to like going to the Smithfield Show when it was in London. Getting on the train once a year was enough to make me grateful for the next year that I didn’t have to do it everyday.

 

[Skintagain]

Another way to look at it is that you are doing your kids a favour by selling up and not tying them into a life of hard work and low returns.

But you are an arable farmer

 

[ColinV6]

But your a baby at 57

Prime age for selling up imo, still young and fit enough to go and enjoy life.

 

[FonterraFarmer]

Another way to look at it is that you are doing your kids a favour by selling up and not tying them into a life of hard work and low returns.

There's more to life than work, ideally chasing good looking surfers could be an option...

 

[czechmate]

Prime age for selling up imo, still young and fit enough to go and enjoy life.

it does my head in, meeting ex pats here who just sit in bars, congratulating themselves that they retired at 55.
I always think “but what are you doing with it”

 

[Skintagain]

it does my head in, meeting ex pats here who just sit in bars, congratulating themselves that they retired at 55.
I always think “but what are you doing with it”

Getting pee'd

 

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[Exfarmer]

it does my head in, meeting ex pats here who just sit in bars, congratulating themselves that they retired at 55.
I always think “but what are you doing with it”

I had no plan, kids did not want to carry on the farm. Local business man put in a stupid offer out of the blue and we said yes ( it was not quite like that but within 6 months )
I had always intended going on till mid sixties but found myself at 56 with nothing to do.
Did a lot of travel which I had always wanted to do was half looking at another farm but family events took over.
After a couple of years though it palls a bit and tyou really need to keep yourself occupied , for my wife a large garden is her thing , but although I enjoy it I need something more
I set up my solar company just to keep the brain alive and it certainly has been taxing me of late! nearly as bad as farming.
I think that many do fall into the drinking cycle and some are a sorry sight.