Start up costs

[Derrick Hughes]

My Charollais sired lambs are lambing outside fine

How exposed are you

 

[Derrick Hughes]

That's odd, mine have been too.

Are you 1000 ft up and can see the shores of Ireland

 

[neilo]

Are you 1000 ft up and can see the shores of Ireland

No, I can't grow 5t wheat crops and 40t swede crops like you can on your 'hard' farm...

 

[Hilly]

That's utterly insane. No wonder British farming had trouble attracting new entrants.

They are not really trying to attract new entrants you know .

 

[toquark]

but then you dont get anything close to £65K turnover on a £200,000 buy to let investment.... turn over figure is only vanity, the sanity (or not) lies in the profit figure.

Genuine question - what margin would you expect on the £65k given the example farm?

 

[Mc115reed]

think you will ever be able to take anything out....

Bit of a broad statement really... it’s hard too explain, I have never taken anything out of the business but at he same time I have... the business now pays all my fuel costs, my clothing costs, my phone bill, my truck insurance and anything else I can get away with putting against tax and vat ... then I work for a contractor full time which pays for my living costs so I don’t draw too much out the business and can reinvest anything I make into more sheep... when I get too 500 sheep which will hopefully be 2022 I’ll drop my full time work too part time or purely through summer when there’s not as much sheep work too do...

 

[Agrivator]

£200k capital to turn over c.£65k and one of you still has to work, makes you wonder what would be the point?

That's utterly insane. No wonder British farming had trouble attracting new entrants.

I know. But there is a chance that the successful tenant can make a go of it, and hope it's a springboard to a better more viable farm.

And meanwhile there is the opportunity to improve the stock, and together with Tenant's Rights, to have built up a decent valuation at outgo.

Getting into farming shouldn't be easy. It means that those who do manage to get in are the enterprising types the industry needs.

The other way of getting in is to hope for a collapse in farming fortunes - and jump in without a backward look.

 

[Agrivator]

That's odd, mine have been too.

Yes. But you're in the land of milk and borrowed money.

 

[unlacedgecko]

How exposed are you

Are you 1000 ft up and can see the shores of Ireland

No. They're in a sheltered valley at 230ft, rising to 260ft. It's the Lincolnshire Wolds.

There's also hedges/trees on 2 sides.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

No. They're in a sheltered valley at 230ft, rising to 260ft. It's the Lincolnshire Wolds.

There's also hedges/trees on 2 sides.

There you go then , you would not go up the
north face of the eiger in your underpants would you ,, best but them sheep some thermals [emoji23]

 

[unlacedgecko]

There you go then , you would not go up the
north face of the eiger in your underpants would you ,, best but them sheep some thermals [emoji23]

They're coping fine lambing in May thanks.

 

[farmerm]

Genuine question - what margin would you expect on the £65k given the example farm?

on the example farm? well probably a small positive margin with BPS and a negative one without..... Hence the need for another job to pay for the hobby.

 

[toquark]

The other way of getting in is to hope for a collapse in farming fortunes - and jump in without a backward look.

I know a few that got in around 2000-2001 on owned farms and they’ve done alright in the end.

Still took them all two decades of working elsewhere to pay for them mind

 

[icanshootwell]

Sadly in farming you never know whats around the next corner do you ,
It was £2-50 , the rest was for my Dog and a Dip

Those were the days when it didn,nt matter what ewes you had, the sub was king.

 

[toquark]

on the example farm? well probably a small positive margin with BPS and a negative one without..... Hence the need for another job to pay for the hobby.

So really the £200k “investment” is at best going to stand still for the duration of the tenancy.

As you say, it’s a hobby that would largely have to be self subsidised.

 

[neilo]

So really the £200k “investment” is at best going to stand still for the duration of the tenancy.

As you say, it’s a hobby that would largely have to be self subsidised.

With Ag support dwindling the numbers of livestock farmers is likely to decline, so the value of that livestock will likely fall. In that case, that £200k investment will fall in value.

Are those left farming in the brave new ‘efficient’ era going to be wanting to buy all the old kit too? Or will that fall to scrap value?

On the other hand, an efficient operator, running minimal amounts of old/simple machinery, might just be the one that survives.....

 

[Al R]

Those were the days when it didn,nt matter what ewes you had, the sub was king.

I know a big farmer/dealer from up near @Derrick Hughes who had ewes on 11 months tack down here for £40/acre/year and his subsidy on extreme disadvantaged was near £28/head small welsh stocked at 6-7 ewes/acre down here and then all went back up and swamped the home farm for 1 month while the count was being done, he made some serious coin doing that!

Burial on farm helped back then too when ewes were so cheap, I remember 2000 brokers turning up in 1995? Costing not far off £1/head, most survived the year but the ones that didn’t the cost was minimal as the pits would hold a few hundred ewes.

 

[DRC]

There you go then , you would not go up the
north face of the eiger in your underpants would you ,, best but them sheep some thermals [emoji23]

Your farm can’t be that bad. You managed to grow very good cereal crops .

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Sheep don't need sheds.

They don't have to have sheds but in a lot of places sheds make the farm much more productive and so are a good investment

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Your farm can’t be that bad. You managed to grow very good cereal crops .

Some of it is called the Barley Lands