Stubble to stubble rates

[Renaultman]

Yup. Mainly mental toll. It was 15 years of shoving all the eggs in one basket. And quite a risky basket. But financially it was pretty decent. The tipping point is with every expanding business that there becomes certain pinch points. For me these were:

1) I'm not good with staff. Managing people is not a skill I have.
2) The balance between cold hard cash, and building assets. At certain points, you have to expand your kit before the land. This was combine for me. I wasn't willing to spend £350k on a combine early on in the bps / elms cycle when I only (on paper) had one year of my agreement left.
3) Paying staff double what you draw out as your investing in kit does not have much appeal to ones spouse - if you've ever told your Mrs that there's no holiday this year, while a also explaining the economics of a new tractor while trying to keep a straight face then you'll know what I mean. What my dad called "different money".
4) Mentally, it was pointed out that after doing my back again while shovelling out 50 year old bins full of barley was not going to end well. The panic attacks, nightmares, etc were pretty much signs that I was going to be in s hospital quite soon.

But, I essentially retired at 40 with my own little place ticking away. Raised two children and supported my wife's career. Drove some fun toys. Grew some big crops. Still do.

Went through the same decision process with trucks, over 10 years ago for almost the same reasons.
Very very few regrets.
Got to be careful not to do the same thing again.

 

[benny6910]

Have you a pic of you sat in said fancy mohtah Benny lad?

No sorry I’m too cool for photos

 

[Spud]

It wasn't a solo effort. Despite the inevitable strife, my brother, father and I covered most of the bases for "things needed to make farm work". I was really a paper pusher.

Give me a few years and I'm sure I can whittle down my farming warchest to nothing. Seems to be the favoured way. Hopefully it will involve hot tubs full of babes.

With the "perspective" hat on, most fairly average civil servants, nurses, teachers etc will be retiring in their early 60s with a pension equivalent to a private pot of well over £1m. So got to think that's only what your average man on the street will have - plus any house etc they have bought. And they will have functioning lower back and knees in all likelihood.

If your making £100/AC proper profit then you need to rent 500ac just to be in a position to have a life like a middle manager at your local council.

A far cry from when 100ac tenanted farm would support the farmer, his stay at home wife, and three children. Everything is more efficient and there's no reason a farm shouldn't be. 1000ac a man is normal.

You're looking at things through combinable crop only eyes, which an increasingly unsustainable way to farm, both from a workload, staff and profitable perspective.

Way back when, the average farm was mixed, stock, roots, cereals, often grass as well, and employed staff.

I farm 600ac of cereals, 300acres of roots and 2000pigs in straw yards.

I make a decent living, employ two full time staff and constantly reinvest in kit & infrastructure. I also have a team of up to six part time people who help us with various things

I'm 44. In 20yrs I want to be the casual help - not the nutcase working 85hrs a week scrabbling about for casual labour without two pennies to rub together.

It's all relative I suppose - it depends how much you enjoy your work and how attractive the alternative is.

Whatever, if you can't build things in your 20's, 30's & 40's, you'll not do it in your 50's & 60's.

Life's short, enjoy it. (There is more to it than brass, just for the record)

 

[Spud]

Went through the same decision process with trucks, over 10 years ago for almost the same reasons.
Very very few regrets.
Got to be careful not to do the same thing again.

Yep, me too, two years ago.

No regrets here either.

 

[Spud]

No sorry I’m too cool for photos

A portrait from your private artist will suffice

 

[benny6910]

A portrait from your private artist will suffice

He’s to busy emptying the container full of red wine I purchased for my collection

 

[teslacoils]

Life's short, enjoy it. (There is more to it than brass, just for the record)

Me and the children are out dancing in the thunder and lightning. Knocked off spraying at 11 and got the BBQ out. I reckon I have a better quality of life now. But I'll be bored again in a couple of years. Loads of cool stuff to do once I can fly again, and anything better than being dosed up on drugs just to go to work, or Mrs TC finding me on a short rope somewhere. Life is certainly too short for anything with a 25 year payback.

 

[puntabrava]

Quoted £140/acre not long ago. That’s all field work including hedge cutting and tipping into grain store and pushing up. Doesn’t include drying or any ditch/drainage work.

What did chaffcutter used to charge you?

 

[Spud]

He’s to busy emptying the container full of red wine I purchased for my collection

No rush, let him finish that first. He must be a 'Priory' type of chap to multi task like that!

(Candleshoe, 1977)

 

[Cowcorn]

You're looking at things through combinable crop only eyes, which an increasingly unsustainable way to farm, both from a workload, staff and profitable perspective.

Way back when, the average farm was mixed, stock, roots, cereals, often grass as well, and employed staff.

I farm 600ac of cereals, 300acres of roots and 2000pigs in straw yards.

I make a decent living, employ two full time staff and constantly reinvest in kit & infrastructure. I also have a team of up to six part time people who help us with various things

I'm 44. In 20yrs I want to be the casual help - not the nutcase working 85hrs a week scrabbling about for casual labour without two pennies to rub together.

It's all relative I suppose - it depends how much you enjoy your work and how attractive the alternative is.

Whatever, if you can't build things in your 20's, 30's & 40's, you'll not do it in your 50's & 60's.

Life's short, enjoy it. (There is more to it than brass, just for the record)

That is the post of the thread @Spud . Many ways to skin a cat and the man who knows best aint born yet !!!
I milk 120 cows and grow 220 acres of arable crops . I man employed and stay at home wife with 2 dependent children .
I also maintain my mothers house and car .
Dont live the high life but never short either
Oh and @Flat 10 i have every confidence in you remember the tortoise always wins in the end !!! Better to burn out than fade away only sounds good .

 

[Flat 10]

That is the post of the thread @Spud . Many ways to skin a cat and the man who knows best aint born yet !!!
I milk 120 cows and grow 220 acres of arable crops . I man employed and stay at home wife with 2 dependent children .
I also maintain my mothers house and car .
Dont live the high life but never short either
Oh and @Flat 10 i have every confidence in you remember the tortoise always wins in the end !!! Better to burn out than fade away only sounds good .

Top man. I love cows and dairy cows but have zero skill and experience plus we are not in a grass growing area. But I can see how they can be lucrative. Same argument applies to spuds. I shall watch in fascination and admiration.

 

[teslacoils]

I think if spuds, sheep, combinable peas were on my agenda I would have had seven heart attacks by now.

In the wargaming world, we often give a few troops a bow and arrows - called an "honesty bow" it serves to show your opponent that you're army is not a one-trick pony. I think in farming a bit of debt, or a slightly uncomfortable rent can focus the mind and keep you on your toes. Obviously there's a limit, and everyone's is different.

Stubble to stubble I suppose is similar in that cheap can be "too cheap". There are often false economies just as there are recreational cultivations.

 

[Luke Cropwalker]

Paying a contractor for each operation really focusses the mind and also avoids any corners being cut, it does requires the 'farmer' to be on the ground and have some knowledge though.

 

[No wot]

Reading this thread reminds me of the story of , was it "Bob" the ever expand farmer, agents dream and Land Lords pet , can someone re post it on here & give us all a reality check !

 

[B'o'B]

Reading this thread reminds me of the story of , was it "Bob" the ever expand farmer, agents dream and Land Lords pet , can someone re post it on here & give us all a reality check !

Honest!

 

[No wot]

Honest!

Then again was it "Tom" or "Jim" , plenty on here will remember it , just need the ability for someone to find it & repost it

 

[Bossfarmer]

Sometimes its better to quit while the quittings good !!
We dropped out of the renting merry go round when the sfp allowed intitlement stacking . All through the eighties and ninties we were renting over 600 acres of ground . Fields from 7 to 90 acres spread out over a 25 mile radius from home
When rents were going one way and grain prices the other it was a no brainer .
Though it was a long time before we actually admitted to ourselves that we had become busy fools .
Giving up spuds to expand the Dairy was one of my better choices too .
Cows put money in your pocket every month ..
Unfortunately the maths dont lie and last week lakelands paid me 39 cent a litre for Aprils milk . Monthly supply was 75 000 litres ....
Much as i love arable farming the returns are not in it even if wheat is 200 a ton .
Im convinced the best thing for farmers would be an end to all schemes and subs
Then the market would have to pony up a decent price and landlords wouldnt have envelope options to use to pull tenants over the rack .

ur saying the dairy cows make more profit per acre than wheat at £200/t?

 

[Cowcorn]

ur saying the dairy cows make more profit per acre than wheat at £200/t?

Do the maths boss !!! One acre of wheat doing 4 ton acre at 200 a ton is 800 acre , say 60 quid for the straw and gross output is 860 .
Now say an acre of grass supporting a holstien cross giving 8000 litres at 36 cent litre average thats ...... my brain is fuccked you can work it out !!!
Oh a cow to the acre would be on the low side were more like two acre .
When are you starting the parlour ????

 

[Steevo]

Do the maths boss !!! One acre of wheat doing 4 ton acre at 200 a ton is 800 acre , say 60 quid for the straw and gross output is 860 .
Now say an acre of grass supporting a holstien cross giving 8000 litres at 36 cent litre average thats ...... my brain is fuccked you can work it out !!!
Oh a cow to the acre would be on the low side were more like two acre .
When are you starting the parlour ????

Without wishing to get into the debate.......turnover and profit are very different concepts.

 

[jon9000]

We need the bob story to refresh us all