The family farm

britishblue

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Scottish Borders
A near 80 year old neighbour to me stopped growing crops,gave up on pigs when he turned 65. Everbody thought large neighbours would buy his 120 acres but he told me I will leave it to the kids and they can do what they want. One son is an extremely well off Lawyer but has started taking an interest and is planting tree's and repairing fences,tidying up etc.
He has said he will come back home when he retires. The grass is let out,big shed let out to a fattener and a bit of livery which gives the old man a craic and keeps him entertained. It pleases me to see this!
 
20 years ago I would have never have dreamed of leaving here, but with no children and 60 approaching, I'm looking forward to getting out and enjoying a few years of good health. Too many friends have popped their clogs in recent years and I 've suddenly realised that having an " average life expectancy of 80 years" doesn't mean we can all expect to reach 80, it actually means half of us won't.
A very wise farmer friend had 5 daughters and I used to think him very hard as he insisted none would take over the farm, but he would pack up as soon as he reached 65 and sell up. He is now in his 90s, has enjoyed a long and happy retirement in a rural bungalow, , and has been able to help all the girls fairly without any of the Cinderella angst that so often results from farm break ups.
 
Cash in, we are but a blip of life on this earth, your 250 years will be long gone and forgotten unfortunately
I sometimes think "how many of the farmers round here when we were kids are even remembered 40 or 50 years later?" Looking back at a pre war local directory , there are no names I recognize and very few even know where the farm houses were..
 
What do you do the day after you stop, that what a guy l know who is sell of down to his health, but he told me he real hopes it doesn't sell, as he said what happens after that. A very bad feeling for along time.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Surely the farm is capable of employing a young bloke? That way things carry on as per normal, and it may give you a new lease on life to have a fresh face that is keen to learn?

Are you trying to kill the op off? Do we know if @crofteress can cope with having a strapping young bloke working about the place with his shirt off?
Do we even know if the poor young fella can cope with @crofteress chasing after him, having been given a new spring in her step by his arrival…😂

I agree with most of the previous comments. If you have nobody wanting to succeed then it will likely be sold in due course anyway. No need to feel any guilt, whatsoever imo, and no point in carrying on past the stage when you enjoy it, just for some misplaced sense of duty.

Personally, once I’d made the decision, I would need to sell and move away. You will have no control over how anyone else chooses to run the place during their tenure, so better to avoid being upset by the changes they will inevitably make.
 

GeorgeK

Member
Location
Leicestershire
What strikes me is you list your fear of guilt and regret as reasons for staying. Don't let fear guide you and don't worry about what others might think. Do what's best for you and those close to you.

We have just sold up. I haven't thought much about the farm since I walked out the gate, been far too busy getting back to living life again!
 

abitdaft

Member
Location
Scotland
You have to go with your heart. No one can get inside your head and know how any decisions will really affect you or your future. Think carefully about what you want for your life. Think about the things you want to do and take it from there. If you want to explore the world then go for it. If the sale will set you up for life don't worry about the kids, they have made their own path and if they don't want to put in the blood, sweat and tears then let them make their own path. You are the one that put in the effort, maybe it is time you enjoyed the rewards.
 

glow worm

Member
Location
cornwall
If you inherited the family farm and you worked it for a lifetime and were getting on a bit fitness wise with no family help ( not interested) would it be a bad thing to sell what’s been in your family 250 years . Because maybe the guilt afterwards is worse than working alone and living alone now the children just come back for holidays really . Just wondering if anyone on here has done it and felt it was the right thing then regretted it. Also my guilt would not just extend to the land and the ancestors. I have made it a safe haven for waders and many species of flora and fauna . I would hate to think of someone developing where the lapwing nest. What to do as I couldn’t stay here without livestock to keep me moving but on the other hand it’s not an ideal place to stay at the back of beyond on your own
Oh wow. This could be my post .. and all the answers that follow are what my head says .. but my heart is totally with you. Yes its a business. No there should be no feeling of guilt after all the years of looking after it, although I think in my case there would be .. but its our home. Dearly loved and full of memories .. and yes .. if circumstances allowed, I would love to let an enthusiastic and genuine couple benefit from it. after all, it is extremely unlikely that a youngster could ever afford to start from scratch.
 

Farm buy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Just done it and no regrets whatsoever.
Farming is a business (or should be) and if the economics say sell then that is what should happen.
I agree with what you say but what can you do with the money?. I know neighbours who sold and invested. Turned out very badly but its easy to say badly in hindsight. They are looking at their former farms now worth alot more .
 
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Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
Just done it and no regrets whatsoever.
Farming is a business (or should be) and if the economics say sell then that is what should happen.
I tend to disagree,farming if a way of life. It’s in your blood and the want to farm is pretty hard to get away from. Yes it’s a business but if we expect to be paid fir every little thing we do it would never work. The economics would usually are in favour of selling if it’s an owned farm as the money that’s invested in land and machinery would earn a high amount of profit invested wisely.
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
A farm passes free of IHT and CGT on death.
That is a powerful enough reason to keep it.
Perhsps give someone the opportunity who wouldn't otherwise get a chance?
Plenty of people doing sham CF agreements to stay living in a nice place, with tax benefits and no responsibility.
Investing wisely relies on luck and timing. Anyone doing that in 2000 would be about back where they started today, unless with benefit of 20/20 hindsight, they had bought land and houses.
But to OP, don't feel guilty, your forbears did as they thought best, it's your life, and most of us only get one chance.
 
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Estate fencing.

Member
Livestock Farmer
I tend to disagree,farming if a way of life. It’s in your blood and the want to farm is pretty hard to get away from. Yes it’s a business but if we expect to be paid fir every little thing we do it would never work. The economics would usually are in favour of selling if it’s an owned farm as the money that’s invested in land and machinery would earn a high amount of profit invested wisely.
I pet hate in life is people saying that farming isn't a business it's a way of life, no its a business and should be run like one! Every minute I'm working on my own (small) farming business needs to be paid for, if it doesn't pay then I'm not going to do it.
As for retiring and selling up the most respected farmer and contractor round here said he was doing to retire at 60 so he could help his kids buy houses and have an enjoyable retirement, on his 60th birthday 1000's of people went to his farm sale. He lives in the local large village and seems the happiest person there, he drives a combine for 6 weeks and helps his mate with lambing and hay.
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
I pet hate in life is people saying that farming isn't a business it's a way of life, no its a business and should be run like one! Every minute I'm working on my own (small) farming business needs to be paid for, if it doesn't pay then I'm not going to do it.
As for retiring and selling up the most respected farmer and contractor round here said he was doing to retire at 60 so he could help his kids buy houses and have an enjoyable retirement, on his 60th birthday 1000's of people went to his farm sale. He lives in the local large village and seems the happiest person there, he drives a combine for 6 weeks and helps his mate with lambing and hay.
Congratulations if you can do every job on the farm and get paid fir them all. Your a better man than me. I’ve just fixed a flat tire on a trailer and I’m sure I’ve earns not a single penny doing it. id Like nothing more than to be paid for it but it’s never going to happen. Same as thousands of other jobs around the farm that don’t But overall it keeps my bills paid and makes my farm run. I’m willing to do those jobs just because they need doing. Very short sighted to neglect a job because it doesn’t pay.
 

Estate fencing.

Member
Livestock Farmer
Congratulations if you can do every job on the farm and get paid fir them all. Your a better man than me. I’ve just fixed a flat tire on a trailer and I’m sure I’ve earns not a single penny doing it. id Like nothing more than to be paid for it but it’s never going to happen. Same as thousands of other jobs around the farm that don’t But overall it keeps my bills paid and makes my farm run. I’m willing to do those jobs just because they need doing. Very short sighted to neglect a job because it doesn’t pay.
The flat tire is a machinery expense for the farm though isn’t it, presumably you cost in a certain amount for machinery repairs payed for by the business.
 

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
I am guessing from the OP's name that we are not talking about a large estate.
I would be looking at options from the other way round.
If you are not living on the farm where you have been all your life, then where is it that you would like to go and live? Can you afford to live there and have enough pension to retire comfortably after all these years?
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen people make is to move too far away from their roots, unless they have a lot of family in a different area.
By the sound of it the farm is in a fairly isolated place and the nearest shops and doctors etc are not nearby.
In the days of old when her family had the farm there would have been loads of similar farms all with working families, now I guess they have mostly gone.
It will be a wrench, but providing there is enough cash to live comfortably and move to somewhere to be involved in the local community then I am sure many doors will open.
Try to buy somewhere with a small bit of ground and keep a few chickens and a dog.
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
I am guessing from the OP's name that we are not talking about a large estate.
I would be looking at options from the other way round.
If you are not living on the farm where you have been all your life, then where is it that you would like to go and live? Can you afford to live there and have enough pension to retire comfortably after all these years?
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen people make is to move too far away from their roots, unless they have a lot of family in a different area.
By the sound of it the farm is in a fairly isolated place and the nearest shops and doctors etc are not nearby.
In the days of old when her family had the farm there would have been loads of similar farms all with working families, now I guess they have mostly gone.
It will be a wrench, but providing there is enough cash to live comfortably and move to somewhere to be involved in the local community then I am sure many doors will open.
Try to buy somewhere with a small bit of ground and keep a few chickens and a dog.
All one can do is comment on what the op has posted , children have moved away , lonely place in the back of behond , the only company being the cattle

I admire the lady for facings this head on, which a lot of us may have to do one day
 
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