My brother and I (both directors of our livestock farm, but not ownerd by us) in our 30s work on our family farm usually 50+ hours, probably take a week to 10 days holiday a year (I know this is not unusual in this industry). Our housing is provided by the farm, but can hardly be classed as elaborate, we pay ourselves £8k/year (and have been for the last 10 years). I've been looking at our accounts and in theory we could probably afford to increase this to £16k ea, but this would probably be at the expense of investment needed (new barn, replace worn out machinery etc etc) as our profits would only be £10-15k based on last years costs/sales.
I'm very much minded towards a pay rise as I'm finding my pay whilst adequate a decade ago is not enough to afford the basics and have money for savings, but the rest of the family are reluctant. I have suggested we look for ways to improve profitability, but am met with deaf ears at best and positive hostility towards some diversification plans. Is it reasonable to expect more (as a uni grad) from this industry?
Will the family discuss succession planning, IHT planning etc? If not, get out and double/triple your salary elsewhere.
Apart from your brother, who else actually works on the farm?