Real Farming

dogghr

Well-Known Member
Not sure how many have cut the cord, not the umbilical, but cable/satellite TV. I'm not a big TV person but there is a show on Hulu streaming called " The American Farm". Very realistic and not too contrived. Pretty fun ,for a food plotter, to watch real farmers make a living in a variety of ways from Alaska to Utah to TN to VA, growing crops or managing livestock of various types. Some involving high tech/high dollar gps controlled equipment, no tills , and massive tractors to pretty basic tractor and disc. Like us food plotters, trying to decide when and what to plant or manage, depending on the weather, and the response of the market/deer.

And I didn't know high quality dairy cow bull sperm goes for $600/ money shot. Now if I could just.... never mind. Anyways thot you guys might enjoy the show.
 
Beef cattle is more and a good bucking bull can bring more than that.


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Guess my cattle and sheep farming days are far behind the cost curve. I've thanked my dad many of time of not buying the dairy farm he almost went for. Too much obligation. Of course I was just cheap labor and didn't have to work the ledgers so didn't really care the money end enough I suppose.
 
Guess my cattle and sheep farming days are far behind the cost curve. I've thanked my dad many of time of not buying the dairy farm he almost went for. Too much obligation. Of course I was just cheap labor and didn't have to work the ledgers so didn't really care the money end enough I suppose.
Dairy was very profitable in the 70's thru the 90's, so if your dad had bought that dairy you might own a 1000 cows and 2000 acres of prime farmland right now. But the corporate dairy farms have made it tough for the one hundred cow family farm to turn a profit anymore. 100 cow dairy's seem to be going the way of the 100 chickens farm.
 
Guess my cattle and sheep farming days are far behind the cost curve. I've thanked my dad many of time of not buying the dairy farm he almost went for. Too much obligation. Of course I was just cheap labor and didn't have to work the ledgers so didn't really care the money end enough I suppose.

The only thing worse than dairy farming that I can think of would be.......wait, I can't think of anything worse.....maybe keeping Honeycrisp Apple trees alive......;)
 
Dairy was very profitable in the 70's thru the 90's, so if your dad had bought that dairy you might own a 1000 cows and 2000 acres of prime farmland right now. But the corporate dairy farms have made it tough for the one hundred cow family farm to turn a profit anymore. 100 cow dairy's seem to be going the way of the 100 chickens farm.

The “small” dairy farm in my county runs 24/7 robotic milking parlors, has two methane digesters converting crap into electricity that they sell to the rural electric co-op and they chop 60,000 tons of silage a year, they run right at 5,000 cows. An hour west of me is Fair Oaks Farm which runs 36,000 cows, Mike Rowe shot a dirty jobs episode there...and we’re not even a dairy state. I’d say it’s very safe to say the days of the 100 cow farm are over.


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The “small” dairy farm in my county runs 24/7 robotic milking parlors, has two methane digesters converting crap into electricity that they sell to the rural electric co-op and they chop 60,000 tons of silage a year, they run right at 5,000 cows. An hour west of me is Fair Oaks Farm which runs 36,000 cows, Mike Rowe shot a dirty jobs episode there...and we’re not even a dairy state. I’d say it’s very safe to say the days of the 100 cow farm are over.


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I have a friend that sells dairy supplies and he says that there is one exception, the amish can make 100 cows pay very well, even with milk prices down. But they usually have some free labor, pay no insurance, buy small amounts of fuel, and don't mind hard work.
 
I have a friend that sells dairy supplies and he says that there is one exception, the amish can make 100 cows pay very well, even with milk prices down. But they usually have some free labor, pay no insurance, buy small amounts of fuel, and don't mind hard work.

That would be the one exception around here as well and those are getting to be few and far between. My Walmart, Tractor Supply and Dollar General Stores all have hitching posts. We have Amish and Mennonite communities in our county and they’re growing. Elkhart County borders me and between them and Lagrange County there’s over 20,000 “Amish”. That figure doesn’t distinguish between the Mennonite and Amish communities. Just what the tourist board states. When I was a kid very few from those communities worked off the farm. Now most do. Around here, the work is primarily in cabinet shops and the RV factories. The number of family dairies has decreased considerably but you will still see the milk truck running county roads for those that remain.


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That would be the one exception around here as well and those are getting to be few and far between. My Walmart, Tractor Supply and Dollar General Stores all have hitching posts. We have Amish and Mennonite communities in our county and they’re growing. Elkhart County borders me and between them and Lagrange County there’s over 20,000 “Amish”. That figure doesn’t distinguish between the Mennonite and Amish communities. Just what the tourist board states. When I was a kid very few from those communities worked off the farm. Now most do. Around here, the work is primarily in cabinet shops and the RV factories. The number of family dairies has decreased considerably but you will still see the milk truck running county roads for those that remain.


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The reason they work in factories might not be that cow's don't pay, it might be that there's no 20,000 farms available to buy. I always liked that area besides the fact that it's too flat. I had a dairy farmer uncle in Elkhart and my cousins did their time in the RV factories.
 
The reason they work in factories might not be that cow's don't pay, it might be that there's no 20,000 farms available to buy. I always liked that area besides the fact that it's too flat. I had a dairy farmer uncle in Elkhart and my cousins did their time in the RV factories.

If you ever make it over this way again let me know, would be nice to get together.


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My place is a corn/soybean farm. I rent the land to family and they farm roughly 1,500 acres and are considered "small time" in this area. The "family farm" is pretty much dead and gone here. No more farming your place and having a mix of cows and pigs and chickens and the like to feed your household and sell the excess. It's simply easier to rent the land to those with the scale to do it for a living. The name of the game around here is volume and efficiency...go big or go home if your going to make enough money to actually live off of. I could never justify the equipment to farm my own place.....and I'm not even going to attempt it. I have the means...the means that farmers had in 1940! 2 bottom plow, 30 hp tractor, disc and plate planter.... It takes me a weekend to plant 1.5 acres of plots.....it takes the farmer 1 day to plant my 100 acres! The focus in no longer feeding a nation...it's feeding the world.
 
I grew up on a dairy and hated it. My grandpa cost shared the farm since the late 60’s. When I was 21 he suddenly passed and his cousin who owned the land sold it for millions. I have struggled for 19 years to claw my way into farming while owning trucks and doing some excavation work. I cash rent just over 1000 acres and custom farm another 1500. I take care of 1000 acres for a 300 cow dairy who has farmed the land since the late 1700’s. They are at a pivotal point they have to either figure out how to trim the fat and slim down to direct market or figure out how to borrow millions more and grow to 1000 cows an automated equipment. There is no way a small dairy can be profitable the way things are today. I’m cursed with it’s in my blood, I could make waaaay more money doing other things, but just not happy doing them.
 
I think Don Henley had it right back in 1984. Great song by a great song writer.
A Month of Sundays
Don Henley

I used to work for Harvester
I used to use my hands
I used to make the tractors and the combines that plowed and harvested
This great land
Now I see my handiwork on the block everywhere I turn
And I see the clouds 'cross the weathered faces and I watch the harvest burn
I quit the plant in '57
Had some time for farmin' then
Banks back then was lendin' money
The banker was the farmer's friend
And I've seen dog days and dusty days;
Late spring snow and early fall sleet;
I've held the leather reins in my hands and felt the soft ground under my feet
Between the hot dry weather and the taxes, and the Cold War it's been hard
To make ends meet
But I always kept the clothes on our backs;
I always put the shoes on our feet
My grandson, he comes home from college
He says, "We get the government we deserve."
My son-in-law just shakes his head and says, "That little punk, he never
Had to serve."
And I sit here in the shadow of the suburbs and look out across these
Empty fields
I sit here in earshot of the bypass and all night I listen to the rushin'
Of the wheels
The big boys, they all got computers; got incorporated, too
Me, I just know how to raise things
That was all I ever knew
Now, it all comes down to numbers
Now I'm glad that I have quit
Folks these days just don't do nothin' simply for the love of it
I went into town on the Fourth of July
Watched 'em parade past the Union Jack
Watched 'em break out the brass and beat on the drum
One step forward and two steps back
And I saw a sign on Easy Street, said, "Be Prepared to Stop."
Pray for the independent, little man
I don't see next year's crop
And I sit here on the back porch in the twilight
And I hear the crickets hum
I sit and watch the lightning in the distance but the showers never come
I sit here and listen to the wind blow
I sit here and rub my hands
I sit here and listen to the clock strike, and I wonder when I'll see my
Companion again
 
Indeed, the decision-making process for farmers, like food plotters and gardeners, can be highly influenced by factors such as weather conditions, market demand, and the specific needs of the crops or livestock they manage. These shows can give viewers a deeper appreciation for the complexities of agriculture and the importance of sustainable and responsible farming practices.

As you mentioned, technology has also transformed modern farming, with GPS-controlled equipment, precision agriculture, and other advancements playing a significant role in increasing efficiency and productivity. This blending of traditional farming practices with cutting-edge technology is an exciting aspect of contemporary agriculture.
 
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