Speaking of costs?

[grassfarmer]

Wow Cakadu, land in your area has appreciated from $600 to $1800 an acre in 11 years - that was quite an investment. The land has appreciated by @$100/acre/a year or $16,000 a quarter. I know it doesn't pay the bills today, only the business conducted on it can but it is still building your asset base. Of course like all investments
"the value can go up or down - past performance is no guarantee"

[grassfarmer]

I'm with you PureCountry - nothing would persuade me to do anything other than ag. It's a way of life you can't beat - who wants big wages working for someone else and being in the rat-race?
The way I see it they get their jobs from someone else and they can be taken away just as easily. So much of the big wages gets squandered on garbage anyway - new cars, new houses, new consumer toys - none of that is worth as much to me as the creative challenge of food production and ongoing land stewardship. I think I'm doing the best job in the world.

[carebear300]

I too have had the priviledge of producing food for the last thirty years. For the most part have loved it but am getting tired of working like hell to pay all the rest of the parasites that live off us dumb farmers. I mean when your accountant at twenty five years old drives a way better vehicle than you and wears a better suit every day than you own it is time to give your head a shake. My early retirement package will consist of a little hunk of dirt out in the cemetery. I lived my life the way I chose to but I would hope the individuals that take over from me are more fortunate monetarily wise. Remember that we aren't serfs we are supposed to be independent business men with at least a reasonable opportunity to achieve a good standard of living.

[cowman]

Purecountry: You keep dreaming! Life is a funny thing...you need to have a dream, if you will, to move forward. Life really isn't about getting from point A to point B and then figuring well I got to where I was going so now I can quit! It really isn't about whether you win or lose, but how you play the game? Because the game or journey is what really matters not the end result! Maybe I'm just babbling and not making any sense...
I believe one of the great benifits of being in this life is that a person is free! Free to fail or free to win, but free. Captain of your ship, master of your destiny sort of thing? And I also believe every human being longs for that? I also believe there is a great satisfaction in being able to survive where others can't and to realize at the end of the day you gave it your best shot(whether you win or lose!).
Now grassfarmer don't be knocking the "consumer garbage"! It may not be everything but it sure is nice to have the "toys"! If it was all sweat and work it could be a rather boring world?

[cakadu]

The best things in life are free! We are bombarded daily with how we need to have all these "things" in order to have a happier and more fulfilled life. You know what - money doesn't make you happy at the end of the day, it doesn't take away the loneliness nor does it make you a more balanced human being.

Consumerism is running rampant and as a society are we better off for it? Look at how many people are unhappy because they don't have the right clothes, car, school for their kids and the list goes on. People are facing bankruptcy every day and yet they have to have that last pair of designer shoes because it will help them "look good" to people they don't even know.

As I age, protecting what we haven't put a price tag on like the environment, the biodiversity and being sustainable so that the grandkids of all you folks can have the choice on which mistakes to make are all far more important to me than any big honkin' SUV will ever be.

Dreams are what keep us all going - without those, it would be a dreary existence to say the least.

[cakadu]

Looks like Pure Country has brought out the positive side of cowman that we all knew he had. You can't be a successful farmer in Canada in the 21st century without some hope, and some skill.

I also agree with cowman on the feeding equipment. When I go out to feed over 400 cows and yearlings every morning I feel pretty good to know I have a double screw mixer waiting for me.

Like most other (all other) farmers who have equipment like this, the horrible cost of owning this stuff has come out of non- agricultural income. Non - agricultural to me means things like gifted land aquisitions, (which give the banker some equity) oil leases, gravel pits, and of course the proverbial off farm job. Most of us silly sods will keep using this money to subsidise the food of the world, and will never be recognized for it. At least the group of us that live in areas of continued inflationary land values can look forward to some light at the end of the tunnel.
By the way, I love my cattle, and would do nothing else, and will do nothing else but raise cattle for all of my working years. Like the poster of the little farm boys in overalls saying "even if I had a million dollars, I'd keep farming til it was all gone".

[grassfarmer]

Cakadu, we think alike, the things I most value and strive for in life can't be bought with $$.
Carebear - I honestly couldn't give a damn if my accountant drives a newer car than me in fact it makes me kind of proud that I'm not envious of him.

[cowman]

While I can understand the desire to farm it also irks me to some degree. It bothers me greatly that I too am "addicted" to agriculture! I like to think of myself as a businessman and yet I keep this little unprofitable money sucking business! Being in farming is not rational thinking...
Right now I have an order to fill for some cages that go around the tree on leases. On a good day I can crank out close to $1000 worth of product, with the help of one person doing the painting. It is totally frustrating to have to leave off doing that so I can go feed a bunch of loser cows and calves. It's like the one thing brings in big bucks and the other spends it!
Once upon a time I used to enjoy the cattle now I just resent them.
I wanted to go to Costa Rica with freinds back in the winter but was stuck with a bunch of cows calving, fully knowing I was losing money on every calf born! It is definitely time for me to quit!

[rookie]

Cowman...I'll probably see you there on the beach...

You know, after reading the numerous posts here for a couple years, I wonder why I come back sometimes to read more.
IN the begining I looked for useful opinions to help me with desicions. Today, I guess I am still looking for opinions for insight, however when I take a step back to think about it I only get more confused.
No, wait a minute, there should be no confusion. Agriculture for a relatively young up and comer is a rather crappy economic endeavor ( for me anyway compared to say oilpatch work ). The positive in it is that lifestyle of livin' in the country , right ? Personally , in a day and age when I am increasingly hearing that I should watch my costs of production etc, it doesn't make one lick of sense. Which is it? Run a business, or have a lifestyle that may be a low cost return that probably contributes to your neighbours lower bottom line aswell ?

Economics and emotion only have one thing in common.

Like Cowman, I have seen some of the grass on the other side of some fences, and I felt it wa$ good. And for me, If the ag climate reaches a certain point, an economic desicion will be made on the basis of costs. We just have to know where and what that really is.

IN the mean time keep on with the opinions. Thanks for the oportunity to post mine.

[cakadu]

Rookie you are quite right when you say that eventually the decision has to be made and all of us will reach that point at one stage or another.

Low prices for product, high prices for feed and inputs, more and more that is out of our control, leaders that don't really speak for us, and the list goes on.

Yet, in spite of this, I still see hope that there is a future in agriculture. It isn't going to look like it did in the past, even the recent past, it is going to be different. Slowly and steadily shifts in thinking are going to be made, skills are going to be acquired and we will move forward.

Through all of this there is a silver lining in that new niche developments will happen and they will be successful. Not everyone can do the same thing because that puts us right back where we started.

There are developments being made every day and new products are coming on the market and producers can provide the inputs to those markets, if they are willing to grow the things that are required.

As we age and want to keep the illusion of our youth, we are looking more and more to functional foods and nutraceuticals. Bioproducts are one avenue of hope and yes, even cattle can fit into these areas as we produce cattle that are lower in the bad fats and better in the good fats.

Like a moth to a flame, there are those of us who keep doing this because we get something out of it. There is a payoff somewhere.

There is a new type of leader emerging and they are people who are willing to go the distance and look beyond what has happened historically. Maybe you are one of them. It was Ghandi who said that you are the change you want the world to become.

What does it look like for the future in your world?