A Closer Look at Agriculture in 2010 with Gary Pike

[bucket]

"highly successful farm consultant" or in other words not a farmer, right?

Paid to have no skin in the game.

[SASKFARMER3]

How the hell did I get into this conversation. We did it over 3 generations each one with a goal to double what the previous one had. Some family left over the years but that was the core. Work hard play hard and watch all costs. IF land is available to buy buy don't ps around renting. ETC ETC> But mostly have fun. Pike yea buy fert at 1500 a ton its a bargain no genius. But just a guy who thinks he knows where Ag is going.
Hey Brandon was awesome small crowd not sure why. They seem more quieter over their this year not so gung ho. Could spot the Sask guys though. Off to farm Drying again.

[northfarmer]

makes sense to me, was one of the young farmers once, after twenty years not so much.......I agree scale and managing your cost of production per unit is key, scale discussion has to happen and is moving target , we already are using different geography as a risk mgmt tool, margin programs do not support(CAISP/Agristability) do not support livestock/grain diversification but not evertyone has same risk mgmt strategy....you can beat up his take on things to rationalize what you do..I would add that if you are at the tail end of your farming career, seeding with a 40 foot air drill and have your land and equipment base in good shape, 3000 - 4000 acres is all you need...it is all relative, you can have the same cost per unit as the 6500 acre guy, less total net margin, but if the nest is empty and paid for who cares????the equip hormone issue is funny and oh so true...

[nicolaas]

I've heard this guy speak before, makes sense. Basically keep costs down, If you buy new equipment, make sure that your cost/acre is low- which means get more land. Lots of guys running around with 9770's or bigger and only farming 2500 acres - less than 200 hours/year. Lots of guys have a lot of cash tied up in things that do not make a lot of sense.