Spring Rent!!!

[SASKFARMER3]

OK I'm stuck in the house with frickin flu. Yea booze has something to probably do with it but that was 4 days ago.
Rent spring 2011.
We were approached this morning for 5 to 6 more quarters close actually right in middle of all of ours. Rent is reasonable crop share or cash. I'm thinking cash no other problems. Its good dirt just allot wasn't seeded do to wet conditions. But it has ravine on west and east sides few cuts and awesome.
Now were looking at between 25 to 30 max. what are others finding.
Yes were gambling on will we seed it or not but yes its early. 5 year deal works with option to purchase.
Or should one start a second operation North East of us and rent and purchase 30 to 40 up their. Rent will be very reasonable and purchase price will be also. Spreading risk out with two different locations which ever one is dryer start seeding etc.
Its a long winter thinking about different scenarios.

[ado089]

Option #3 - Rent at a more reasonable rate (for the land owner) but work in a no-seed clause that drops the rent to say $10 in event it's to wet to seed.

A second operation is alot more work and will result in a pile of extra miles on your truck. But like you said you spread out the risk. My advise on starting something farther from home base is make sure that the fields are close together if not touching so you can maximize your time out there.

[poorboy]

SF3,

With all the emotional highs and lows that you post on this forum, why would you even consider expanding to a different area?

Take your neighbor up on the land beside you and call it good. There are many other things you can do with your money or credit to diversify your farm.

Unless your passion is to work yourself to death and be the biggest farmer in the area.

Ever notice how the biggest farms in the area have absolutely no one coming to help them finish harvest. Not a friend in the world, because they are too busy working to enjoy life.

[SASKFARMER3]

Problem we have is all of the farm is in a 10 mile radius. So buy adding 6 more if it does like this year with hail or rain were sunk. Now yes adding the second farm does spread out risk and close to 20 are almost touching. the other would have to be along way or near second opp. Just thinking.

[SASKFARMER3]

Poor boy yes lots of emotion, I love farming always have and believe farmers should be first and every other sector of our industry after us. Out side farm investment will beat farming most years as a return on investment. Yes now their would be two different farms but way to spread out risk. Happy at size were at but up until this morning it looked like we had tapped all available land in our area. Rest didn't like us or we vote wrong or were to big or we go wrong church or were just not what they want. But funny how some of the guys when the shit hits the fan start to screw their land lords. That's what happened with local, this land deal not even on radar.

[bigsteve]

SF3--I have thought about this for many years and have come to the conclusion that in order to make 2 large operations work with the same equipment--you must have one operation in the extreme southern part of sask,Man,or alberta and the other operation in central or northern part of the provinces.There is usually a minimum of 2wks and as much as 4wk. spread between seedind dates.Crop maturity can even be wider.In this case,you would probably need a sprayer at both locations.If you have ample ambitious young labor around-its a great plan.

[ado089]

I know a few guys near Calgary that have a second farm in the Peace, ~10,000ac each. They run two thin sets of equipment, to pick up the slack they move some machinery back and forth to start/finish . Many hutterite colonies that have split off do the same. We have two farms about 60 miles apart but neither is big enough to have a dedicated line of machinery. It makes for some tense days when the machinery is sitting idle when you could be going at the other farm. It sure was handy to have the old field sprayer in working condition this year with the H/C being stuck 4 hrs a day. It's also handy to have an old swather kicking around for big canola years when everything comes in at the same time. The key is to make sure you're not spending more money on the incremental acres. it's easy to lose your economies of scale if it's not well planed.

[SASKFARMER3]

Yea major farm to far north, But some years done at lake before we get really rolling though. In NE Sask. Now 20 are reasonably priced. But with option to purchase the 6 close to yard make sense. Two sprayers would be needed.

[furrowtickler]

My feeling is that, get the job done efficiently trumps the spread out risk thing by a long shot - especialy if no more iron is needed. Iron is way more costly than most figure. Just about everyone here that farm in seperate areas have problems getting things done efficiently. 20 miles is still in the same climate zone anyway for most cases. Time is very undervalued.

[brian99]

I bought another place to do exactly what you are doing. The land is about 15 miles east and is very light. It is always the first stuff seeded in the spring. Made sense, because I had the equipment and labour to get it done. Needed one more tractor. Well this year it got 3.5 inches more rain than home and hail. Crops were crap. Geographic risk cuts both ways.

I couldn't believe how long that road got trying to harvest. Every time it was close to combining I would jump in the truck and check. A tank of gas didn't last long. Lots of Friday nights checking fields during the season as well. Lots of trips running back and forth for a belt or a wrench or a bolt. Would I change? Probably not. Is it alot more hassle than close? Yup.

[bigsteve]

Hey brian99,I have a similar situation and I'm getting tired of that racing home for a bolt--so one of our winter projects is making our 4-place snowmobile trailer into a mobile shop-which wiil include a welder/generator,compressor,workbench,electric hand tools,vice,etc.It should work well till I have to clear it out because one of the kids needs it to move there furniture AGAIN.Well-what the hell.

[SASKFARMER3]

We have a shop truck with 450 gal Diesel, compressor work bench. Welder generator. Greece and oil. Stocked with bolts etc. Need a hydraulic line machine and were set.

[Burbert]

I've got a chance to rent a farm thats 2" wide and runs 500 miles North and South. Rent is very reasonable. Guess we'll have to plant spaggetti though!!!! Diversify, deversify, ifn your gonna survive in modern Comedian farmin.........

[caseman]

spagetti!!!!!!that was funny....

[caseman]

spagetti!!!!!!that was funny....