So this is why Im wrong and Canada is the best place to buy up our land from under us and make us wo

[freewheat]

I have said it before, and I will say it
yet again... We as farmers are at least
as much to blame for the current
situation. We live in this more, more,
more mindset, grow our farms to a size
beyond the purchase price of most
farmers, and we wonder why this
happens???

We discourage our kids, send them away
for 5 years, and wonder why they decide
not to come back. We live for money, for
more land, for fancy machines, and our
kids think this is what matters most in
life. And then a rough patch comes
along, and we moan and groan, and swear
at farming. Our kids see this.

We get this mindset that we are all in a
big competition for land. We buy more
land, need more machinery, rent more
land to pay for it. Sure our farms need
to prosper and grow, but at what cost,
at what price? Every magazine exhorts
the amazing qualities of super farmers.
If you farm 10 000 acres or more, you
have a great chance to win farmer of the
year! If you only farm 2000, well you
have not done enough to be a great
farmer.

And then we marvel at the situation
today??? Wow!

Of course investment companies are going
to come in when there are no little guys
left. Who can buy 10 000 acres in a pop?
Especially at todays prices? SF3 has
stated some of the latest land prices
are in the 250 a quarter range in his
area. Do the math.

I am all for growth and prosperity, but
this fake competition, you know, the one
made up by the land hungry guys, who
"need" more land to compete against
their neighbors, have made this thing
occur. More rapidly than it should have.

We as farmers, need to take a deep
breath, and say, how much is enough? How
much do I actually "need", before we
start bashing the land investment firms
for coming here, when the locals can not
afford to buy out their 10 000 acre
neighbors.

Trouble is, 10 year old machinery isn't
good enough, a new half, ahem 3/4 ton
diesel is a must. We just can not drive
something more than a few years old
anymore, cuz we are too smug. Our
grandparents, who sacrificed so much,
did with so little, and lived a simple
life, are rolling in their graves.
Shh... Listen. I can hear the earth
rumbling. Can you??

[burnt]

Good post freewheat.

Ain't no going back either.

My Amish neighbors are barely able to make it farmng their 100 acre plots but they are looking smarter all the time. They have almost ZERO exposure to whatever goes down in the rest of society. Oil can go to $200/bbl and they won't care - the horse still just eats a bale a day.

[bucket]

Saskfarmer3

A question.

If you had to sell would you sell off in pieces or would it be an all or nothing deal?

I marvel at farmers who built a farm piece by piece thanks to neighbors but have to sell all or nothing. It basically puts anyone young or smaller out.

[sumdumguy]

Think they can run the tractors and combines
remotely from China? Good help is hard and
getting much more expensive to find. Managers
for $100 an hour. Oops, where's the promised
profit margin?

[riders2010]

When you have X billion people and only enough food grown in your own country for a fraction of those billions, a hundred bucks, a thousand bucks is nothing. We are being led like sheep into believing that we are the ones that need them. On the contrary if we had half more balls and brains and price our resources and not allow our land to foreign control we will be the ones dictating to the world a few decades from now. The path we are on we are being told what a good deal we are getting when realistically we are selling our country's future for a song.

[pgluca]

Daylate, I agree with you 100%, I have seen similar but smaller "land rushes" (for lack of a better term) before. It happens when interest rates are low and commodities surge. My long term return on investment for farming, is around 5% without land apprecitation. I am leveraged with reasonable labour, and management costs (me) are very low per acre. When interest rates or other investments look more attractive, the super farm investors will leave.

[furrowtickler]

I agree, except if they are in potash and/or oil country.

[fjlip]

"I marvel at farmers who built a farm piece by piece thanks to neighbors but have to sell all or nothing. It basically puts anyone young or smaller out."

Totally agree. The way it's going here, nobody small will be able to buy a few acres.

Thanks for nothing to those who sell to BTO's.

Hope you enjoy living and working in a land with NO human neighbors "huge farmer".

[theplowboy]

What happens to these investor types when
interest rates increase and grain prices
have a few lower price years. Do they
exit and sell? How long have they been
owning farmland?

[farmaholic]

I agree with Daylate. Although I think there is going to be a correction but over time we will see the same prices we are seeing today. I said in a very old post, when things go south the only ones left will be the guys with nuts and guts to put up with what agriculture is, a high risk venture.