Realty Agency.....

[bucket]

The Pikes quit pretty quickly after the bankruptcy protection started even though they were getting paid.

My guess is the put a lot cash in their pockets that FCC can't find or refuse to.


Much like the Boyd/Tappauf relationship no one can or wants to find the money.....it becomes the taxpayer's responsibility. ....


Eventually these things come back to all of us in the form of more paperwork or higher credit costs etc......


I always get nervous watching exponential growth in any industry.

[bucket]

Everyone has watched the exponential growth of china on the steel industry only to have the same result as what the Americans did 40 years ago when the rust belt started.

[blackpowder]

The old funt is incognito. Unless of course he 'fell' out of a helo. Wonder if the NYC boys he owed to at 20% got paid?
A few thoughts on which im prepared to be roasted.
Get the family farm out of your vocabulary. 100 years???
I have been on a 200,000 acre farm in China that appeared to be very well run. Culture is an aid of course.
IF Russia and Ukraine got shit together? Culture being a handicap there.
Then theres SA and Africa.
Private, individual enterprise may advance the specie, but it doesnt exist all the time.
The sure fire eventual fail is not owning the land. State or dynasty.

Im not from SK but... didn't your isolation policy create the low price vacuum that let parasites like Pike flourish?
Every generation gets a new old experience with his kind.

[bucket]

Blackpowder

To an extent I agree with your comments....the only caveat is year like this and quality can literally put a farm on its knees no matter the size.....the farms you speak of are probably well able to meet specs at any time of year....


Here in Canada the good prices come and the bins empty. There the country maybe paying a hefty price to store ....they are rewarded....

A bushel of wheat is said to be worth 10 bucks a bushel grown domestically in China. ...easy to see where the success is....

[farmaholic]

Blackpowder. what is your explanation of all the failed large scale corporate(non family--ouch) attempts?

Is what I stated wrong? Besides it just happens to be "my" opinion. Do any of those clowns actually realize what it takes to succeed? Are any of them willing to make the financial and time sacrifices?

...or is it so ****in lucrative that they made their pile, fold the tent, and leave? Ahhh I think it's not even close to that statement.... probably all the other comments I made ring truer.

[blackpowder]

I am not poking a stick at family farms. Nor that big companies are better. Not at all.
Just suggesting thats not always how its done elsewhere in time or place. And that long term ownership is the key as opposed to tenancy. Land cannot rebuy itself. Nor pay for itself every year. Pike/One earth models will always fail.

[burnt]

As for family farms - based on what I am observing here in southern Ontario, I believe they will - and already are - resurrect and take a whole new appearance.

They will be very small, very labour intensive and diversified. I am seeing these operations producing pork, beef and chickens, selling them direct to the public and charging a price which reflects the true cost of production - an unbelievable premium to store prices.

Some are keeping a few sows and selling weaner pigs at prices easily double to what commercial-scale operations are getting.

They are low overhead, small scale and very consumer-friendly. Their popularity among their customers is practically god-like! :-)

This works where the consumer is within driving distance of the farmer. In some cases, these people are deriving their entire livelihood from their farm while in many others, one of the family has an off-farm job.

Are these farmers making a fortune? Obviously not.

But they are filling a good market and producing kids that know what it means to use their hands for working rather than just punching the face of a stupid phone.

It's almost like it was maybe meant to be that way...

[furrowtickler]

Well , doing my part , as are a few others here.
Seeded 1.2 AC of sweet corn , about 45,000 plants with the kids . It's their project with some help from us.
They have a garden stand and pick corn on the weekends in the morning then sell in town during the day. They have learned a lot , but so have I .
Kinda neat when you show the kids you can grow $20,000 per AC . Now we just need to help harvest the rest and get it to market for them .
Agree with you burnt . Out here in western Canada though I see two things . Very diversified farms still with a base of 2000 to 4000 AC , or large run family farms 15,000 or more with not much I between . The set up has been happening for years now.
As far as OneEarth/Pike/Broadacres - IMO they will all fail because there will always to many hands in the cookie jar and Mother Nature to slap them around regardless of how much money is backing them . Ask Sprott

[bgmb]

Size isn't a predictor of success in grain farming. I see guys making a living off of less than 1000 ac and then we have the big guys going broke in some cases.

It comes down to capitalization and management.