farmers wanted

[farmaholic]

Try being a young guy in a new area trying to farm... hate to say it but more old guys prefer to stifle you than help you... after all jot one of "them".


Ag culture is definitely... interesting. LOL

With the Klaus accent maybe the locals think you represent the Fourth Reich! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.


Not too many newcomers here moved into the district to farm. A Dutchman bought a dairy but had the misfortune of his barn partially burning and losing most of his milking cows in the fire---grain farming now. Here farms either continue to get larger or available land is rented by locals. Some land beside me "supposedly" just sold to some "investors" and another large farm(which people think is backed by investors)has been buying for a few years now and farming what ever they buy themselves and also rent a pile...... but land prices are starting to get scary high for my taste. I hate to see the local young guys getting shut out of being able to purchase land....hard to compete with "CASH".

[grassfarmer]

I think we can see one of the problems around this issue from the replies. The feeling that "they" are the problem not "us". Saying that the 80 year olds need to sell their land is rather avoiding the issue. I firmly believe that farmers in their 50s need to be addressing this issue - while they are still young enough to physically mentor and sharp enough mentally to take on this challenge.
There has got to be a recognition too that its not just about selling them land, you've got to help them get in a position where they can make a living from a smaller land-base with very limited resources behind them.

[bucket]

The problem is the 50 year-olds are near wore out as well.


Although 80 year olds are old it's probably been the 50 year olds doing the the work for the last 35 years.....they essentially treated their kids like slaves in a lot of situations.

[mbdog]

I think this is a great topic and one that is very important to the future of farming on the Prairies. We are currently in the process of enabling another farm family getting started with their own land base.

There was an interesting article recently on young people getting into agriculture. Here is the link.

[URL="http://www.ucobserver.org/society/2017/01/new_agrarians/"]http://http://www.ucobserver.org/society/2017/01/new_agrarians/[/URL]

I know most of these folks and their potential is just outstanding. I can see it working well in the fruit/vegetable/livestock for direct marketing meat sector but not sure just what the fit is for getting into grain farming. Maybe what Klause is doing selling direct to end users to extract more value?

I agree Grass. Not all new agriculture producers need large tracts of land to "farm". Don't think grain guy helping a new grain guy is impossible.

[farmaholic]

"Passion" can mean more and have more value than money!

[ajl]

Grass the only place 80 year olds need real estate is at the cemetary. That is the problem. They are hoarding until the bitter end and younger people leave rural areas due to no opportunity and communities die. This process has been aided and abbetted by the government's financial repression scheme of artificially low interest rates. That is the problem that has been going on for some time. This process also happens in other industries too. Lots of business are going to die in the next decade because the greedy old buzzards think it is worth so much and if they don't get there price it will just close.

[newguy]

many farmers have increased their personal wealth by buying up farms in hard times. And unfortunately they actually sit back and hope the new young guns fail and they will buy up the remains.I love seeing the young farmers do well as it makes for a better local community.Think these young guns in most cases could give farming advice to the old guys.

[jamesb]

This is an interesting topic today and timely for many. As long as a business is profitable there is opportunity to have a blank slate and go in a number of directions in types of business arrangements. Funny thing for succession planning for many farmers is that they can be very successful and have a dream or expectation about the future of their farm that defies the reality of the situation.
I have seen farmers that do nothing but bitch and complain their whole lives about farming. They do this at the dinner table in front of their kids and then are devastated when the kids want nothing to do with the farm. No wonder when the kids heard negativity all those years.
On the other hand I see guys in their 70' s and 80's with no intention of ever retiring and seemingly thinking this is possible. If they do expect to transition to someone else they want to control the farm from beyond the grave.
On a brighter note, for a lot of years there has always been people bemoaning the idea of no one to farm the land in the future. I have to tell you that as a father of a recent high school graduate here in rural Sask, that every boy of the grad class is involved in farming in some way. Some farming full time , some part time. What is noticeable that the graduates of today are for the most part getting more education to improve their farms. When farming got tougher financially in the late 80's and 90's so many of us learned at the school of hard knocks to become the better managers needed to survive. The kids starting farming today have so many more resources to make better financial decisions. The idea to treat the farm as a business more than a way of life was something that was foreign to many farmers in the past. I think we have moved beyond the sense of entitlement that many farmers felt in the past.
In closing farm succession is a very long process and in truth never really ends for many. From grandparents to son to grandchildren the process can be long and challenging but vast resources in the form of consultants, lawyers, accountants, etc can make the process for successful. Above all talk.

[4GFarms]

I am a younger farmer (under 35 years of age) and I cannot justify the price of lan in our area. I have been very fortunate for the opportunities I was given. I have some great landlords that I rent from. Land just does not pencil out for me at this time. I know you can get a few good years to make it look like the land will pay but I dont think I will get 20+ good years in order to pay it off. I think if you have cash in the bank to pay for the land that is fine. It is definately hard for the young guys to get going.

[stonepicker]

Well said James B.!

[farmaholic]

jamesb.... (jokingly)with all due respect please don't confuse complaining with reality. LOL.

The older I get the crustier I get. And as I've said, I'm a much nicer guy than farming brings out in me.
Time to step aside and let the young guy get bitter, lol...

[mbdog]

Grass the only place 80 year olds need real estate is at the cemetary. That is the problem. They are hoarding until the bitter end and younger people leave rural areas due to no opportunity and communities die. This process has been aided and abbetted by the government's financial repression scheme of artificially low interest rates. That is the problem that has been going on for some time. This process also happens in other industries too. Lots of business are going to die in the next decade because the greedy old buzzards think it is worth so much and if they don't get there price it will just close.

Low interest a bit of a double edge sword...and most likely the greedy old buggers worked hard for what they have/built, so I'll point no fingers. But they, like other existing land/asset holders, usually have tax issues as well. Perhaps the bridge is a tax solution.