Why Are You Ok With Mining Equity

[Zephyr]

Seriously...

If there is no reasonable chance of profit and your land and iron is paid for, cover crops make way more sense.


We are doing 1/3 cover, no canola or beans. Keeping oats and flax 1/3) and hay (1/3)


I refuse to loose money to make useless agri business richer.

[GDR]

Seriously...

If there is no reasonable chance of profit and your land and iron is paid for, cover crops make way more sense.


We are doing 1/3 cover, no canola or beans. Keeping oats and flax 1/3) and hay (1/3)


I refuse to loose money to make useless agri business richer.

Is it really that bad? If you own the land and cant turn a profit what does that say about rental land?

I think there is a case to be made for new age "summer fallow" or cover crops but you better have a net benefit wether its livestock feed or fertility boost, lower disease, maybe all of the above. Cost of seed and seeding isnt cheap and if you're doing it anyhow and you take it out of the other crop equation maybe now the crop sounds better.

Also have seeded crops often that you think there is no way with prices that its gonna be profitable, but often by fall the situation has changed. Has went the other way too!

[Oliver88]

Is $9.50-$10.50 canola killing the fringe acres?

[Crestliner]

I have been farming for 30 years and there is always a price during the year that will turn a profit if you have the yield and have the balls to pre-price or hold on till the price comes along. So to me not growing a crop and timing of sales has been the bigger issue.

What is the issue now in addition to yield, price and timing is the price of the tools we use to do the work.

New tractors, combines, air drills and sprayer prices are way out of reach. My dad and I always used to get a new combine every other year....haven’t done that for a decade. Our cost of production plus equipment costs do not match our output....

I don’t need to tell anyone on this forum that this is an issue....I just don’t know what to do when my tractors and combines are physically used up and need to be replaced.

I don’t know who can cash flow the price of new equipment and still have anything left to build equity.

[jazz]

If someone cant turn a profit with no land or machine payments they are doing it wrong. Easily enough margin in these prices for someone without debt to make a very good living.

And what if you have land and machine payments? Whats the solution then?

[ajl]

What is your program Zephr? I am planning to try on some acres to seed lentils late as a cover crop after a later spring burn down to fix nitrogen, and to terminate the crop by having the city of Edmonton spread sludge on the land. They disk the sludge in. This would put 2 years between canola crops as this land has been wheat/canola for quite a few cycles. Crop in '21 would be RR canola. Figure the increased yield from the longer rotation and reduced fertilizer requirements for a few years after would provide a return on investment. Have some carry over canola to protect against a price rally.

[Quadtrack]

If you are not planting a crop, and utilizing your resources/investment fully, you are mining equity.
So that means you expect to not cover variable costs.
I don’t ever recall production insurance not covering variable expenses in thirty years of farming. Multi-year crop failure could create that scenario I suppose.
Something is wrong with your cost structure if this is the case.
But the good thing about free enterprise is everyone can make their own business plan. Some work, some don’t.

[SASKFARMER]

No $9.50 Canola isn't killing the fringe areas it's the Yields in normal weather. 25 doesn't cut it. But I can't grow lentils and durum anymore so why can't we all just seed what works in our own areas. The Canola 2020 was a dream to sell seed and overproduction to keep all input and buyers a steady supply it had **** all to do with farmer profit.

[Zephyr]

Our mix is beluga lentils, forage peas, rye, and radish.


We bring nutrients up from 36" to the top 12", break the weed and disease cycle, and are able to grow a cereal after with no N.


We seed it with a spreader and lemken pass.


No chem no fert no drill no combine no sprayer.


Im not sure how you guys operate, but here land has to make money. Every piece of iron has to at least break even but preferrably make money, the operators have to be paid for, and there has to be a profit from the farming operation.



We operate in the futures market. Profit is either assured or it isnt... No gambling.


Its not the commodity price per se, its the cost of seed, fertilizer, other (machinery) inputs vs. The commodity return.

[GDR]

Our mix is beluga lentils, forage peas, rye, and radish.


We bring nutrients up from 36" to the top 12", break the weed and disease cycle, and are able to grow a cereal after with no N.


We seed it with a spreader and lemken pass.


.

And what happens to all the crop matter the next year? Worked in or try to seed through? Does the eye not persist in following crop?

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Our mix is beluga lentils, forage peas, rye, and radish.


We bring nutrients up from 36" to the top 12", break the weed and disease cycle, and are able to grow a cereal after with no N.


We seed it with a spreader and lemken pass.


No chem no fert no drill no combine no sprayer.


Im not sure how you guys operate, but here land has to make money. Every piece of iron has to at least break even but preferrably make money, the operators have to be paid for, and there has to be a profit from the farming operation.



We operate in the futures market. Profit is either assured or it isnt... No gambling.


Its not the commodity price per se, its the cost of seed, fertilizer, other (machinery) inputs vs. The commodity return.

Are you in, or transitioning to the organic market with that ground?

[Zephyr]

And what happens to all the crop matter the next year? Worked in or try to seed through? Does the eye not persist in following crop?

If we seed WW, gly in fall with some heat or express then seed into it with a disk drill.

If we go spring cereal, terminate with the lemken in fall. We need to do some tillage in our soil to be successful anyway.


Not organic. Dont believe it works long term because you can't readily replace P K and S.


Still try to do things to keep the soil as healthy and productive as possible. That way the next three generations have something worthwhile.

[GDR]

If we seed WW, gly in fall with some heat or express then seed into it with a disk drill.

If we go spring cereal, terminate with the lemken in fall. We need to do some tillage in our soil to be successful anyway.


Not organic. Dont believe it works long term because you can't readily replace P K and S.


Still try to do things to keep the soil as healthy and productive as possible. That way the next three generations have something worthwhile.

So I got a quarter of peas that we didnt get off last fall. How many passes with a lemken would it take to size them and work them in enough to reseed. Dont have any Vt at this point but have been looking. Assuming they gotta be bone dry. Cant imagine hitting them with a cultivator or even a tandem disk. Hoping for a dry spring, they were still wet and green when winter came.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

So I got a quarter of peas that we didnt get off last fall. How many passes with a lemken would it take to size them and work them in enough to reseed. Dont have any Vt at this point but have been looking. Assuming they gotta be bone dry. Cant imagine hitting them with a cultivator or even a tandem disk. Hoping for a dry spring, they were still wet and green when winter came.

A local farmer with the same problem was inquiring about renting my Wishek for that exact purpose this fall. I think the window closed before it could be tried. But I don't think I am too far from you if you are interested in trying it.

[Zephyr]

Tandem disk should work fine?


One pass in fall with the Lemken. I think a hoe drill would need a second pass. Disk drill is more forgiving.

We have never done straight peas... But the cover mix is no problem.