Learning, Sharing, and Teaching > Entrepreneurship
Farming
usgrant1234:
My own personal goal is to acquire enough assets in order to begin farming full-time at some point in my 30's, and was wondering how many other large grain/livestock operators were part of these forums, and what kind of advise they would have
Quick rundown, I'm 26 and live east of Sioux falls, have an ag business degree from SDSU and currently work as a grain buyer at a coop. I made about 47k last year, and pay about 25% in taxes. I have my student loans paid off, no other debts either. Rent plus utilities average about $600 a month, and nearly everything else I buy I run through my discover, which allows me to track what almost every dollar I spend is/was for, and I can break it down into categories. I have averaged $847 on my card per month for the last 24 months (food, gas, car insurance, etc.) I drive a 2000 ford tarus with 148k on it, so no debt on the auto side either
I have a roth 401k through work I drop 6% into and they match 3% with it, into a vanguard large cap. I don't look at it, that's for the future
Only other expense would be my newly acquired health insurance, at about $170 a month
My weak points I know of are eating out too much, a lot of driving, and direct tv. Planning on buying a pellet grill/smoker to cut down on the one, and cutting the cord (satellite?) with direct as soon as my contract is up
Strong points are I have about 45k in the bank, and am no real hurry to quit my job (it's fun, nice co-workers, hours (8 to 4:30) and pretty stress free when things are going right), also have degree and some know how about what I want to do
So, what kind of plan does one need to get started? Current plan is to start small with a few cattle when I get the chance, and have that on the side for couple years in order to help qualify for the young/beginning farmer programs the USDA has out there. Ultimately I think I'd need to have the equipment/set up to run +500 acres. Figuring on older equipment, a turned-up 4440 as my main work horse
Any ideas on where to get started/what to prepare for?
Kriegsspiel:
$5,000.
AccidentialMustache:
So, I work for a startup in the ag industry. Equipment for big ag ("large grain") is insanely expensive. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a combine that sells for scrap value in under 10 years. Farmland in Illinois around us sells for a bit over $10k/acre. What's a large grain farm? We consider it a thousand-plus acres. Well, that's $10 million in land alone, plus probably a few more in the equipment/etc.
That seems like a really tough sell to break into that vs just FIRE and call it done. If you really want to farm that much, get to FIRE and work as a farmhand for someone else?
usgrant1234:
Oh, obviously you rent the land. I figure a decent 200 horse tractor should run 20 thousand, then what ever you need for implements beyond that. Have it custom combined to start with until I can find something I can run over some acres with. Other option would be to pony up for some newer stuff, and then do custom work myself on the side, but that isn't plan A. Down by Sioux City 500 to a thousand acres is pretty good size, but you don't have to go to far west of sioux falls before people run that many acres and work in town.
I worked at a feed lot straight out of college for a bit just to make some cash while I was looking for jobs. And it was alright, but the pay wasn't great. But if those were my cattle out there that'd be a different story. Further more, I don't mind the idea of locking up a bunch of debt. Honestly, rates are cheap and I'll take all the leverage I can. Problem is figuring out how to get started/convincing a bank to roll the dice on me
ALClay:
PM sent.
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