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?