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Northern Illinois | I don't see a lot of promise in production ag in the future. I see the farmer of today similarly as we look back at the family owned hardware store or lumber yard. They are gone for the most part. There are few towns that have an independent hardware store or lumber yard or grocery store anymore. That is how I see production ag going. I am 55 and when I started I farmed 300 acres and raised hogs and that was enough land to live off. It was not easy but it was enough. Today I farm over 1,000 acres so still small in relation to most and now 1,000 acres is barely enough. I see that need to get bigger accelerating in the future. I see many fewer farmers being independent businessmen in the future. I see grain production going the way of livestock production. If we till the ground we will be doing it for someone else. I just don't see a way around the trend this country has been in. Grain production has been one of the slowest sectors to change but it is changing even if we don't see or recognize the change. I have 2 daughters who do not have an interest in farming and I am glad about that.
Now grain production does have a drawback to someone wanting to expand that livestock does not have. I mean people can throw a huge livestock facility up and acres is not a limiting factor. In grain production acres are the biggest limiting factor so I do see a HUGE benefit to owning land. I would really discourage any young person from getting into grain production today if they did not own enough acres to insure they would be relevant in 30 years. Even family owned may not be good enough because family may sell or may want large $$ for rent.
That self driving tractor that Case had at the FPS was not for us 1,000-5,000 acre guys. | |
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What do you see happening over the next several years in ag
