beebe44 - 10/18/2017 10:03

Mainly by doing it better than every one else. Haha. But seriously. I spend WAY WAY WAY less on equipment than my neighbors. I don't think most farmers realize how much money they could be saving on their equipment. Do almost all repairs myself and luckily I enjoy that aspect of the farm. Buy almost everything used at auction (this has saved us sooo much money). And even though I buy used equipment, I only buy the BEST equipment for my operation. My closest neighbor has mountains of debt and all his brand new equipment and I bet I spend less time fixing equipment and dealing with breakdowns than he does. My brother is the type that really likes his nicer equipment. I always joke about him spending hundreds of thousands of dollars more on equipment and all he really gains with it is a nicer cab and a whole lot more stress. Sometimes I wait 2-3 years for the right deal on a piece of equipment. I don't waste money on anything unless it pays for itself. Bins have paid for themselves many times over. Most of my equipment has paid for itself many times over. I pay cash for everything. My farm is 100 percent debt free and very profitable. 1000 acres supporting 3 families and we live very well.

All of this said, the best way I have become profitable was by buying land at the right time (right price) and paying it off as quickly as possible. I am not looking at buying land anytime soon. Way overvalued. I am looking into investments outside of the farm. Farming is great but if you are looking at growing your operation right now, you really shouldn't. It's a losing battle. There are better ways to invest money than in growing your farm right now. Wait for the right time. Look at real estate or other business opportunities. I think a guy can have plenty of fun farming 50 acres in his spare time while doing other things to make money. Don't know why so many farmers want to get a huge operation. Those are the ones that usually fail in a big way sooner or later. I'm actually considering selling a farm right now that is way overvalued so I can invest in other places.