Brown Cow - 4/13/2023 17:10
moobeast - 4/13/2023 16:57
I talked to a fellow years ago, was a well=known and respected farm business advisor, he said eventually dairies reached the extent of economies of scale and beyond that it was a 'my d@#$ is bigger than yours' contest. While that's not entirely true anymore, I like to be somewhat involved in all the day-to-day operations of our farm. At 500 milking I still am pretty involved. Can't see working in the office with clean shoes and pants my whole day managing managers.
I think you're right about the motivation, it's just hard to believe anybody with the maturity to effectively run a farm that size wouldn't have outgrown that by age 14 or so. I'm partial to farms a lot smaller than 500, but it seems like 5-700ish might be about the limit where you would start having to spend all your time in the office. I have a hard time imagining a white collar farmer handling a generational transfer any better than a little guy, and that's just one of the more likely things to take out a farm.
18000 dead dairy cattle
