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Concordia, KS | I'm just getting started and I turned 40 this year. My Dad passed 4 years ago. When he was gone, I bought machinery from Mom on contract, we kept all our rented ground, and split the calves from our cow herd for my labor. I got a line of credit, worked a retail ag job, and worked day and night on 950 acres of rented ground and custom farming along with the cows. I finally quit my job this spring and with a little side work in precision ag, we are making it work. I do 95% of the work by myself. I was to the point where i worked a big chunk of the nights and was never home so i jumped off the cliff. My family doesn't have to pay the price for our long term dreams, cause as a Dad of 2, I'll regret it later.
It hasn't been easy, our house, vehicles, and machinery don't keep up with the Jones, but we don't care. Better half teaches school and coaches and I farm and do some precision ag on the side. We are wanting to give our kids an opportunity to farm if they want, but it looks harder all the time. Land looks out of the question currently, and if we had a farm sale, the 1994 line of rainbow equipment we run would struggle to bring 125K (9500 combine, tandem trucks, older tractors, etc) but we are making them pay their way. I'd love to update, but don't want to miss land opportunities either when they are there. I know i need a bigger combine, a semi when working by myself would allow quicker harvest due to less time in line at elevator vs running tandems, but we aren't sure where to borrow and where to invest for more productivity. It becomes a big replacement cycle.
Either way, we had a land base and cow herd to start, but it doesn't make land ownership less scary or seemingly unattainable. We are renters currently. We are going to work at this till it works or doesn't work, and if it doesn't i guess I give some stuff up and hobby farm and work in town, but that is the option of absolutely last resort. The first year i farmed we used 0 crop insurance, but the last 3 have had claims in one of the crops. 2023 was rough, as the only thing that didn't collect insurance on was irrigated stuff. Drought has been rough, but it's raining finally and as a whole, crops were decent this year and cattle have been good. We will keep grinding and trying to grow, but it seems like a long haul currently.
We are grateful for opportunity and hope it can grow and be something bigger than what we started with. At least we have some fun along the way!
Edited by Swenny79 11/19/2024 11:36
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Next generation farmers? How is it possible?
