south central WI | E.Daehler - 11/18/2024 18:13
A not best laying farm but decent yields sold today. 133 tillable acres just south of I70 and off 13 hwy. $8,050 an acre. Dairy bought it, they have been buying just about everything that comes up. Always been told that theres no money in the dairy industry.
On another note, a farm that is straight north of this one is supposed to be coming up. Eyed it for 2/3s of my life, 20 years. Man actually was first person to ever pay me for laybor. $100 for darn long days when i was 13 or 14. If most know the guy they'd understand its a big deal lol. How can someone that doesn't have the built up equity compete? Im all for free market and capitalism but when is it enough for some of these guys? I'd like enough to maybe raise a family on, if not just enough i dont have to work an intown job and maintain the family ground that is supposed to be passed on.
Edit to add: land base is important to a dairy, maybe moreso than a crop farmer. I'm not completely current on budding costs, but if a 1000 cow dairy is built from scratch, it's easily over $10 million just for buildings, manure storage, feed pads etc. That's a lot of money to sit there, even before adding cows and equipment. After 10 years, there's probably still 6-7 million in debt, which would be worth pennies on the dollar if they had to sell out. If a crop farmer and dairy farmer both do well for 10 years, and both are forced to sell everything, the crop farmer may end up with money in the bank and the dairy will be sitting on millions of debt and nothing to show for it.
As far as ther ebeing no money in dairy, that's wrong. There's currently a lot if managed well and debts kept in check. The problem is it takes a lot of money to stay in dairy, and when one falls behind, it's difficult to catch up. 2015-2019 were dairy farm killing years. Too many years in a row of below profit numbers.
Don't worry about what others do or have, just focus on yourself. There will always be someone bigger, better, or doing something that you don't understand.
My area has generally been lower priced land, with less competition IMO. Everyone farms what they always have and leaves the landlords alone. Thing have changed with the new farm economy and the incoming class of new farmers. We NEED a certain amount of acres to feed our dairy cows, manure isn't the issue for us. With an uncertain land base, we are now trying to buy when things come up for sale to make sure we have the acres we need for the next generation if they decide to farm.
Edited by bsfarms 11/19/2024 19:27
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159.3 acres sold today
