|
| That is very true. There’s a caveat to that though. It really depends what the person cashing in does with that money.
There are some people who cash in and really enjoy spending that money as though they themselves earned it without care for the next generation.
There are some that step back and swap the farmer hat for a business hat and invest it in something that grows and becomes more than the farm ever could.
I know sentiment comes into play. The actual “family farm” might not ever come back to the “family” once it is sold. It is very hard for a farmer to accept the fact that it is just a piece of ground because it can be the center of their entire life. It certainly isn’t a choice to be taken lightly.
I am lucky that at least one of my kids is coming back to farm. I keep telling and encouraging that it is ok to choose something different every time an opportunity comes up. I don’t want him to wake up one day in the future and wish he hadn’t. It needs to be his choice. I am glad I made mine but it isn’t for everyone.
Likely like most here I have grown the farm and always hoped that one or more of my kids would eventually take over. That’s the farmer in me. In today’s environment if I put on a business hat when everything is counted the ledger seems to show more promise the other way.
But there is so much more to life than money. Sometimes in the past I have forgotten that from time to time. The best business decision certainly isn’t always the best financial decision. I don’t know how to put a value on raising kids on the farm. I don’t know how to put a price on working with my kid/kids. I don’t know how to put a price on maybe someday being “grandpa” working alongside my grandkids. Some things are just priceless.
And the bonus is that someday if I get old enough I just might be able to be that forgetful old man and damage my kids equipment as payback for his younger years. Just kidding about that being a good thing of course. Lol
Edited by havin’funfarming 4/18/2026 13:42
| |
|
opportunity cost or opportunities lost.....
