|
West Central Ohio | Young part time farmer here... full time job off the farm...
Was given the opportunity to purchase the family farm... however the wife wanted to live hear her family.... so I have purchased the land and all the equipment on my own...
I am an outsider to the area, so from my viewpoint, this is an objective viewpoint.
Interesting that you mention the young future farmers who were handed the family farm... MANY around here are making REALLY bad life choices... the recent boom in ag has led to disposable income... disposable income leads to drug abuse... I am not saying for ALL, but there is an alarming, rising number being pulled into Meth and Heroin in this area... Amazing how many young farmers are throwing it away... Kids from great families facing a lifetime of addiction... 99% of the time their families are in shock when they present to the hospitals with their first overdose... and it all goes downhill from there... want to throw away a $2,000,000 farm fast? Start a drug habit that leads up to a $4,000 a week habit... The local dealers have learned that the farm kids usually have great access to larger amounts of cash... The families are dropping huge amounts of cash to "clean up" their kids, while they are robbing them blind for another hit... Farmers deal more with cash than urban dwellers... Tools and Guns are stolen and quickly sold for drugs, often the family won't turn them into the insurance agency, for fear that their children will be arrested, they can "take care of it".... Anhydrous is sold for Meth production, the "cooker" sells out the Anhydrous supplier for a shorter sentence, the DEA and Police are happy to oblique, because they just confiscated a huge amount of assets... Or grow a few marijuana plants and get the farm confiscated that happens more often than one would think also...
In short, this is probably the biggest risk for young farmers...
| |
|
bright future for young farmers
