Dougherty, IA | jake1979 - 9/12/2015 09:01
As far as equipment goes the 4000 -5000 acre guy with new equipment that runs two weeks longer at planting and a month longer at harvest probably has significantly less cost per acre than a 600 ac farmer with a decent lineup. Theres people that can plant everything in my neighborhood in 4 days and harvest in 10. In my opinion they are way over ironed and may only be willing to pay $150 in rent but have $300/ac equipment costs. So the big guy that pays $400 rent but has $80/ac equipment costs really isnt much worse off. Add in all fixed costs per acre and the big rent payer is alot less there also.
Good post. It's laughable the amount of guys farming under 1,000 acres with 16+ row planters and new tractors. Planting a crop in 3-4 days, harvesting it in two weeks, with all new tractors, then going to the lake for the summer and Florida for the winter is a horrid business plan. Honestly a lot of farmers here just got soft and lazy when things got good and now they are whining and complaining that they can't make money when they blew hundreds of thousands on new paint and extravagant living expenses over the last 6 years.
The new shops and machine sheds hurt a small guy too. Whether a guy farms 800 acres or 4000, the shop size and costs are very similar, but the small guy can't justify a shop because he doesn't have the acres to spread the cost over. |
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