Farmers getting OLD

[fjlip]

Gary Stanford figures he’ll always be a farmer, but the 59-year-old grain grower knows he can’t work 5,000 acres forever. In about 10 years, two of his sons, ages 33 and 35, will take over his farm in southern Alberta. But Mr. Stanford, president of the Grain Growers of Canada, knows he’s unusual among many farmers of his generation. Many don’t have sons or daughters who want to take over. And with farmland values at a record high, many others can’t afford to buy out their parents. According to the Census of Agriculture, almost half of all farmers were 55 or older in 2011, a greater percentage than the 33% average for the self-employed. The growing number of older farm-ers packing it in is accelerating the pace of change in agriculture, spurring the shift to massive farms that rely on technology and scale to make money in a low-margin game. Tom Eisenhauer of farmland investor Bonnefield Inc. pegs the value of land due to change hands at $53-billion, as aging farmers sell their land, or pass it down to their children. Mr. Stanford has seen this play out along the 16-kilometre dirt road next to his farm – of the 11 farmers who once lived and worked there, he is the only one left. The others have retired and moved to town or died. The land is rented to other farmers, including Mr. Stanford. The homes are lived in by non-farmers.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/retirement/retire-working-in-retirement/as-farmers-retire-soaring-land-values-prompt-rethink-of-succession-planning/article27217837/

[bucket]

In about ten years his sons will be ready to start thinking of retirement.

This guy highlights the problems of hanging on. A true conservative that tells his kids they are not ready.

They will gladly do the sweat equity work while the old man socks away a fortune.

[ajl]

Makes no sense that we have aging farmer problem and land at record highs. Greedy land hoarders figure that it is funny to have young Canadian farmers slave away to compete with teachers and Chinese billionaire speculators to farm transferred ten of billions from young to old. All we need is market rates of interest and all these problems go away. Land would be 40% as expensive as today giving the hoarders a huge incentive to sell.

[bucket]

Banks either own the land or are collecting interest if rates rise.

It's a win win for them. Which is why they tell politicians what to do.

[farmaholic]

I just wish every generation didn't have to buy the same land. That's not the case always but sometimes too often. Pretty hard to squirrel away a retirement and pay for family owned land and grow the land base with new land....I think I'm asking for a little much.

[fjlip]

If land was 40% of current value, so would rent. Grain prices would be crap also with high interest rates. We would ALL be poor and no young would want to farm. Sorry can't have your cake and eat it. Land was expensive in relative terms 40 years ago, and we made it. Borrow and have it paid by retirement should be everyone's long term plan. All want a lifestyle besides. None want to live in third world farming.

[biglentil]

You need to take a tour over to europe to understand why each generation can not be expected to grow a land base on their own. The dream of owning land in such places just a dream. It is completely out of reach and heading that direction here too.

[freewheat]

I can stand at the end of my driveway, and count at least 12 farmers under 45 within a 4 mile radius. If I expand that to 7 miles, the numbers would double. We are in a pocket for whatever reason. But they are better set up, so land will never become available like it is in other areas.

No chance to expand land base, just cuz it is all taken and sewed up.

Another reason farming traditional grain will never fly for me personally.

Kinda ironic, huh?

FJ, you guys have the worlds best farmers over there, don't you? They are young, no?

[fjlip]

Nominated for Canada's Outstanding young farmer, all the second gen are 30 and under. Still growing, actually closer to you Free, all the Cawkwell land. Might get a bid on yours. Old guys DO need the young guys going hard!
And bigger fish do eat big fish, so your neighbors just might cash in. IE Hudye, Cherkas...

[freewheat]

Not nominated, but they won Saskatchewan! Had to get the nomination from a banker in the city 2 hours away, which I find interesting. Thought a neighbor would nominate their excellency? They started from scratch after all...

I guess under 30's farming 49000 acres still doesn't ad much community dynamic, huh?
lol

[furrowtickler]

If Mr Stanford thinks his "kids" will be taking over the farm at ages 43 and 44 - well that's the problem in itself. Those "kids" will have to farm till they are 90 to be able to retire.
I agree with bucket.

[grassfarmer]

I see this all around me - a totally unsustainable agriculture. Old or middle aged guys with 20 or 40 or 60 quarters riding around in big machinery, no animals, dead soil. Problem is you are not creating wealth, just circulating money around between operating loans, chemical companies, seed companies, machinery companies and grain companies.

I know some young folks that are a model to me of the future. Direct marketing, stacking enterprises on a relatively small rented landbase. They are creating wealth by their labor and knowledge - it's a basic component of holistic management that the only "free" inputs are solar, water and soil activity. That is the only way to create new wealth so that is what you should built your operation around. These guys are making real money relative to their assets - something that most farmers with established land bases have got sloppy at. It's why the future always belongs to the young and upcoming - never more so than in agriculture now.

I can see freewheat going the same way and see an irony that although he appears to be "failing" among his big grain farmer peers, failing in an unsustainable system might be a good thing if it pushes him into being a success in a more sustainable model.

[Partners]

We all know Mega Farms mean Mega Debt..most of the time..

Banker nominated them because that means more $$$ for the bank..Go hard..borrow some more money..Interest rates will never go up..

[freewheat]

grass, I am "failing" cuz I was not set up like the others around me, along with the brutal weather! If dad was here, I am pretty sure I would be singing a totally different tune. But alas we are all dealt a hand. Some are dealt a full house, some a royal flush, and some got the jokers of many decks...

[sumdumguy]

A little luck and a lot of sweat sure helped a lot of guys around us and we never forget to give thanx to the lowly lentil.