Life on the farm … Is it worth it?

[Guest]

Not that I'm advocating for SM to be extended to other sectors but the picture, if we were to, is not as bleak as you portray. As an example beef at ranch level you might call a $50/head margin business - with some type of SM system the margin to the rancher might increase to $400/head (and the store price of beef could remain the same). So instead of needing 200 head a rancher would need 25 head to return the same margin. We wouldn't need to lose any ranchers, they would just need to keep less cattle which in turn allows for a reduction in inputs, reduction in production costs and less overstocked pasture situations.
The same principle would apply to other products to an extent too. Not saying my numbers are accurate but the principle applies. Primary ag producers need to get a bigger share of retail dollar that's the problem.

absolutely , thats the problem , but they take more and more all the time , until they kill the host , which is near where were at in the Cdn ag industry
what kind of man is worth $170/hr ??????

[farmaholic]

absolutely , thats the problem , but they take more and more all the time , until they kill the host , which is near where were at in the Cdn ag industry
what kind of man is worth $170/hr ??????

None are, gotta pay for the glass palace to display machinery, gotta pay for the layers of parasites adding no real value, owners/shareholders want a return, fück...there don't even pay for shop supplies out of that ransom, building maintenance and utilities, etc..... thats just the service department, sales and parts departments are also expected to be profitable on their own!

[bigzee]

I’m beginning to think this thread could turn out to be a “best seller”.

[tweety]

How when a used anything is more than anything new was 5 years ago? And parts prices are double. And service is $150-$170/hour?

Stop buying John Deere.

Farm net incomes haven't changed in years. It's a carefully balanced ratio of charging the absolute max because they know quite well your income. The trick is where do you fall on the bell curve of income and expense on your own operation.

I'm glad someone is taking the hit on new equipment, allows me to farm quite comfortably and inexpensively

[flea beetle]

Stop buying John Deere.

Farm net incomes haven't changed in years. It's a carefully balanced ratio of charging the absolute max because they know quite well your income. The trick is where do you fall on the bell curve of income and expense on your own operation.

I'm glad someone is taking the hit on new equipment, allows me to farm quite comfortably and inexpensively

If you call $250,000 inexpensive for a 1000 hour combine, or 2500 hour 4wd

And this farm was built largely without the use of any Deere product. Lol

[Partners]

So if you had a do over would you farm all over again?
In my grad class of 44 people.
The 4 of us farmers are still working.
All others have retired..
All travel..golf.visit kids and grand kids.
Not 1 has money issues.
Some can't spend there pensions.
So I for 1 would choose a different path.
No weather or market bullshit..
But like caseih said.fell for the world is going to starve..
GRETA must have said that line to.lol..

[fjlip]

" the world is going to starve..."

Remember that well, except the reason was GLOBAL COOLING scare mongering back the. USSR was doing SFA Ag was in the shitter and hungry. Grain prices spiked in 72-73, woo hoo let's FARM get RICH ! The cheapest ever years to farm, nothing compared to that ever since. Tech has advanced tremendously though, partly the GOOD TIMES.

Same with people/relatives, my age, retired, travelling the planet, NO STRESS.
We ATM, are only saved by land values. Had they NOT increased, we would have ZIP retirement in today's world of living costs, would STILL be peasants.

However if you are young, brave, daring to invest for 30-40 years you might hit a STARVING times and be multi millionaires !

[tweety]

Farmers could have the world by the balls. Just too stupid to make it happen.

[flea beetle]

Farmers could have the world by the balls. Just too stupid to make it happen.

Aren’t you a farmer? Or just saying too stupid to do it collectively?

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Not that I'm advocating for SM to be extended to other sectors but the picture, if we were to, is not as bleak as you portray. As an example beef at ranch level you might call a $50/head margin business - with some type of SM system the margin to the rancher might increase to $400/head (and the store price of beef could remain the same). So instead of needing 200 head a rancher would need 25 head to return the same margin. We wouldn't need to lose any ranchers, they would just need to keep less cattle which in turn allows for a reduction in inputs, reduction in production costs and less overstocked pasture situations.
The same principle would apply to other products to an extent too. Not saying my numbers are accurate but the principle applies. Primary ag producers need to get a bigger share of retail dollar that's the problem.

I get what you are saying, and I'm not against SM. But take your concept to the extreme just for reference. We can do the same with every industry, create artificial shortages to drive up the price paid to the producer, which will exclude our products from the export market, so just produce what we consume domestically, the remaining, and shrunken industries will be financially healthier, it will have a only a minor impact on most consumers bottom line. But we are an exporting nation, that is where our revenue comes from. Sure, we can survive with a few industries being priced out of the world market, but try extending that to grains, and all livestock, and oil, and gas, and potash, and copper, and forest products etc., and soon we have nothing left to "trade" with our trading partners. I really like the idea that we could be a self contained economy, especially considering that we have nearly resource in abundance, but I don't see 35 million people in a sparse cold country having the economies of scale to maintain a modern society without interacting with every other country.

That is the extreme, and likely irrelevant case, of applying SM to all industries, but it applies equally to single industries, if we purposefully price ourselves out of the world markets one at a time. If we don't export beef to South Korea, how do we buy cars, appliances and electronics from them in the long term?
By protecting dairy farmers with SM, what other opportunities are we missing out on from having no meaningful exports, when the sky is literally the limit for dairy production?