Why more young people aren't in ag

[nortexsook]

1. You would be hard pressed (it may be impossible) to buy land anywhere in the US that would support the ag enterprise factoring in principal and interest payments.

2. So lease you say. Well lots of these places are under long-term leases. A lease is as hard to find as a needle in a haystack. One reason is the "older" generation will not let go of a place. A 80 year old man still wants to run cattle and is not going to "retire" and let his good lease go to some young whipper-snapper.

3. Urban encroachment, hunting, and ranchettes take a huge chunk of land nationally each and every year. Our ag base is less and less every single year.


Old agsters are the first to decry that the younger generation is "leaving the land" but they either A won't sell or lease to a younger person or B when they do sell they sell to the highest bidder to cash out. This highest bidder is probably looking for a "hunting" ranch or maybe the ranch was divided into ranchettes. In other words the older generation is part and parcel of the problem.

[PureCountry]

You paint a gloomy picture my friend. There is another side to this story. I have heard or read about many success stories of young folks taking over farms and ranches, buying them from family, or even buying them from folks who were just happy to see someone care for it. It does happen. I agree with you that it does NOT in alot of places, but there are sunny spots if you look for them.

In our area, my wife and I are some of the youngest ranchers trying to make a go of it, at 30. We are trying to encourage more of it in our own way, and I plan on pushing a little harder with a visit with our local MLA when he has time to return my calls.

[sic 'em reds]

There are alot of younger farmers and ranchers in our area. We have been fortunate to be able to work with family to lease ground and other folks in the area. The older geneartion is seeing the younger generation working hard to get something put together and most are willing to help in one way or the other.

Too many young people are not willing to put the hard work in anymore, that is one reason kids take other jobs after high scholl or college. My wife's family is having a hard time hiring kids to run balers, when a few years ago they had more kids wanting to help than tractors.

There are alot of opportunities for the younger generation, we just need to be willing and able to put the time in to find the opportunities.

[BRG]

In all reality, if a beginning farmer/rancher don't have help of some sort, it is really tough to get started. I was blessed with the parents I have, and Dad did all he could to help us get started. But if he had not, I really don't know what would have happened. Land it overpriced for ag use and with most of the land selling, you could not even make a payment off the income you would get off of it, nevermind making a living. Iron is so expensive, and then alot of the banks will loan all kinds of money when know one should be buying cows(too expensive) but they won't when they are cheap????? I know of guys who could not get a loan to build or buy a house in the country because the resale value isn't there, so then what.

I know of alot of younger guys in our area who are in ag, but I can only think of one that did it without some family help, but he got a bunch of cheap tribal lease, so I guess he did get some help there.

I am really thankfull that my brothers and I had the help from Mom and Dad, because I love what we do.

[Jinglebob]

I'm 49. Am I young or old. It's just the way it was when I started.

I like BRG had help from a good father and mother. But I haven't been able to expand, what my father had. So far! there is always hope.

Another thought, they say 50 is now the new 30. So maybe we ain't as old as we thought?

I hope to be able to make a living here, while still passing it on to the next generation. thats why we are helping our son establidsh a cowherd. So when the cows can support him, he can lease and buy from us, but he will always have to support us, until we are dead and gone. It's always been that way.

[Silver]

[Denny]

I started with nothing,alot of hard work and my dream is a reality.Though I don't have massive acres that we own by all truths I'm in the cattle business not the land business.I can rent land for alot less than the interest on it per year.I may not own it but does anyone really own the land???It's in our care for the short time were here.Alot of people consider renting a waste of money but I look at it as a business expense.Take for instance my welding shop we use alot of steel but I don't own a steel mill.All we really get out of life is Food and Family if I can make a living farming or ranching I'm happy.I will be 40 this fall and have been at this for 17 years so it has taken that long to get partially established I have been buying some land but not huge parcels sure it would be nice to have a big ranch in one big chunk but reality is if that's what you want to consider yourself a rancher it will not happen unless you are filthy rich or born into it.I am basically building up a ranch for my kids if they are interested but if not who knows maybe find a young person who want's it and give them a helping hand.

[IL Rancher]

Being that I am probably someone who falls into the young in agriculture (God knows I am the same age as most of the farmers kids or even grandkids around here) I can say without the help I have gotten from my FIL. father and grandfather I would not be doing what I am doing today..I couldn't compete for rent on this place if my FIL put it up for rent.. Wouldn't happen.. My grandfather runs some cows here because, wel, agriculutre is a passion of his and he loves visiting and talking cattle instead of corn.. Without those extra cows on the place I would not be able to run the place the way I would like to probably.. Or maybe I would just find a different way.. Dad helped me secure a loan, just like he did the loans my brother took out for Med School..

Expanding beyond what we are doing now? That is going to take some time.. Every yeasr I seem to larn a different lesson about what can go wrong.. I am tired of some of these lessons but as longa s ou don't make the same mistakes over, and over again I guess that is okay... I do kno with crop land going out at 210-240+ an acre with the corn market and land pushing over 4000 an acre for ground that is only ever going to be farm ground it makes it hard to pencil.. Had it penciled when crop prics were cheaper as where rent prices but now.. Yeesh...

Looking at the other families around here I can say a lot of them are making some mistakes (At least IMO) about setting up their future.. Junior is going to take over but he is 40 years old and still not doing much of anything but being a plow jock.. Doesn't make any decisions, isn't involved in the finances of the farm.. Seen a couple farms blow up after senior passed away.. Some suriv too but it seems to be a bit of trial by fire.

[DOC HARRIS]

In reading these various posts revealing the difficult and rather foreboding potential for the future of Agricultural Enterprises that these Ranchers have related today, I am struck by ONE major factor which will carry ALL of them through the tough lives that they have chosen: they LOVE what they are doing! THAT is the primary decision one must make when deciding the kind of life style they wish to follow. One MUST enjoy what they decide to do for the rest of their lives.

...and THAT is where CattleToday, Ranchers.net, College educations, and understanding HOW to access helpful information from the internet, libraries, and any other sources which will give aid and ideas to enable one to make a success of their efforts comes into being! Never fail to stretch your mind and continue learning. Don't just ask for a quick answer to a question - LOOK IT UP - and that will help you to remember it.

Being able to think, use your head and capitalize on opportunities is what sustained human beings from day ONE, and it will sustain you today.

I am older than most of you on these Forums - yea - possibly older than ANY of you! I have probably done more of a variety of DIFFERENT occupations than most of you, and I can tell you, FROM EXPERIENCE, that NOTHING that you attempt is EASY, particularly if you don't enjoy doing it!

Hang in there, Tiger, and LEARN the most that you can about your chosen field. . .and 'financing' your business is one of the primary factors in being successful. There are many ways to skin a cat, and by the same token, there are many ways to achieve the goals that you set - and that is another secret to success; ESTABLISH GOALS and write them down and attach them to the refrigerator door - and READ them every day. Believe it or not - that is critically important! It not only reminds you of what you want, but it helps you decide on HOW to get it!

...and..."READ THEM EVERY DAY" means . . ."READ- - THEM- - EVERY - - DAY!" That will help you to automatically AVOID doing dumb things which will interfere with and hinder your doing what is necessary to reach your goals.

THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS at ALL times! You may scoff at these suggestions - but I can tell you - it is CRITICAL for success.

If you will diligently follow through with these ideas and advice - you will be amazed what good blessings you will receive.

DOC HARRIS

[PureCountry]

Doc, that was quite possibly my favorite post you have ever put up. I love the fact that you are positive. Thanks for that, and reminding everyone to keep their goals in focus. You are 100% right, that is crucial. The wife and I have a sheet of poster board on the wall in our office, and we have one column for the ranch's long term goals, one for her personal goals, and one for my personal goals. Of course, my personal goals are always just the same as the ranch goals. I've been told that's unhealthy, but so is whisky, I can't help it, I'm Irish.

[MN Farm Girl]

Well said. Dad has always said that it doesn't matter what I pick for an occupation, as long as I enjoy what I'm doing. If you don't enjoy it you won't make a success, and be unhappy for the rest of your life.

MN Farm Girl

[rainie]

Yep, good post Doc. I really enjoy reading your posts and hope you do more because I think you have a lot of knowledge to share. My wife and I started with absolutely nothing and I mean nothing. Running water meant grabbing a 5 gallon pail of water and start running...literally. We had no help from our parents. The biggest reason is probably because we were both really stubborn and wanted to make a go of it on our own. We never did ask for any help even though it would have helped alot in the beginning. We started out renting land and both of us working off the farm. Every penny we could save went back into purchasing cows or horses. Little by little we built up our cowherd to the point that we bought our first piece of land and have continued on from there. I spent a lot of nights baling hay all night and going back to work the next day. Also pounding posts and stringing wire by moonlight. We don't have a huge cowherd or a huge landbase. Our sole income is from the ranch as neither of us are working out. I quess the point I am trying to make is that if we had let our parents help us, I don't think that we would have felt the same feeling of accomplishment as we do. Also, as of right now we have one son who wants to come back to ranch, and the other one we're not sure yet. I just hope they didn't inherit their parents stubborn streak I'm more than willing to help them out though, and that means letting them make their own mistakes.