Ground is a very high priced input here. I just bought the waste ground from the farm south of me (40 acres) as I needed to put in an access road for the gravel pit and I had to pay $3,000 per acre for it.
Tillable acreage around here is bringing as much as $5,000 per acre - - - more if in small tracts.
I raise around 1,500 acres of row crops each year ( corn and soybeans) and feel the cattle I have are a good market for some of the grain. When we had a good market for fat hogs I was feeding out about 2,000 per year and enjoyed it!
I have never fattened over 500 head of cattle per year - - - I have never bought grain for the operations but used the feeding as a vertical intergration for the row crops. With packers getting fewer and farther away most farmers have taken out the fences and work at something else.
I still enjoy the livestock and feel I might put up quite a bit of silage next year and feed calves ( more than just the ones from my herd).
How would a young man get started today? I really don't know. My son is trying but with out my help I don't think he would stand a chance.
Tillable acreage around here is bringing as much as $5,000 per acre - - - more if in small tracts.
I raise around 1,500 acres of row crops each year ( corn and soybeans) and feel the cattle I have are a good market for some of the grain. When we had a good market for fat hogs I was feeding out about 2,000 per year and enjoyed it!
I have never fattened over 500 head of cattle per year - - - I have never bought grain for the operations but used the feeding as a vertical intergration for the row crops. With packers getting fewer and farther away most farmers have taken out the fences and work at something else.
I still enjoy the livestock and feel I might put up quite a bit of silage next year and feed calves ( more than just the ones from my herd).
How would a young man get started today? I really don't know. My son is trying but with out my help I don't think he would stand a chance.
