If you had 40 acres......

[Hoosierdaddy]

I am debating what i should do with a farm i bought nearly 20 years ago in S/W Michigan.I have been farming it(growing Blueberries) but it has become clear that over the next few years the chance of profitability is going south.As i get near full retirement age the thought of working this farm grows less and less appealing.The 200 mile round trip from my home is of course an issue.I wish my kids were intrested as there is room for expanding the farm.As of now its a great place to run my dogs.It holds a few woodcock spring to fall but all the grouse and pheasant are long gone.Lots of deer and turkey,but the cost of non-resident license priced me out of enjoying that.

Its like so much stuff in farming its go big or go home.Its funny how as you get older debt and risk get scarier.When i bought the place it did'nt scare me at all.It was a once in a lifetime chance,and i jumped on it.

I am not crying about my situation i could sell the place tommorrow for a nice profit.Just venting about high cost and how the 40 acre farm is a thing of the past.

[DonF]

Doesn't sound like there's a lot of personal attachment to the place and it could finance maybe something else closer to home about the same size that could be a play ground for a retired guy. I don't know how people go into retirement with a big mortgage. Friend of mine did that and she''l work the rest of her life to pay for the thing. Get's $1200 a month from her dead husbands SS and has a payment of over $800 a month. She'd like to have our problem! But she's kind of doppy. If I left her my place, she'd take out a big loan to put a new house on it!

Your place, think I'd sell it. Doesn't sound like there's a personnel attachment to it, the kids don't seem to want it, you keep it and expand and you'll buy yourself a job after retirement. 40 cultivated acre's might buy a pretty nice weed patch close to home.

[MonsterDad]

At your age liquidity is very important and prices are pretty good now.

Hit the bid on that place.

There is a good chance that the crisis of 2008 - 2009 will happen again and it could be much worse.

[RoostersMom]

A good friend of mine eventually sold his nice quail farm to buy one closer to home (smaller, but closer). His wife wouldn't support a "long-distance relationship with a farm." Good choice for him I think. He's got quail right on his place now.

[roaniecowpony]

At 57, I have begun to take financial security more seriously. Its pretty much the only thing I think about daily. My wife and I are working hard to retire in the 5 yr timeframe. A lot depends on how well our investments do. Your land and my investmentsboth seem like they need to mature a bit more. In a few years everything will ramp up before the next presidential election.

[jimbo&rooster]

Its hard to make money on 40ac unless your raising livestock (questionable at that) and its hard to raise live stock if your not there. Depending on the area and other farmers interest in expansion it might be worth selling. 40 is hard to justify keeping as a hunting property unless you are a deer hunter.

In your position I might consider selling and finding something closer to home

Jim

[AZ Brittany Guy]

There are ebb's & flow's to everything. Property value, personal value to the family, etc .etc. I can't tell you how many stories I have heard over the years of people remembering something they had that seemed to have little value (monetary, sentimental or practical) they still wish they had today.

[Hoosierdaddy]

Land value between where i am and michigan are night and day.Michigan ground would get $4000 an acre,while here in Indiana it would fetch $6500.The volitility of price on my fruit has been scary.Blueberries used to be relatively stable.Now you have speculators running the show,much like the gas industry.Wild price swings leads to uncertainty.I used to love doing what i do now it has become a sad joke.

I have the option of a timber sale also,my wooded areas are not in good health because the canopy is so dense.There is not alot of cash there as it is softwood,but a selected cut is in order.

I am probably gonna hang tough for awhile,but losing money on a farm is not an option

[jimbo&rooster]

heck...... losing money on a farm is more than an option.... it is expected from time to time....

But.... at least in my part of the world 40ac with deer and turkeys on it can be a healthy paycheck in its own if you don't mind leasing the hunting rights. You said yourself you don't hunt it

Jim

[Wildweeds]

40 acres of blueberries and ground here goes for 1 million bucks...........I say sell yours

[SetterNut]

My wife and I bought some land 30 min from home. Its been great, cash renting the crop ground, and working on a quail infestation on the rest.
Not going to make much money year to year, but with land prices going up, it should be a good long term investment.

Its also a lot more fun than a mutual fund.

[fuzznut]

I've got 20 acres, house, barn, set up for dog training in Bucks County PA for sale.... downsizing to an island in Florida!! Just in case anyone is looking.....

[Hoosierdaddy]

40 acres of blueberries and ground here goes for 1 million bucks...........I say sell yours

Agreed,i dont have anywhere near 40 acres of fruit 3/4 of the acreage is wooded or pasture type land.Blueberries need acidic soil.When the guy i bought it from planted it,back in the 70's he planted about 25 acres.The majority of the plants died off.About 6,000 plants survived.


I should have said losing big money on a farm is not an option.The weather losses i can deal with.Whats going on these days is a much different story.

[Wildweeds]

Lot's of peat ground here,my uncles have a 40 acre farm my grandad bought in 1945 for almost nothing,it's half peat ground and the upper is sandy loam,they used to dairy,now they feedlot beef in the barns and graze the pastures and hay leased ground.The surrounding forties have all been sold for over a million apeice and then planted with raspberries and blueberries,every parcel has been bought by two families of immigrant east indians,I can't for the life of me figure out how it's even feasible,millions for the ground and then paying for the prepwork and planting of the berries,mind boggling.They do get very high yeilds.And a guy at works mother sold her property for 4 million(160 acres) and carried the contract,the buyers(also east indian imigrants) had her paid off before the plants yeilded it's first crop.All seems fishy to me.

40 acres of blueberries and ground here goes for 1 million bucks...........I say sell yours

Agreed,i dont have anywhere near 40 acres of fruit 3/4 of the acreage is wooded or pasture type land.Blueberries need acidic soil.When the guy i bought it from planted it,back in the 70's he planted about 25 acres.The majority of the plants died off.About 6,000 plants survived.


I should have said losing big money on a farm is not an option.The weather losses i can deal with.Whats going on these days is a much different story.

[aulrich]

I could turn this rig around

[Hoosierdaddy]

Lot's of peat ground here,my uncles have a 40 acre farm my grandad bought in 1945 for almost nothing,it's half peat ground and the upper is sandy loam,they used to dairy,now they feedlot beef in the barns and graze the pastures and hay leased ground.The surrounding forties have all been sold for over a million apeice and then planted with raspberries and blueberries,every parcel has been bought by two families of immigrant east indians,I can't for the life of me figure out how it's even feasible,millions for the ground and then paying for the prepwork and planting of the berries,mind boggling.They do get very high yeilds.And a guy at works mother sold her property for 4 million(160 acres) and carried the contract,the buyers(also east indian imigrants) had her paid off before the plants yeilded it's first crop.All seems fishy to me.

40 acres of blueberries and ground here goes for 1 million bucks...........I say sell yours

Agreed,i dont have anywhere near 40 acres of fruit 3/4 of the acreage is wooded or pasture type land.Blueberries need acidic soil.When the guy i bought it from planted it,back in the 70's he planted about 25 acres.The majority of the plants died off.About 6,000 plants survived.


I should have said losing big money on a farm is not an option.The weather losses i can deal with.Whats going on these days is a much different story.

I dont get it blueberry plants go for $3 apiece for 2 year old plants.At least 1000 plants to the acre.Five years before you get a yeild of any kind.Time, labor ,equiptment.
I dont know how anyone could make any money with that type of cash outlay.