I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to make more money. Short, of getting off my arse and going to work before 8 a.m.- I am the lazyfarmer.
I have lined up storage for 20 tonnes of barley but so far I have only sold 3 and I have no truck to get the barley if I could find anyone to sell me the barley. I could sell Orin's grass pellets but so far I have found no buyers and I have no truck and can't seem to hire anyone to haul them.
I am selling small bales of Timothy hay for $110 per ton which is a little low but it is moving much better than the big bales. There are so many incompetent people baling hay it is hard to compete except by word of mouth.
Planting is basically over for the year.
Today I am going to grind feed and if I get done I am going to pull the engine on the 2-155. Next I am going to finish up on the corn planter as we have 160 acres of corn to plant for people all on May 1st.
I may go to look at this truck again. (Click here) It runs good and doesn't leak oil but doesn't have a hoist. We don't actually have a working flatbed truck that we can get more than five miles from home with so if I bought it I would figure on using it for the summer and then taking a bed and hoist off of another truck and putting on it this winter. I could pay for the truck with a couple loads of scrap. But, that would require me getting some help and I don't know about that.
Things I want to buy....
Baler $7,000-$17,000 This is the one I could get without driving and it is from the dealer I bought my drill from and he delivers. This one is much less money... and is almost MM energy yellow.
Loup Monitor for the corn planter, (I'm not buying it unless Ed Winkle says I should.) $1,600
This truck which I am kind of unsure about but think I just about have to buy. The reason it is cheap is that it is old and has an undesirable engine and the 13spd shifter handle leaks air really bad. Wish it was a 3208 cat.
12 tonnes of barley at $280 per ton.
So you see I could spend a lot of money if I had it. The baler would be %20 down and I could keep it really busy. I think it would help my hay sales a lot. But... I can't predict how much. I don't think I have time to fuss with a cheap baler, like the ones we have. I think I have to go really fast this summer. But, I can't quantify this in any way. So...as I don't have the down payment anyway I think I will pass...
Not buying a planter monitor although if I continue custom planting I will have to do so. I wish I could use my drill monitor. Don't think i should disable my drill.
Can't find any barley cheap.
Truck is old.
No one will help me do scrap.
I think I will work on the 2-155 and the corn planter and the sprayer and kind of hunker down. I really think if I had a $15,000 cash I could make some money even in this down economy.
I have come to realize over the years that I am not the sort who takes the right risks and makes a lot of cash. Rather, I have to work hard at something and do a good job and build up a customer base and make less money.
The sad thing is that if all the broke people who owe me money would pay, I'd have the drill payment taken care of and I could buy barley or a truck or put a down payment on a baler. $2,000 chicken feed + $1,500 hay sales + $1,200 hay sales that is supposedly in payment for future trucking + $1,200 planting = nothing, they can't afford to pay me and I know it. I'll get the planting money in trucking so I should discount that, but that is a long story so it is on my list...
Such is life...I will now stop whining and get my daughter off to school!
Have a nice day....
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Timbergreen Farm Story Of Sustainability
4 hours ago
Isee I have nothing to complain about here in flooded Sask. There is good potential to make money here on most of the crops we grow. The only catch is, in some cases over half our fields are flooded and its time we were out there working ground but it is impossible until we get some drying weather. There is still a month before its too late to plant cereals, even oilseeds. But after that it becomes a big gamble with early fall frosts.
ReplyDeleteRalph, wheat prices are good and so are other grains. Annual Ryegrasss is up in price. We don't grow grain corn much so it is either sweetcorn or silage. Those prices are good IF you get an outstanding yield and don't suffer frost, flood, or famine. We deal with the first two issues on our farm.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is getting a good yield with the cold wet weather we have been having. I shouldn't complain as we were doing well when the midwest was flooded in previous years. I am just trying to figure out the next best thing.
I keep hearing that "value-added" is the way to go. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGorges, this value added thing is kind of BS. I did some value added barley today and I ending up working incredibly hard for $125 worth of pig feed.
ReplyDeleteYou would rather have a 3208 than a 6-71? There's a lot more potential for terrorizing the good people of Amity with the Jimmy. I personally like to go through Monroe a gear under what I should be in.
ReplyDeleteThe air shifter knob is an easy fix. I let one of ours get so bad that it fell apart on the road last year. 1 or 2 new o-rings is usually all it takes.
The truck ad says $4,000.00 in recent receipts. For what? Are they cutting their losses & getting out from under the next upcoming repair they are not telling you about? Looks too good for the price without a catch.
ReplyDeleteOrin, If I go deaf will I still be able to enjoy the Legendary stardust Cowboy? Don't you think the noise would upset the patrons of the local upscale restaurant? Do you think I could afford to drive down to get a load of feed from you?
ReplyDeleteMuddyValley, The truck is just old and it has a Detroit 671 diesel engine. It is actually in good repair. One of the rear ends locked up on I-5 in Portland. They replaced the rear end, put a new supercharger on the ending, and checked out the truck. Why would anyone but a broke farmer buy a 1978 tandem axle truck with a noisy old motor? All it is worth is what it would bring for scrap. I think that would be around $1800.
"Why would anyone but a broke farmer buy a 1978 tandem axle truck with a noisy old motor?"
ReplyDeleteWhy am I still driving a 72 IH that sucks gas?
I'm driving a 71 because I enjoy living debt free in this economy (or any economy for that matter).
ReplyDeleteMuddy, because you have a pathetic farmer for a renter...
ReplyDeleteRalph, I got my 1964 studebaker running again to save on gas. wish it were a pickup.