To everyone with the get agreements from the owner I 100% agree....the land is my dad's right now. I found it at a firesale from the previous owner & his family two years ago. The previous owner was a master developer, and had bought it with big plans. He bought the tractors and most of the equipment and then was transferred out of the country. He sold the entire place turn key for nearly the cost involved in the improvements he made. There was alot of the "family" drama that caused the sale to be so affordable. He had spent a fortune buying things, and then had to leave, he only owned 100 of the 800 acres and so he got the raw end of the deal when it was sold.
Neither here nor there, but long story short, I found the property and wanted it, but could not afford it...My dad wanted an investment piece of property and had plenty of money...He bought it, with a buy/sell agreement for me finding it...I have an option on the land to buy it first if he ever decides to sell...the maximum allowed increase is 4% annually (or the minimum stated by the IRS at the time of sale)...I also pay a small lease on the land to him, to pay the property taxes....the Ag payment comes to me as the "operator" and he pays the taxes from the lease income. The lease is a 15yr lease again with an option to extend at current pricing at the conclusion of the term.
I am responsible for upkeep of everything - no tallo trees - no overgrazing, and all repairs & maintenance. I know I have a good thing and I want to be sure that I can maximize it while I can. I am however not too worried bout the family drama even though I did protect against it....my entire family dads, uncles, cousins, brothers, and even my grandmother all work together in the family engineering company...its 3rd generation at this point and even though there is drama it pans out.
I am buying the cattle with the cash I have been putting aside each year for the cattle only. I am still saving for retirement, maxing IRA's and 401K, as well as hording cash when possible. My wife is an attorney with a great job, and I am thankful to be able to live on my check and save hers b/c of plans of children in the next year or so...
So with that said, I take every bit of advice to heart...I read a book called grass fed cattle, and I am trying to utilize many of his ideas - it was a good book..it seems that many of you are doing what it says...Im going to try to start with his central theme...I am a grass farmer, who uses cows to maintain the grass.
I enjoy the work outside, and think I will enjoy the cattle as much as I spend the money on them....I want to build a herd but at the same time I want to enjoy dong it...Hopefully that works out....I am glad that there are so many opinions on it...it just shows me that everyone is doing it differently, and apparently everyone is enjoying it. If you didnt enjoy it you probably would not take the time to talk about it on here..
I am personally obsessed right now, and I hope to take that obsession and make it into a dream that at a minimum can pay for itself in the long run.