Corn, Beans, and Cancun ?

[Stocker Steve]

The sustainability supporters here are trying to convert dirt farmers into holistic grazers by starting them on fall cover crops. The dirt farmers are unhappy with grain prices, and looking for more income, but they don't want to give up wintering on the beach in Cancun. Are you seeing any grazing converts in your area?

 

[Nesikep]

No one around here ever had the luxury or option of Cancun for wintertime

 

[True Grit Farms]

No one around here ever had the luxury or option of Cancun for wintertime

South Florida is full of yankee farmers this time of year. And they love to go fishing, and are really good guys to boot.

 

[pdfangus]

a lot of our crop guys hunt all fall and then vacation in Jan or Feb....a good many go to the big Farm show in Louisville almost every year.....a vacation that is also a write off...diversified guys here are still selling off cattle rather than adding them...

as a cattleman I have been on one vacation in the last thirty years...and that was the year after we sold most of the cows...my buddy and I went horseback riding for three or four days in a state park and camped there over night...

 

[Stocker Steve]

a lot of our crop guys hunt all fall and then vacation in Jan or Feb....

-18 F this AM and the tractor is plugged in :banana:

 

[Stocker Steve]

diversified guys here are still selling off cattle rather than adding them...

We have a big time operator every four miles or so. They have equity and are pretty aggressive on adding ground. Almost all run cattle because we have so much marginal land - - but they are usually a father/son operation, or else they have a hired man. So they can get away if they want. The folks selling off cattle are the operators with 2 wd tractors and less than 30 cows.

 

[1wlimo]

From a pure agronomy point of view they need to change, a two crop rotation leaves yeild on the table and increases weed and disease pressure. Adding cattle, and or small grains is the way forward.

While there are welfare payments from government many will not change.

 

[pdfangus]

diversified guys here are still selling off cattle rather than adding them...

We have a big time operator every four miles or so. They have equity and are pretty aggressive on adding ground. Almost all run cattle because we have so much marginal land - - but they are usually a father/son operation, or else they have a hired man. So they can get away if they want. The folks selling off cattle are the operators with 2 wd tractors and less than 30 cows.

other way around here....the big guys with the multi wheel high HP tractors are the ones divesting of the cows....

 

[Stocker Steve]

other way around here....the big guys with the multi wheel high HP tractors are the ones divesting of the cows....

Are crops that profitable in your area, or are they just playing at farming and have another source of income?

 

[pdfangus]

other way around here....the big guys with the multi wheel high HP tractors are the ones divesting of the cows....

Are crops that profitable in your area, or are they just playing at farming and have another source of income?

most of our big guys are full time farmers and most are multi generational....many operate on a LOT of rented land...

Many are seeking and and producing for specialty markets. but there is a lot of commodity grain as well...we have several guys here in eastern Va who regularly compete in national yield contests and often win.

 

[Aaron]

The sustainability supporters here are trying to convert dirt farmers into holistic grazers by starting them on fall cover crops. The dirt farmers are unhappy with grain prices, and looking for more income, but they don't want to give up wintering on the beach in Cancun. Are you seeing any grazing converts in your area?

If they aren't happy with their income, they should do what every other dirt farmer does and get bigger. They can farm better than the neighbors can anyways. That's the answer right? :lol:

I am sure if facilities are adequate and death loss is not a major concern, the dirt farmers could still go south and hire some neighbor kid to look after the 4-leggers. Obviously grain prices aren't too bad if they can still go south.

 

[Stocker Steve]

most of our big guys are full time farmers and most are multi generational....many operate on a LOT of rented land...

Scale is a wonderful thing (if gross margins are positive).

I asked a successful BTO (who had a son covering during the worst of the winter), why he did not expand his 300 cow herd. His answer was that he did not want to commit that much capital. This was back in 2015...

 

[Stocker Steve]

other way around here....the big guys with the multi wheel high HP tractors are the ones divesting of the cows....

most of our big guys are full time farmers and most are multi generational....many operate on a LOT of rented land...

Could be selling cows to make tractor payments, and pay down the 2016 operating line :nod:

 

[pdfangus]

actually most of our big grain producers divested themselves of cattle before way the big market rise and certainly before the fall...Actually I can only think of a couple of big operations that still have any cattle....

in the flat ground country around here only the mid size and smaller operations still have cattle....the cattle business around here is mostly west of where I am sitting and the farther west in the state we go the bigger the cattle operations...