My grandfather came from Germany in 1892. He bought land farmed it and and nearly lost it all in the early 30s.
My father inherited 320 acre from him in the 1950s. My father worked that land and had one and at times two outside jobs to help support the family and grow the land.
Our neighbors bought boats, cruises and other things that had no long term financial value. At the same time my dad was working all these jobs and buying land.
Today, virtually all of the neighbors are out of the farming business, working low wage jobs or retired and living on a string.
The size of my grandfathers 320 acres is well over 2000 acres and is operated by my brother. He and my father were/are good marketers of their crops and livestock and diversified into selling seed, and other revenue producing activities, etc. They understood how to make money and they don't spend it on non productive things, or land that on average cant produce enough revenue to pay for it self. But they picked up a lot of land from people that didn't understand that or let their egos run their business.
That's not to say every year profits were great, but in total, they have been very successful.
I think the prospects in agriculture are very positive for people that want to work hard and run a business. Its not so positive for those that expect the business to run itself.
Last edited by dale06; 01/25/15.
