One of the most important things for agriculture that happened the past year not mentioned in the usual farm papers was the arrival of several farm animal genome studies. The one nearest to most of us is the genome of the cow, published in the journal Science for the 24th of April, 2009.
Cattle, Bos taurus (European type cattle) and Bos taurus indicus (India derived breeds) are not closely related to humans in their genetics, compared to many other species. They are specialized for converting low-quality forage into energy dense fat, muscle and milk. They were domesticated 8,000 to 10,000 years ago in the Near East. There are presently about 800 breeds. This variability allows study of genetic and variable traits, including milk production economic gain and tenderness. The most detailed sequencing was done on a Limousine, with comparison to other breeds.
They have 26,835 genes, somewhat more than humans, including about 22,000 genes responsible for coding proteins. It was observed they have many more genes for lactation and immunity than humans. The greater number of immunity genes may be the result of the huge number of different microorganisms in the rumen (which present greater opportunities for infection) or due to the herd life habit of cattle. Another important difference is that in humans passive immunity is gained by placental transfer, but in cattle it occurs by ingestion of immunoglobin IgG in colostrum. Core metabolism is very similar among all mammals
A second article in the same issue studied genetic variation in breeds. It conclude that variation was at least a great in cattle as in humans, in spite of constraints imposed by domestication and breed development. European and indian type cattle diverged 250,000 years ago and the Indian type have somewhat greater genetic diversity. European breeds are now so standardized they might have been breed from 200 to 300 cattle 200 years ago. This is believed to be to breed selection pressures and subsequent selection for milk or beef. Loss of diversity should be of concern to animal breeders, the authors suggest. Statistical evidence shows some of the highest selection pressure was in the genes affecting double muscling, milk yield and composition and intra- muscular fat content.
The genome of the horse, Equus caballus, was published in November. The horse was tremendously important most of recorded history for transportation, draft animals and for warfare from before the time of Alexander the Great to World War II. It is now primarily relegated to recreation, but is of interest to science and medicine because so many of the diseases of man also occur in horses.
Horse DNA is more similar to human than Cattle DNA, and we share many communicable diseases and at least 90 hereditary diseases with them. The most detailed sequencing was done on a Thoroughbred with comparisons to most of the world’s other horse breeds, including American quarter horse, Andalusian, Arabian, Belgian draft horse, Hanoverian, Hakkaido, Icelandic horse, Norwegian fjord horse and Standard bred. The horse genome is smaller than the cattle and human genomes, but larger than the dog genome. One of the remarkable characteristics of the horse genome is how few chromosomal rearrangements there are between it and the human genome.
A second article shows that horses were domesticated in and around Kazakhstan some 5500 years ago. Colors developed rapidly after domestication as the result of selective breeding by ancient farmers.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Tips for Efficiency
1. When driving the tractor some distance, try to make use of the trip in both directions. If you are on the hill to feed and have a little time, pick up downed limbs and move them to a place to burn or otherwise dispose of them. You can pick up rocks at a remote area and drop them in a road to fill a hole. If you need large rocks to make check dams, carry them off the hill when you return from feeding, don’t make special trips.
2. Store bales near where they are grown, then feed them back on the meadow. Use temporary string fences to protect the bales when you pasture the meadow. Do this if the mud doesn’t get to be a problem.
3. Large trees of useless species or otherwise unsuitable for timber can be removed by burning brush around them.
4. Someone who cuts firewood can be given rights to cut up downed and carry away unusable trees. They can also help clean up after timber cutting operations.
5. If you have pole timber you can cut (or can buy cheaply) pole sheds are a very cheap way to build storage sheds. Use locust poles in the ground. White oak poles or maple make the best rafters. Avoid using hickory, because it rots so easily and there are insects that burrow in the dry wood.
6. If you pick up small rocks in one place, that improves the pastue. They then can be used in roads in place of purchased gravel. Have your children pick them up. Creek gravel is illegal if taken from streams under the control of the Army Corps of Engineers.
7. All lumber should be “sticked up” and kept in the dry with a roof. Have the sawyer make sticks one inch thick and two or three inches wide to use for this purpose. Poplar lasts well in use, but piles of it are subject to boring insects which weaken the lumber and make piles of dust. It is best to use poplar within a year or two of the time it is sawed out.
8. Decking screws now available are much better fasteners than nails for gates, especially, and about every thing else. Also, use the appropriate screws for metal roofing.
9. Keep the tools necessary for what you can do. Don’t be in the position of having to borrow or buy them when a crisis occurs. If you are in the farming business for the long haul this is one of the best investments you can make. Have fencing tools, convenient tools for the mechanic work you will do on your machinery, simple woodworking tools at least. They save time and when you can do it yourself it saves money.
10. Maintain good relations with your neighbors. It’s worth the extra effort to avoid a perpetual fight. Be a good neighbor. Stop and talk occasionally, plow out their driveway when it snows if you have equipment, let them hunt, pick mushrooms, cut wiener sticks, etc. It helps when the cows are out or you accidentally spill dirt or hay on the road, when the odors get strong or other unliked things characteristic of farming industry occur that you don’t have control over. Pulling their car out of the ditch requires a little more care, because a tractor can damage the car. I mention that damage might occur if it is not hooked right, and insist the other man hook his car up. If it is a woman, custom pretty much demands you get down in the dirt, but be careful what you connect to. After a while being a good neighbor gets to be a habit and doesn’t cost any effort. They will pay you back in the same way.
11. Borrow only for things that will make you more money than the borrowed money will cost. Sometimes the benefit is hard to figure out in advance, be careful. Particularly, don’t run a big, expensive truck for personal transportation.
12. Feed cattle in the late afternoon or evening. If you feed in the morning 60-65% of the calves come in the dark. If you feed in the evening 60-65% come in daylight. If you are able to attend them, you have light. Even if you do not, it helps with the predators.
13. Unless you trade a lot, hire your trucking. Put the capital elsewhere.
14. Look for drains, pipelines and other buried stuff when there is a slight skift of snow on the ground, not enough to cover it. The depressions will catch blowing snow and become more conspicuous.
15. Breakers across roads need a little more stone than the rest of the rock based road. If you just put soft dirt from the ditch across the lower side, it will be broken down in a short time. When the breaker gets leveled out and won’t divert water add a three or four inch high row of stone about the size of one or two fists along the lower side and shovel soft dirt from the ditch over it to seal it. After you drive across it a few times it will not seem too high, because the rocks will be driven into the road base below and the soft dirt on top will be forced into the cracks between the rocks.
16. When building a culvert only the downstream side of the fill around the pipe needs to be secured, unless it is two and a half feet high or more. Use a wall of rocks, a concrete wall or some such on the lower side. The reason is that the stream only pushes gently on the upper side. What washes it out, if not properly constructed, is the current down from the top to stream level on the downstream side. When you build a culvert you must constantly watch for sticks that wash downstream and block the entrance to the pipe. Unless you must have a high quality stream crossing, fill in some with stones and be sure to have a stone area below the drop off to rceive any water fall to prevent it from washing out below the crossing. Once again, this applies to intermittent (dry up in a dry time) streams only. Streams with continuous flow are controlled by the Crops of Engineers. See your Natural Resources Conservation Agent about crossings, etc. of these steams.
17. Never hit the same stone twice with a mower or brush hog. Dump stones you pick up in the field into gullies or other spots where they will help, or use them for check dams in runs to prevent rapid runoff. Small rocks make road material.
18. Keep a barrel or two of diesel fuel and equipment to take it out of the barrel by hand in case of power outage or delayed delivery of a new tank of fuel.
19. Keep you fences up in fairly good shape. It’s better than chasing cattle. Use high tensile electric and keep the bottom wire about 17 inches above ground, to keep the grass off. They won’t crawl under that height.
20. Maintain a supply of bolts, nuts and small parts you use often. Don’t have to run to the store for small parts. Same for lubricants like SAE 85W-90, or WD-40. You loose time and money running to the store.
22. Check over machinery before you use it. Seasonal equipment should be repaired and good shape before you put it in storage or during the storage season.
23. Sheds are far cheaper than buying new machines. Don’t let machinery stand out in the weather unless you have it covered. Acid rain isn’t talked about as much as it once was, but it is still with us.
24. Keep a list on your computer of where you buy things on the net. Keep all the information needed for ordering, such as parts numbers, and the internet address.
25. Where possible, make trails along your fences so you can ride the four-wheeler to check fence.
26. Avoid culverts as much as possible. Use rocked stream crossings. Culverts are a nuisance because they stop up all the time. It takes only a few floating sticks to block the opening of a small culvert.
27. The two most convenient ways to thaw frozen locks are: a) Hold the lock in your hands for a minute or so. This is for young, warm-blooded guys, and it is good for a few degrees below freezing. b) For the rest of us and for really cold temperatures take a container of hot water from your house and pour half a glass or so on the lock. Water has about ten times the heat capacity as steel and it doesn’t require huge amounts of hot water.
28. Just as snow can help you find depressions caused by pipe ditches and other recent ground excavations, heavy rains can help you find seeps in your fields. Drive around after a heavy rain and keep your eyes open for unusual wet spots, or water draining down a low place in the hillside. This indicates the water table is above ground while it is rainy, and it means the water table will be nearer to the surface than other places in the field at other times, as well. In heavily traveled places it may be worth a drain.
2. Store bales near where they are grown, then feed them back on the meadow. Use temporary string fences to protect the bales when you pasture the meadow. Do this if the mud doesn’t get to be a problem.
3. Large trees of useless species or otherwise unsuitable for timber can be removed by burning brush around them.
4. Someone who cuts firewood can be given rights to cut up downed and carry away unusable trees. They can also help clean up after timber cutting operations.
5. If you have pole timber you can cut (or can buy cheaply) pole sheds are a very cheap way to build storage sheds. Use locust poles in the ground. White oak poles or maple make the best rafters. Avoid using hickory, because it rots so easily and there are insects that burrow in the dry wood.
6. If you pick up small rocks in one place, that improves the pastue. They then can be used in roads in place of purchased gravel. Have your children pick them up. Creek gravel is illegal if taken from streams under the control of the Army Corps of Engineers.
7. All lumber should be “sticked up” and kept in the dry with a roof. Have the sawyer make sticks one inch thick and two or three inches wide to use for this purpose. Poplar lasts well in use, but piles of it are subject to boring insects which weaken the lumber and make piles of dust. It is best to use poplar within a year or two of the time it is sawed out.
8. Decking screws now available are much better fasteners than nails for gates, especially, and about every thing else. Also, use the appropriate screws for metal roofing.
9. Keep the tools necessary for what you can do. Don’t be in the position of having to borrow or buy them when a crisis occurs. If you are in the farming business for the long haul this is one of the best investments you can make. Have fencing tools, convenient tools for the mechanic work you will do on your machinery, simple woodworking tools at least. They save time and when you can do it yourself it saves money.
10. Maintain good relations with your neighbors. It’s worth the extra effort to avoid a perpetual fight. Be a good neighbor. Stop and talk occasionally, plow out their driveway when it snows if you have equipment, let them hunt, pick mushrooms, cut wiener sticks, etc. It helps when the cows are out or you accidentally spill dirt or hay on the road, when the odors get strong or other unliked things characteristic of farming industry occur that you don’t have control over. Pulling their car out of the ditch requires a little more care, because a tractor can damage the car. I mention that damage might occur if it is not hooked right, and insist the other man hook his car up. If it is a woman, custom pretty much demands you get down in the dirt, but be careful what you connect to. After a while being a good neighbor gets to be a habit and doesn’t cost any effort. They will pay you back in the same way.
11. Borrow only for things that will make you more money than the borrowed money will cost. Sometimes the benefit is hard to figure out in advance, be careful. Particularly, don’t run a big, expensive truck for personal transportation.
12. Feed cattle in the late afternoon or evening. If you feed in the morning 60-65% of the calves come in the dark. If you feed in the evening 60-65% come in daylight. If you are able to attend them, you have light. Even if you do not, it helps with the predators.
13. Unless you trade a lot, hire your trucking. Put the capital elsewhere.
14. Look for drains, pipelines and other buried stuff when there is a slight skift of snow on the ground, not enough to cover it. The depressions will catch blowing snow and become more conspicuous.
15. Breakers across roads need a little more stone than the rest of the rock based road. If you just put soft dirt from the ditch across the lower side, it will be broken down in a short time. When the breaker gets leveled out and won’t divert water add a three or four inch high row of stone about the size of one or two fists along the lower side and shovel soft dirt from the ditch over it to seal it. After you drive across it a few times it will not seem too high, because the rocks will be driven into the road base below and the soft dirt on top will be forced into the cracks between the rocks.
16. When building a culvert only the downstream side of the fill around the pipe needs to be secured, unless it is two and a half feet high or more. Use a wall of rocks, a concrete wall or some such on the lower side. The reason is that the stream only pushes gently on the upper side. What washes it out, if not properly constructed, is the current down from the top to stream level on the downstream side. When you build a culvert you must constantly watch for sticks that wash downstream and block the entrance to the pipe. Unless you must have a high quality stream crossing, fill in some with stones and be sure to have a stone area below the drop off to rceive any water fall to prevent it from washing out below the crossing. Once again, this applies to intermittent (dry up in a dry time) streams only. Streams with continuous flow are controlled by the Crops of Engineers. See your Natural Resources Conservation Agent about crossings, etc. of these steams.
17. Never hit the same stone twice with a mower or brush hog. Dump stones you pick up in the field into gullies or other spots where they will help, or use them for check dams in runs to prevent rapid runoff. Small rocks make road material.
18. Keep a barrel or two of diesel fuel and equipment to take it out of the barrel by hand in case of power outage or delayed delivery of a new tank of fuel.
19. Keep you fences up in fairly good shape. It’s better than chasing cattle. Use high tensile electric and keep the bottom wire about 17 inches above ground, to keep the grass off. They won’t crawl under that height.
20. Maintain a supply of bolts, nuts and small parts you use often. Don’t have to run to the store for small parts. Same for lubricants like SAE 85W-90, or WD-40. You loose time and money running to the store.
22. Check over machinery before you use it. Seasonal equipment should be repaired and good shape before you put it in storage or during the storage season.
23. Sheds are far cheaper than buying new machines. Don’t let machinery stand out in the weather unless you have it covered. Acid rain isn’t talked about as much as it once was, but it is still with us.
24. Keep a list on your computer of where you buy things on the net. Keep all the information needed for ordering, such as parts numbers, and the internet address.
25. Where possible, make trails along your fences so you can ride the four-wheeler to check fence.
26. Avoid culverts as much as possible. Use rocked stream crossings. Culverts are a nuisance because they stop up all the time. It takes only a few floating sticks to block the opening of a small culvert.
27. The two most convenient ways to thaw frozen locks are: a) Hold the lock in your hands for a minute or so. This is for young, warm-blooded guys, and it is good for a few degrees below freezing. b) For the rest of us and for really cold temperatures take a container of hot water from your house and pour half a glass or so on the lock. Water has about ten times the heat capacity as steel and it doesn’t require huge amounts of hot water.
28. Just as snow can help you find depressions caused by pipe ditches and other recent ground excavations, heavy rains can help you find seeps in your fields. Drive around after a heavy rain and keep your eyes open for unusual wet spots, or water draining down a low place in the hillside. This indicates the water table is above ground while it is rainy, and it means the water table will be nearer to the surface than other places in the field at other times, as well. In heavily traveled places it may be worth a drain.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Borrowed Money
(caution: some concentration needed)
“Borrowed money” is somewhat of a misnomer. It should be called “rented money.” You have to return the money, but you have to pay for the use of it. The “rent” or fee for the use of the “capital” is called the “interest,” or “rate.” The amount you borrow is the “principal.” The person who lends you the money has great advantages in law and in practice.
In practice, “they” loan to many people and talk to other lenders. Lenders (collectively) have the law written governing loans. You, on the other hand, have, at most, some limited ability to discuss borrowing with other borrowers, but few borrowers are familiar with customary terms and conditions of loaning. You, borrowing infrequently, have to deal from a position of ignorance. It is important to understand the terms of a loan: such things as repayment dates, how interest is figured, and what happens in case of default (if you can’t make a payment). Some terms of a loan are a matter of law, such things as disclosure of terms and conditions, maximum interest, recording loans with the County court (so you can’t get loans from several lenders and they can’t be repaid), what happens if you default, details requiring spouse’s signature, and so on.
In some cases you will keep the money p for a certain length of time, and pay it back with interest p + i. Sometimes the interest is taken out of the money you borrow, p dollars minus i, and then you pay back p dollars. This inflates the amount of income the lender makes for the same interest rate. Commonly, however, you make a series of payments. In some cases you make a payment of p/n dollars at the end of each of n periods of length t, and pay the interest on the total amount you still owe along with each payment, giving a declining payment. Also it is relatively simple algebra to calculate uniform payments, so you pay the same amount each time. Sometimes you make payments for several periods, then have a “balloon payment,” which can be paid off, or refinanced.
It is best to borrow from a reputable institution or a person you can trust. An institution familiar with production agriculture will cut you some slack on weather and the like. A bank will not, unless they know farming. Most industries do not have the variability of weather, unstable markets, etc., as farming does.
The only other feasible choice is to borrow from family, if it is available. If you borrow from an individual who makes this a practice, they may be looking for a sucker. Such an individual will be looking to take your security.
When you borrow money you are, in effect, doing business with a psychopath. (More accurately, has many of the characteristics of dissociative identity disorder. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissocial_personality_disorder )
The lender is a psychopath as a matter of law. You have to pay on time no matter what your needs are. If you have an accident, even an “Act of God” as the law puts it, a pure accident, with no fault of your own, you must pay on time. If a family member has a life and death need for cash (say an operation) you have to come up with your payment anyway. Don’t get over extended! Insurance is a must in case the borrower dies, too, if you want heirs to retain the property. The heirs will often get only a fraction of what it is worth if it is lost.
If you have property beyond indebtedness you can manage, you can think of it as a pillow against the financial uncertainties of life – you can give up some of it for certain other, greater needs, but you cannot “give up” what is in borrowed capital.
In farming you can frequently add enough value to cattle to be able to borrow for immature animals and then sell them at maturity, or sell their offspring. Prices may go down, but value increases considerably. Machines are a little more risky, because they take several years to pay for, but you can do custom work to fill in for payments. Substantial buildings take still longer to pay for, and usually there aren’t any other income possibilities for them beyond the intended use. Pole sheds made from timber cut on the farm is a good bet if you need something but don’t want to invest heavily and pay additional taxes on a good building. Land will take twenty years or more, and paying for it depends on the general economic times and the prospects for the industry. Good land that you can get over and is clear, and adjacent land (so you don’t have to transport machines and cattle, and waste time in travel, and have common fence between you tracts) is important. Proper pens, fences, chutes and tools can be worked into as you need them.
Finally, it is a good business technique to maintain a certain level of indebtedness, even if you can pay it all back. The borrowed money, if it is properly invested can help you grow. “Properly invested” means that the enterprise is capable of paying the interest, paying back the principle anytime you decide to, and justifies your work and management. “Too much” borrowed means that the risk of a declining economy, accidents to key people, and other risks make it impossible to repay.
Historical note: In the past there were “on demand” loans, between persons, mostly. You paid interest and principal on schedule, but the lender could call it all back any time he wanted to, a great evil. This was a business of some persons who acquired extensive lands by it, and made the “Great Depression” of the 1930’s worse.
“Borrowed money” is somewhat of a misnomer. It should be called “rented money.” You have to return the money, but you have to pay for the use of it. The “rent” or fee for the use of the “capital” is called the “interest,” or “rate.” The amount you borrow is the “principal.” The person who lends you the money has great advantages in law and in practice.
In practice, “they” loan to many people and talk to other lenders. Lenders (collectively) have the law written governing loans. You, on the other hand, have, at most, some limited ability to discuss borrowing with other borrowers, but few borrowers are familiar with customary terms and conditions of loaning. You, borrowing infrequently, have to deal from a position of ignorance. It is important to understand the terms of a loan: such things as repayment dates, how interest is figured, and what happens in case of default (if you can’t make a payment). Some terms of a loan are a matter of law, such things as disclosure of terms and conditions, maximum interest, recording loans with the County court (so you can’t get loans from several lenders and they can’t be repaid), what happens if you default, details requiring spouse’s signature, and so on.
In some cases you will keep the money p for a certain length of time, and pay it back with interest p + i. Sometimes the interest is taken out of the money you borrow, p dollars minus i, and then you pay back p dollars. This inflates the amount of income the lender makes for the same interest rate. Commonly, however, you make a series of payments. In some cases you make a payment of p/n dollars at the end of each of n periods of length t, and pay the interest on the total amount you still owe along with each payment, giving a declining payment. Also it is relatively simple algebra to calculate uniform payments, so you pay the same amount each time. Sometimes you make payments for several periods, then have a “balloon payment,” which can be paid off, or refinanced.
It is best to borrow from a reputable institution or a person you can trust. An institution familiar with production agriculture will cut you some slack on weather and the like. A bank will not, unless they know farming. Most industries do not have the variability of weather, unstable markets, etc., as farming does.
The only other feasible choice is to borrow from family, if it is available. If you borrow from an individual who makes this a practice, they may be looking for a sucker. Such an individual will be looking to take your security.
When you borrow money you are, in effect, doing business with a psychopath. (More accurately, has many of the characteristics of dissociative identity disorder. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissocial_personality_disorder )
The lender is a psychopath as a matter of law. You have to pay on time no matter what your needs are. If you have an accident, even an “Act of God” as the law puts it, a pure accident, with no fault of your own, you must pay on time. If a family member has a life and death need for cash (say an operation) you have to come up with your payment anyway. Don’t get over extended! Insurance is a must in case the borrower dies, too, if you want heirs to retain the property. The heirs will often get only a fraction of what it is worth if it is lost.
If you have property beyond indebtedness you can manage, you can think of it as a pillow against the financial uncertainties of life – you can give up some of it for certain other, greater needs, but you cannot “give up” what is in borrowed capital.
In farming you can frequently add enough value to cattle to be able to borrow for immature animals and then sell them at maturity, or sell their offspring. Prices may go down, but value increases considerably. Machines are a little more risky, because they take several years to pay for, but you can do custom work to fill in for payments. Substantial buildings take still longer to pay for, and usually there aren’t any other income possibilities for them beyond the intended use. Pole sheds made from timber cut on the farm is a good bet if you need something but don’t want to invest heavily and pay additional taxes on a good building. Land will take twenty years or more, and paying for it depends on the general economic times and the prospects for the industry. Good land that you can get over and is clear, and adjacent land (so you don’t have to transport machines and cattle, and waste time in travel, and have common fence between you tracts) is important. Proper pens, fences, chutes and tools can be worked into as you need them.
Finally, it is a good business technique to maintain a certain level of indebtedness, even if you can pay it all back. The borrowed money, if it is properly invested can help you grow. “Properly invested” means that the enterprise is capable of paying the interest, paying back the principle anytime you decide to, and justifies your work and management. “Too much” borrowed means that the risk of a declining economy, accidents to key people, and other risks make it impossible to repay.
Historical note: In the past there were “on demand” loans, between persons, mostly. You paid interest and principal on schedule, but the lender could call it all back any time he wanted to, a great evil. This was a business of some persons who acquired extensive lands by it, and made the “Great Depression” of the 1930’s worse.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Thinking about buying land and farming
The largest investment required for farming is land. The value of the land you farm has little relation to your income, however, since other factors, such as location and development prospects, may influence the price it would be appraised at. You can farm land you don’t own, and that may be your best bet. Rent may be less expensive than buying additional land. If you rent, obviously you must figure gain by calculating the income from farming, and subtract the rent or annual lease. The true gain from the rented land is what you make farming plus what the rent seeker gets from you in rent.
If you are buying land you have to figure gain by calculating the income, subtracting the payment and adding the annual change in value of the land (which may be plus or minus). The change in value of the land is quite difficult to determine. It will surely be a matter of expert opinion, since appreciation of the land (or depreciation) is highly subjective. The exact figure will change from year to year, too. It may be more or less for you than the average guy who comes along.
Land is a very large chunk of your capital and many farmers won’t be in a position to do this kind of calculation. If you want to buy land, you do so because the opportunity comes up, and you want to take a shot at it. You bet you can “make payments” until it is yours. It is done on faith (interest won’t get too high, no accident in the family, government policy won’t change too much, markets wont change too much, etc.) Truly, you see your shot and you take it. Definitely a judgment call for most folks. Better to have a chunk to put “down.”
If you really need this figure, your lending agency may be you best help since they sometimes need a figure based on the market value of the land.
Farming on someone else’s land is a good bet, if you have at least few acres of your own and can negotiate a long term deal. (See more details below.)
In a livestock operation the second largest investment is in cattle. There is a pretty direct relation between the worth of your cattle in a breeding operation and your income prospects. The number of animals you have to sell is related to the number of breeding stock, and the price received is related to their quality. Efficiency is getting as many calves out of the cows as possible and getting as much weight on them as possible. And it also includes good marketing, getting as much as possible for them.
Your third largest investment should be machinery. This should be as small as possible. Machinery ages and in time has to be replaced. It is taxed. You want what will be the least investment that will get the job done in the time and with the labor available. You need tools for all you might want to do, and these accumulate. Some are lost (fencing tools especially), but most are a lifetime investment, and don’t really depreciate. Do you need a large truck? A dump truck, a cattle trailer, a bulldozer, a back hoe? Don’t buy things that can be hired or leased more cheaply. (This is what your community connections are for, in part. They allow you to find out where these things can be obtained and what they cost.) Buying additional equipment implies you have to have more storage, too, a place to put them under cover. But you may justify the additional investment if you plan to do custom work – a stump grinder, for example. But if you justify a piece of machinery this way, you have to do the sales work to get this custom work.
The fourth investment is development. You must have fences and stock handling facilities as a minimum. These are a kicker if you have to build them on someone else’s land. You really need sheds for all equipment, which will be on your own land, of course. You don’t need much. Sheds made of poles cut on the farm are quite adequate, and inexpensive, but be sure of your materials and design. Get advice on what timber to use to avoid insect trouble. It is nice to have a tight building to work on equipment when it is bad weather and for storage of materials that need to be kept out of the rain, but not absolutely necessary. The new tent-like buildings are a good bet for equipment and hay storage. You may need wells and electrification as part of your development.
Out of all these investments, only more and better cattle (or for other enterprises the immediate antecedent of what you sell) will make you more money. But don’t try to overstock your property. You can’t afford to buy feed for less than exceptional animals, and too many animals leads to disease and environmental damage.
Buying (or renting) adjacent land is valuable because it eliminates travel time and transportation. If the land is adjacent the animals can be moved back and forth easily. Fences need not be as secure between the old acreage and the new. You might want to put them in a better location.
So if you are starting, or plan an expansion, renting is a good bet, gaining ownership of cattle and machinery, before buying land. The ideal is to find a farm that the owner is willing to rent to you now and sell to you later.
Today the economy is going backward. The average man in his 30’s today (2009) makes 12% less in real money than he did in the 1970’s. Jobs are hard to find anywhere. You read about hundreds of people applying for a dozen or two new jobs being offered. A significant part of the population lives on welfare. It isn’t uncommon for young adults to be living in their parent’s house beyond age 30. On the other hand, the wealthy are doing very well, and those that depend most closely on them are, too. The dollar is sinking like a rock. Land is sky high. Not a good time to buy! A farmer can’t afford to speculate on these terms. Let the speculators loose their money! Rent!
Buying land is always a risk, but the reward is great satisfaction when it is paid for. But you must do a hardboiled analysis. Intense desire to own helps, but alone it is not enough. You have to think, think, think. And be lucky. And carry insurance if you want your heirs to own what you start.
If you are buying land you have to figure gain by calculating the income, subtracting the payment and adding the annual change in value of the land (which may be plus or minus). The change in value of the land is quite difficult to determine. It will surely be a matter of expert opinion, since appreciation of the land (or depreciation) is highly subjective. The exact figure will change from year to year, too. It may be more or less for you than the average guy who comes along.
Land is a very large chunk of your capital and many farmers won’t be in a position to do this kind of calculation. If you want to buy land, you do so because the opportunity comes up, and you want to take a shot at it. You bet you can “make payments” until it is yours. It is done on faith (interest won’t get too high, no accident in the family, government policy won’t change too much, markets wont change too much, etc.) Truly, you see your shot and you take it. Definitely a judgment call for most folks. Better to have a chunk to put “down.”
If you really need this figure, your lending agency may be you best help since they sometimes need a figure based on the market value of the land.
Farming on someone else’s land is a good bet, if you have at least few acres of your own and can negotiate a long term deal. (See more details below.)
In a livestock operation the second largest investment is in cattle. There is a pretty direct relation between the worth of your cattle in a breeding operation and your income prospects. The number of animals you have to sell is related to the number of breeding stock, and the price received is related to their quality. Efficiency is getting as many calves out of the cows as possible and getting as much weight on them as possible. And it also includes good marketing, getting as much as possible for them.
Your third largest investment should be machinery. This should be as small as possible. Machinery ages and in time has to be replaced. It is taxed. You want what will be the least investment that will get the job done in the time and with the labor available. You need tools for all you might want to do, and these accumulate. Some are lost (fencing tools especially), but most are a lifetime investment, and don’t really depreciate. Do you need a large truck? A dump truck, a cattle trailer, a bulldozer, a back hoe? Don’t buy things that can be hired or leased more cheaply. (This is what your community connections are for, in part. They allow you to find out where these things can be obtained and what they cost.) Buying additional equipment implies you have to have more storage, too, a place to put them under cover. But you may justify the additional investment if you plan to do custom work – a stump grinder, for example. But if you justify a piece of machinery this way, you have to do the sales work to get this custom work.
The fourth investment is development. You must have fences and stock handling facilities as a minimum. These are a kicker if you have to build them on someone else’s land. You really need sheds for all equipment, which will be on your own land, of course. You don’t need much. Sheds made of poles cut on the farm are quite adequate, and inexpensive, but be sure of your materials and design. Get advice on what timber to use to avoid insect trouble. It is nice to have a tight building to work on equipment when it is bad weather and for storage of materials that need to be kept out of the rain, but not absolutely necessary. The new tent-like buildings are a good bet for equipment and hay storage. You may need wells and electrification as part of your development.
Out of all these investments, only more and better cattle (or for other enterprises the immediate antecedent of what you sell) will make you more money. But don’t try to overstock your property. You can’t afford to buy feed for less than exceptional animals, and too many animals leads to disease and environmental damage.
Buying (or renting) adjacent land is valuable because it eliminates travel time and transportation. If the land is adjacent the animals can be moved back and forth easily. Fences need not be as secure between the old acreage and the new. You might want to put them in a better location.
So if you are starting, or plan an expansion, renting is a good bet, gaining ownership of cattle and machinery, before buying land. The ideal is to find a farm that the owner is willing to rent to you now and sell to you later.
Today the economy is going backward. The average man in his 30’s today (2009) makes 12% less in real money than he did in the 1970’s. Jobs are hard to find anywhere. You read about hundreds of people applying for a dozen or two new jobs being offered. A significant part of the population lives on welfare. It isn’t uncommon for young adults to be living in their parent’s house beyond age 30. On the other hand, the wealthy are doing very well, and those that depend most closely on them are, too. The dollar is sinking like a rock. Land is sky high. Not a good time to buy! A farmer can’t afford to speculate on these terms. Let the speculators loose their money! Rent!
Buying land is always a risk, but the reward is great satisfaction when it is paid for. But you must do a hardboiled analysis. Intense desire to own helps, but alone it is not enough. You have to think, think, think. And be lucky. And carry insurance if you want your heirs to own what you start.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Spraying for pasture weed control
We’ve been spraying a good bit this summer. I have been concentrating on a neighbor’s property I farm for a few years and have to catch up on mine, so I’ve been thinking a good bit about spraying. The thing that specifically prompted this item was a conversation with a man who lives a few miles from here.
Roger pointed up to some troublesome pasture across from his place. “It has to be brush hogged every year,” he said. After talking a little bit, we agreed that “Brush hogging is about the same as putting fertilizer on the bushes.” I said what was needed was to spot spray the brush. Roger thought that would do no good , either. This is common idea, but very wrong.
The trick to spraying is to get it right. You have to get the entire foliage wet with properly formulated spray. A lot of people think spraying is not good work. They want to sweat when they work, I guess. Spraying is not big muscle, broad stroke work, it is control and thought work. You have to hit the bush, not just spray toward it, and if it is large or dense, you have to get the other side. too. I want to characterize spraying for effective control of woody plants and some other large pasture weeds.
First of all, you want to decide what you want to kill. Certainly that will include multiflora rose and autumn olive (and the very similar, thorny, slightly harder to kill, tartarian honeysuckle). You will want to vigorously control invasive species, like the new thistles that have come in from the west and tree-of-heaven. But do you want to waste spray on sand brier and the common thistle or other weeds than be controlled by application of lime? Or the many species that can be controlled by mowing at the right time? Each species requires a decision.
Once you have some idea of what you want to control you must decide on the spray. Talk to other people. The Extension Agent, your feed store manager and farmers in the neighborhood can give advice on effectiveness. It is best to use the least amount of spray recommended on the label early in the season. You can begin spraying as soon as the leaves are out in the spring. The concentration given is intended when the spray covers one side of the leaves, you don’t have to drown them, just get 85-90% of the surface. What drops off is wasted. Normally some will miss the target plant. It has little effect on grass, but is hard on legumes.
The least concentration is required in the early season when there is more water and growth is lush. As the season progresses the plants become slightly more resistant and you can move up the range suggested on the label. If you don’t, the kill will become less effective. If it is a rainy time use less, if dry move up to the suggested maximum.
Twisting the outermost part of the nozzle adjusts the diameter of the spray stream. I like to have it spread out to about a foot to eighteen inches at 20 feet from the nozzle. That's too small for close work, and it has to be moved around for large brush at a distance, but seems to be a good compromise.
Do your cleanest field first! These will normally be nearest the house or your starting point. Little plants take little spray, so you are effectively cleaning up more ground by doing the best first. You will be going over this ground later to go further from the house. You can clean up on successive trips a couple of weeks or more later when you can see what you have missed.
All your ground should be gone over each year, if possible. Keeping the “filth,” as folks used to call it, in check, is much easier and cheaper if the weeds never get large. You will find if you clean up an area, including around the edges, that it only “goes back to the Indians” very slowly. Getting the pH up is very helpful, too, because it makes the weeds work a lot harder to get established in thick grass. Also, avoid over grazing, which lets many weed get a start.
The following item on this blog illustrates a spray apparatus that has worked very well for me. At one time I used a tractor mounted sprayer, but as I got older getting on and off became the largest part of the spraying job. The tank behind a four wheeler allows you to sit most of the time but you can easily get off when needed. You can get over a lot of ground when the weed plants are far apart. Having a hand sprayer helps with places too steep or otherwise inaccessible. We still maintain a tractor sprayer for places that require large volumes, such as clearing out along a forest edge, or along a fence line that requires walking some distance and using large volumes of spray. (HINT: You can make your own tractor mounted sprayer for about half the cost of a similar one that comes from a dealer.)
Read the following article for ideas about use of a four wheeler.
Roger pointed up to some troublesome pasture across from his place. “It has to be brush hogged every year,” he said. After talking a little bit, we agreed that “Brush hogging is about the same as putting fertilizer on the bushes.” I said what was needed was to spot spray the brush. Roger thought that would do no good , either. This is common idea, but very wrong.
The trick to spraying is to get it right. You have to get the entire foliage wet with properly formulated spray. A lot of people think spraying is not good work. They want to sweat when they work, I guess. Spraying is not big muscle, broad stroke work, it is control and thought work. You have to hit the bush, not just spray toward it, and if it is large or dense, you have to get the other side. too. I want to characterize spraying for effective control of woody plants and some other large pasture weeds.
First of all, you want to decide what you want to kill. Certainly that will include multiflora rose and autumn olive (and the very similar, thorny, slightly harder to kill, tartarian honeysuckle). You will want to vigorously control invasive species, like the new thistles that have come in from the west and tree-of-heaven. But do you want to waste spray on sand brier and the common thistle or other weeds than be controlled by application of lime? Or the many species that can be controlled by mowing at the right time? Each species requires a decision.
Once you have some idea of what you want to control you must decide on the spray. Talk to other people. The Extension Agent, your feed store manager and farmers in the neighborhood can give advice on effectiveness. It is best to use the least amount of spray recommended on the label early in the season. You can begin spraying as soon as the leaves are out in the spring. The concentration given is intended when the spray covers one side of the leaves, you don’t have to drown them, just get 85-90% of the surface. What drops off is wasted. Normally some will miss the target plant. It has little effect on grass, but is hard on legumes.
The least concentration is required in the early season when there is more water and growth is lush. As the season progresses the plants become slightly more resistant and you can move up the range suggested on the label. If you don’t, the kill will become less effective. If it is a rainy time use less, if dry move up to the suggested maximum.
Twisting the outermost part of the nozzle adjusts the diameter of the spray stream. I like to have it spread out to about a foot to eighteen inches at 20 feet from the nozzle. That's too small for close work, and it has to be moved around for large brush at a distance, but seems to be a good compromise.
Do your cleanest field first! These will normally be nearest the house or your starting point. Little plants take little spray, so you are effectively cleaning up more ground by doing the best first. You will be going over this ground later to go further from the house. You can clean up on successive trips a couple of weeks or more later when you can see what you have missed.
All your ground should be gone over each year, if possible. Keeping the “filth,” as folks used to call it, in check, is much easier and cheaper if the weeds never get large. You will find if you clean up an area, including around the edges, that it only “goes back to the Indians” very slowly. Getting the pH up is very helpful, too, because it makes the weeds work a lot harder to get established in thick grass. Also, avoid over grazing, which lets many weed get a start.
The following item on this blog illustrates a spray apparatus that has worked very well for me. At one time I used a tractor mounted sprayer, but as I got older getting on and off became the largest part of the spraying job. The tank behind a four wheeler allows you to sit most of the time but you can easily get off when needed. You can get over a lot of ground when the weed plants are far apart. Having a hand sprayer helps with places too steep or otherwise inaccessible. We still maintain a tractor sprayer for places that require large volumes, such as clearing out along a forest edge, or along a fence line that requires walking some distance and using large volumes of spray. (HINT: You can make your own tractor mounted sprayer for about half the cost of a similar one that comes from a dealer.)
Read the following article for ideas about use of a four wheeler.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Making your four-wheeler work
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Image 5A four wheel ATV is a delight to ride. In fact, is so much fun many never think of it in any other way. Many folks see it as a great work horse on small farms and large, though. They are great for hunting, checking on trespassers and the like.
It is great for going places in a hurry at low cost. It only needs a trail four feet or so wide. This makes it a great vehicle for checking fences. You have the capacity to carry the necessary tools and parts to fix fence on the machine and can go many places in the woods where a pickup or even a tractor won’t go.
You can use it to check cattle, but must be careful to keep the noise down, particularly if you use it to move them. They can be used to bring cattle in, but the speed and noise frighten the animals if you don’t exercise care. If you want to move a square bale or two or a little feed they do well at that too, because they have better flotation with their soft tires and make far less mud.
I use mine to seed right of way by adding a small seeder designed for the four-wheeler. It takes a little getting used to at first, but the investment is quite low, and if stored in the dry it will last years. Sure beats walking and turning a crank. (See Image 1)
I have made two trailers for my four-wheeler. Two inch square tubing and used car wheels work fine, with a bed of treated wood. Be sure to paint all metal parts before putting the bed on to get longer life. You can use a small trailer ball hitch of the type used for pulling trailers behind a car. That works better for the extreme roll and pitch on rough ground, better than the pin in clevis type of hitch used for tractor implements.
If you are going to need electricity from the battery it is a simple matter to use the type of connection usually used for 110 volts. Get heavy wire to the battery, wrap it securely around some solid part of the four-wheeler and use a sturdy, industrial type female plug on the four-wheeler. The voltage from the battery is 12 volts, and the electrical contacts are well covered. The male plug which is inserted into it will pull out if the trailer or attachment comes off, if you use strong cord, well connected to the attachment. This arrangement is easy to connect and disconnect, but you must use only motors designed for 12 volt direct current, without regard for polarity (+ and - may be exchanged), which will be the case for motors in sprayers, seeders and so forth sold to be used with ATV’s. (See Image 2)
One of the trailers I have was made for spraying brush. You can buy 30 gallon sprayers at Southern States or Tractor Supply or on the net. They expect you to mount these directly on your vehicle, but it impresses me that it would be very dangerous to go on a hillside with a half empty tank of spray sloshing about that high above the soft springs of the machine. The trailer has a much lower center of gravity and no springs. 30 gallons will last an hour to an hour and a half if the target plants are small and widely separated. Most of my work doesn’t require getting off. When the spray runs out it is a quick trip in to mix another batch. (If you have a lot of surface area together, such as the edge of a forest, or a badly grown up spot that must be treated, a larger, tractor mounted sprayer, 200-300 gallons, is a better bet. But for widely dispersed plants, the ATV is the way to go. It saves all that getting on and off the tractor.)
The spray trailer is designed to also carry two hand sprayers, and a five gallon can of basal spray mix. One hand spray can be filled through the spray hose with the nozzle removed, directly from the 30 gallon tank, for places where I walk because I can’t get to it with the machine. The other is dedicated to basal spray for larger trees. It is mixed up in diesel fuel, which is expensive, but it is much cheaper than trying to cover all the foliage on larger trees. Just follow the instructions and cover the bottom 18 inches of trunk. Very large trees (over 10 inches) will require treatment again the second year. (See Image 3)
I use Primier Poly Sprayer model 21220, 2.0 gal, made by Chapin, purchased at
http://www.chapinmfg.com/PartsAccessories.asp
They are made of polypropyline, so are very tough and do not rust. You can buy parts, including a variety of nozzles with different spray rates. A young husky fellow might want the 3 gallon size, but 2 gallon is enough for me. Chapin is very good about service, even small orders.
One trouble I have had is getting the top off the sprayer I use for the diesel mix for basal spray. A new sprayer each season might correct that, but I hold on for several years. In that time the diesel gets to the polypropylene a bit and makes the tops stick if you put them on enough to prevent air leak. The following photo shows how I get around this. (See Image 4)
The blue strap is tie-down strap, such as you would find at Tractor Supply or a comparable source. It is attached to the trailer bed. The orange strap on the stick is the same material, a different color. Just wrap on carefully and twist. The diesel mix sprayer is painted yellow so it won’t be mixed up with the water sprayer, which is left the original blue-green.
The other trailer is long enough to carry fence posts and tools to set them. Although we drive all posts we can, there are always some on ground too steep and inaccessible to get the tractor to. The little trailer is the same width as the four-wheeler and is ideal for getting materials to these spots. The picture shows a reel for letting out wire the way a commercial “Spinning Jenny” would. This can be made from scrap material. (Use screws driven by an electrical drill for better strength). (See Image 5)
You have to drive slow, to avoid bump things out, in rough places. The tailgate must be secured with a wire or a small bolt. If I was doing it again, I would make higher sides.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Money
(Some philosophical thought)
There are several kinds of money or money equivalence which vary in interconvertability and other characteristics. These relations are something you have to get straight in your mind.
Land is one kind of money. It always has a value (it never disappear like stocks and bonds can), but the value varies with time. Land was at a low when I started to farm in the 1950’s- $20,000 was the price for about any piece of land, large or small. It’s not that way anymore! The price of land goes down with depression, superabundance of farm products (the case when we bought our farm), cheap imported food and so on, and goes up with abundant money, increased population and desire for rural residence (the present situation) and better access because of new roads.
Land is difficult to get anytime, because location, topography, prior use, size of tract and similar characteristics determine the usefulness to the buyer. It is easy to sell (if the buyer can get the necessary financing), in part because there are so many people who benefit from you selling it. Some of these are: the broker (about one-twelfth of your sale price), the banker (who adds one third or more to the buyer’s cost, if he does not have ready cash), the tax man (tax is always greater after land changes hands) and the fellows who supply the inputs to change raw land into a farm. The fellow that buys land is like the fellow in Greek myth that had to carry the weight of the earth on his back, because there are so many people who add to the burden.
It is often wise to let someone else own much of the land you farm and rent what you farm, if you can make an agreement that is favorable and stable. You need some land of your own for a homestead for the farm, a place to keep machines and have some stock and crops so you can use close-up management of these resources. Land ownership is more a goal than a method.
Land also is a place to live that conveys much the same benefits as owing your own house. It conveys status, it is an excellent collateral for loans (because you are highly motivated not to loose it) and it is something you identify with psychologically. It gives space between yourself and neighbors.
Buying and selling land will be considered in more detail elsewhere.
Labor is another kind of money. You can sell your own or buy someone else’s, and you can use it for your own benefit, or your family’s. Many people who farm both sell and buy labor, that is, they work for a wage or salary or have a business, and hire help on the farm. Labor can be traded (trade work with your neighbors), too. And, it can be wasted (by doing the wrong work or by using an opportunity to work for doing something else that does not give equal satisfaction), just like any other form of money. Everyone has a huge supply of their own labor at birth, and it is the only thing many people ever have much of. Managing one’s own labor is the biggest single problem in a free society. Labor must be a major input to farming.
Assets are a third form of money. If you are going to farm you must have fences, cattle and machinery to work with, whether you have land or not. Assets are more mobile than land and may be accumulated more easily, being bought and sold over time. If you make a mistake in other forms of money, this is the area you have to make it up in. If you want to grow larger, this is where you must achieve it. Your assets incease by the birth and growth of your animals, crops and timber. The increase may be maximized by careful management, by supplying inputs such as fertilizer and lime, labor, adequate fences, predator control, brush control and all the rest. And they can wasted away by neglect.
Cash is like oil and grease, it makes the whole thing go easier up or down. You have to have cash to get the goods you need from others, and that’s what you have to supply to compensate for most of your mistakes. But it is not the objective of farming. You hear of people hoarding money, thousands of dollars hidden way. Not good! It can be stolen or lost and you have nothing, and it doesn’t make more money (in the broadest sense) sitting under your mattress. Too much show of cash makes others envious. Having lots of money makes it easier to make bad decisions, because you don’t think much about how it is used.
Good will is not usually interconvertable with other kinds of money, but it has value. Cattle get out, fences need to be kept up, various disputes occur, and the good will of your neighbors is valuable. A farmer has many things he can give away that mean more to his neighbors than to himself. Fire wood, help in emergencies, a little tractor work, or machine loan, hunting, information, even a good story now and then are very valuable in this regard. Respect is something everybody needs, and like love, it is something you get more of when you give it away.
Money isn’t everything. If it is to you, I don’t recommend farming. There are more profitable places to put your money. The biggest cash payoff in farming is to get out of it. The biggest input is the labor of thinking it all out. Far more than labor in the usual sense. Fortunately, you can think and labor at the same time, and there is no better time to think.
(Some philosophical thought)
There are several kinds of money or money equivalence which vary in interconvertability and other characteristics. These relations are something you have to get straight in your mind.
Land is one kind of money. It always has a value (it never disappear like stocks and bonds can), but the value varies with time. Land was at a low when I started to farm in the 1950’s- $20,000 was the price for about any piece of land, large or small. It’s not that way anymore! The price of land goes down with depression, superabundance of farm products (the case when we bought our farm), cheap imported food and so on, and goes up with abundant money, increased population and desire for rural residence (the present situation) and better access because of new roads.
Land is difficult to get anytime, because location, topography, prior use, size of tract and similar characteristics determine the usefulness to the buyer. It is easy to sell (if the buyer can get the necessary financing), in part because there are so many people who benefit from you selling it. Some of these are: the broker (about one-twelfth of your sale price), the banker (who adds one third or more to the buyer’s cost, if he does not have ready cash), the tax man (tax is always greater after land changes hands) and the fellows who supply the inputs to change raw land into a farm. The fellow that buys land is like the fellow in Greek myth that had to carry the weight of the earth on his back, because there are so many people who add to the burden.
It is often wise to let someone else own much of the land you farm and rent what you farm, if you can make an agreement that is favorable and stable. You need some land of your own for a homestead for the farm, a place to keep machines and have some stock and crops so you can use close-up management of these resources. Land ownership is more a goal than a method.
Land also is a place to live that conveys much the same benefits as owing your own house. It conveys status, it is an excellent collateral for loans (because you are highly motivated not to loose it) and it is something you identify with psychologically. It gives space between yourself and neighbors.
Buying and selling land will be considered in more detail elsewhere.
Labor is another kind of money. You can sell your own or buy someone else’s, and you can use it for your own benefit, or your family’s. Many people who farm both sell and buy labor, that is, they work for a wage or salary or have a business, and hire help on the farm. Labor can be traded (trade work with your neighbors), too. And, it can be wasted (by doing the wrong work or by using an opportunity to work for doing something else that does not give equal satisfaction), just like any other form of money. Everyone has a huge supply of their own labor at birth, and it is the only thing many people ever have much of. Managing one’s own labor is the biggest single problem in a free society. Labor must be a major input to farming.
Assets are a third form of money. If you are going to farm you must have fences, cattle and machinery to work with, whether you have land or not. Assets are more mobile than land and may be accumulated more easily, being bought and sold over time. If you make a mistake in other forms of money, this is the area you have to make it up in. If you want to grow larger, this is where you must achieve it. Your assets incease by the birth and growth of your animals, crops and timber. The increase may be maximized by careful management, by supplying inputs such as fertilizer and lime, labor, adequate fences, predator control, brush control and all the rest. And they can wasted away by neglect.
Cash is like oil and grease, it makes the whole thing go easier up or down. You have to have cash to get the goods you need from others, and that’s what you have to supply to compensate for most of your mistakes. But it is not the objective of farming. You hear of people hoarding money, thousands of dollars hidden way. Not good! It can be stolen or lost and you have nothing, and it doesn’t make more money (in the broadest sense) sitting under your mattress. Too much show of cash makes others envious. Having lots of money makes it easier to make bad decisions, because you don’t think much about how it is used.
Good will is not usually interconvertable with other kinds of money, but it has value. Cattle get out, fences need to be kept up, various disputes occur, and the good will of your neighbors is valuable. A farmer has many things he can give away that mean more to his neighbors than to himself. Fire wood, help in emergencies, a little tractor work, or machine loan, hunting, information, even a good story now and then are very valuable in this regard. Respect is something everybody needs, and like love, it is something you get more of when you give it away.
Money isn’t everything. If it is to you, I don’t recommend farming. There are more profitable places to put your money. The biggest cash payoff in farming is to get out of it. The biggest input is the labor of thinking it all out. Far more than labor in the usual sense. Fortunately, you can think and labor at the same time, and there is no better time to think.
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