[AT] On losing farm land

[Larry D. Goss]

Cecil, if you want to see what REAL rocky ground looks like, visit The
Burren on the south shore of Galway Bay in Ireland.  It makes the fields
of New York and New England look like sandy loam by comparison.  I was
there just a month ago and was absolutely amazed at its appearance.  The
"big crop" of the region is the abundance wildflowers that grow in the
crevices of limestone.  There actually are farmers trying to eke out a
living in that area growing sheep, goats, and cattle.  The animals were
"not exactly" fat.  Cromwell investigated the area to see if there was
any commercial value to it and commented something to the effect: Not
enough soil to support a man, and not enough to bury him.

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Cecil E
Monson
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 6:45 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] On losing farm land

> It never fails to amaze me, the difference in rental rates for
farmland
> between our countries. This spring a big farmer in this area rented
some
> land for the unbelievable price of $35 per acre. Nobody knows how he
expects
> to show a profit on the land at that price but I guess time will tell.
> More average rates are in the $20 to $25 per acre range.
> 
> Ralph in Sask.


	Hi Ralph, I guess it makes quite a difference what a farmer is
going to raise on the land and what the yield is going to be. (Or, what
he hopes it will be)  Around here, a lot of the land is rocky and hard
to farm. You see pictures of eastern farms and all the nice quaint
looking
stone walls that look so picturesque. You have to keep in mind that some
poor devil picked up all of those stones by hand and carried them to the
stone wall or skidded them in a stone boat and built those walls by hand
- one stone at a time. At first they thought there was good soil if only
they could get all the rocks off it and out of the way. Later they
realized
that the rocks were under all and only a small amount of soil was on top
of them.

	Out where you are it is different because it takes a lot of land
to get enough of a wheat crop to make a living. In the Midwest where I
am from originally, my BIL gets yields of 200 bushel to the acre on his
field corn. South of here, I met a farmer who is making a helluva good
living by growing a few acres of garlic for the NYC market. He doesn't
even grow it for the garlic bulbs - just the tops. Some of the people
who rent the County land I wrote about earlier are just taking a crop of
hay off it - two cuttings if possible. Not good hay either. I buy 50
bales
every late fall to bank around the house for $1.50 to $2.00 a bale.
Takes
a lot of cheap hay to make that pay when you figure in the labor, fuel
and equipment.

	My point on the earlier post was that even farmers have to swing
with the times with the market for land the way it is. If land is worth
$7 an acre to a farmer and worth $10 an acre to a sportsman, better that
the farmer rent it for $12 and sublet it to the sportsman. He would
still
make out and would not lose the land. If he was lucky, he would be
making
out all the way around.

	Don't feel bad if you don't have cicadas out there, Ralph. Those
grasshoppers are bad enough. ;-)

Cecil
-- 
The nicest thing about telling the truth is you never have to wonder
what you said.

Cecil E Monson
Lucille Hand-Monson
Mountainville, New York   Just a little east of the North Pole

Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment

Free advice

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