Just wanted a thread to show what farm life is like, and to kind of keep track of a few changes I have going on. I'll talk a little about how the markets affect us, how crappy this life can be, but also how good it is.
So, backstory....I grew up on a small family farm. Growing up, we had hogs, cattle, chickens, ducks, cats, dogs, and a few horses. As far as crops, we raised corn, soybeans, and a little oats, red clover, and alfalfa.
So, fast-forward to today. I'm 35, my dad is 69. He's ready to retire, and I'm starting to slowly take things over. I've been running a small construction company for the last 8 years, and the money is decent, so I might try to keep that going. We still raise all the same crops, but ditched the hogs maybe 10 years ago. Hog markets are really weird....there is usually almost no money to be made with them, except for maybe a month out of the year they bring great prices. We've sold entire 300 lb hogs for $40, so that's one of the reasons we quit.
Back to this, we started planting corn last week...here are a few pictures. Like I said, we are a small farm and the equipment is not new, but most of it is in great shape. This 4055 was made in 1989, and dad bought it about 1999. The planter is somewhere in the early 1990's, which dad bought new.
We plant corn on 38" rows, which is pretty outdated, but it does have a few benefits. I am looking to switch to 30" rows here in the next few years hopefully.
Here is the monitor for the planter.... it's incredibly simple. A light lights up if a row unit stops planting. It usually doesn't work, and we most of the time keep it turned off.
So, backstory....I grew up on a small family farm. Growing up, we had hogs, cattle, chickens, ducks, cats, dogs, and a few horses. As far as crops, we raised corn, soybeans, and a little oats, red clover, and alfalfa.
So, fast-forward to today. I'm 35, my dad is 69. He's ready to retire, and I'm starting to slowly take things over. I've been running a small construction company for the last 8 years, and the money is decent, so I might try to keep that going. We still raise all the same crops, but ditched the hogs maybe 10 years ago. Hog markets are really weird....there is usually almost no money to be made with them, except for maybe a month out of the year they bring great prices. We've sold entire 300 lb hogs for $40, so that's one of the reasons we quit.
Back to this, we started planting corn last week...here are a few pictures. Like I said, we are a small farm and the equipment is not new, but most of it is in great shape. This 4055 was made in 1989, and dad bought it about 1999. The planter is somewhere in the early 1990's, which dad bought new.
We plant corn on 38" rows, which is pretty outdated, but it does have a few benefits. I am looking to switch to 30" rows here in the next few years hopefully.
Here is the monitor for the planter.... it's incredibly simple. A light lights up if a row unit stops planting. It usually doesn't work, and we most of the time keep it turned off.