white shadow - 12/19/2024 11:33

Farmers need access to affordable land to survive economic down turns in price. There have been threads on how hard it is to compete with generational farms. A comment from one poster resonated with me as he said, "if you want to compete with a generational farm simply start thinking generational". Commodities will migrate down in price towards the lowest cost producers. To be a lower cost producer you have to have access to affordable land. This latest price decline has farmers with a 10–14-million-dollar or higher net worths having negative cash flows. Net worth, in my opinion is just monopoly funny money. I am a generational caretaker of land my great grandfather clear to me have been entrusted with. The land's sole purpose is to provide a cash flow to raise the family next in line to be the care takers. It is not even a thought process for me to think of land as an investment/asset that can one day be sold. The next family of care takers is an investment of money, time and love. Every generation suffered a little to make it easier for the next. What an American dream we all can experience with the right vision.

The worries of raising a spoiled and ungrateful child for me are greatly diminished if we all go to church together every Sunday---as a family. Three generations of farm family sitting in the same pew for over a century now. The worries of life are diminished when those grandkids sneak down the church pew to sit with grandpa---who has treats to bait them down the pew. If the generations are grounded to the Love and teachings of our Saviour Jesus Christ, the farm sits on a strong foundation. That is the start of the vision to see the farm as a generational asset. It starts with Christ.

If you are planning an exit from production agriculture with this economic downturn, consider starting to think generational as it pertains to land access for your farming heirs.

Merry Christmas to my fellow Nat'ers. We have so much to be thankful for.