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Post by kevlar on May 5, 2021 21:48:40 GMT -6
I thought this might be an interesting topic. I realized the other day, this will be my 30th year putting in some crop. I was 13 the first time I drove the tractor and air seeder, obviously I didn't do it all or make any of the decisions back then. I don't remember exactly the first time I drove a tractor alone, maybe a year or two before that harrowing or picking stones. I knew (or wanted) to farm for as long as I can remember, I still think back to how much it bothered me to go to school, in kindergarden even, knowing that dad was doing something back on the farm. Spent countless hours riding in tractors, mostly Versatiles with the knob that you loosened to open the side windows, turning that knob like I was steering the tractor lol, or riding on the hump behind the seat of a Massey 750/860 combine. I missed a lot of school in highschool because I stayed home to help out, the nice thing about a rural school, all the teachers understood. Dad always said it was more fun when he still farmed with his dad, and I'm starting to feel the same way. Dad is still around, and helps as much as he can, but as a younger guy (kid) you don't have the money worries and the same stress as you do as you age. I still love farming but some days are a lot more stressful than they were years ago. I can't wait until my kids want to give it a try, I hope they want to try, but I can't force them to. I wonder who here has the most years under their belt?
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Post by meskie on May 5, 2021 22:18:48 GMT -6
Bought my first 3 1/4s in 2001. I think I was 6 or 7 when I drove tractor by myself mostly steered it while my grandpa throw rocks in the bucket. Was hauling grain with our 3 ton at 9. Haven’t found any piece of equipment I can’t operate. Spent a few hundred hours on our old D7 clearing the land I had bought. Like you Kevlar I never wanted to do anything but farm. Missed lots of days of school because of it. Grade 12 year only half the class showed up the first couple days of school. We had to learn a couple new teachers about the ways of a rural school.
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Post by generalchaos on May 5, 2021 22:25:48 GMT -6
26 years for me but I started when I was 32. Same situation. I couldn’t wait to get home from school so I could join my Dad on the 560 International. After I graduated I worked for some farmers in the area until I got married. My father in law had an 80 acre beet contract that he didn’t want to let go but was thinking of quitting so he asked if I wanted half the contract. That was in 96 and also the year Manitoba Sugar company shut down. I have a 20 year old son that rented 35 acres from his grandpa last year and this year he’s farming 100 acres. It’s good having him on the farm but he has a full time job but does get time off,
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Post by jcalder on May 5, 2021 22:35:28 GMT -6
Started mowing corn stalks by myself when I was 11. Started renting my own land in 2001. Bought my first land a couple years later. This will be "my" 20th crop. 27 or so years of running machinery.
Had my two year old with me in the tractor a couple days ago and after lecturing me on what buttons I wasn't supposed to press he looked back at me and goes "Daddy, I love this". I hope that love sticks.
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Post by cptusa on May 5, 2021 23:02:54 GMT -6
I can't remember when I graduated from carpet farming to driving but it's been awhile ago. Put my first crop in 2001. Got 2 boys and a girl pretty interested in things as of now.
One thing I'll never forget my dad saying when asked by a land lady if it was hard to give control of the operation over- "You bet it is and if he's lucky enough he'll find out".
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Post by Oatking on May 6, 2021 5:40:51 GMT -6
Started on my own in 98 when dad got sick and couldnt farm anymore. Looking back I think it did me good as I did make many mistakes starting out by myself but I did learn from them and got better over the years. I think the first 12 years were the hardest. It felt like I was spinning my wheels with stress and drowning in debt and poor equipment. Since than , those difficult years have paid off and feel very proud to be a farmer. The debt back than has made me millions now. I n some ways maybe better to take over the farm in one shot because it teaches you to grab the bull by the horns. I have seen farther son teams where the son gets pretty lazy or develops a big ego. Your business always means more when you personally build it. Still miss dad on the farm and enjoyed the pick up rides. I pretty much know I am a dying breed of one man operations but I enjoy being the boss with no one to answer to.
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Post by kenmb on May 6, 2021 8:15:44 GMT -6
Been thinking about this while watching the wife in the field rolling the peas while I am seeding on the other side. Nice to have the help on occasion but the boys have no interest. But that is no different than my older brother as he did what he was needed while at home but once old enough he left the province to pursue a career.
Carpet farmed for a few years. Probably 38 years now running equipment on my own, which again comes back to the wife out rolling. She finds it quite boring and 4 hours in the seat she stops to stretch her legs and walk around. I must say I never got that urge, if the equipment was in working order and ready to work I stayed in the seat till something changed. I always liked running equipment so don't see it the same way as the wife does. It's one of the things I enjoy with running older equipment, it's not so much operating it but making it work and keep it going. But with everything so big these days that part of it is pretty much gone. I don't have the interest to take apart a 15l diesel or drop a tranny on semi truck.
Need to start thinking about the next decade and spend some money to make things easier. I think a person's decisions are going to be heavily influenced as to whether you are farming for yourself or farming for the next generation.
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jaymo
Full Member
Posts: 169 Likes: 76
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Post by jaymo on May 6, 2021 8:18:19 GMT -6
I think I was 10 when I drove a pickup for the first time. Got to work with my grandpa and dad for quite a few years. Although, I wasn't always happy about helping out and farming in general it was one of those things I've grown into. I put in "full time" hours when I was 14 for harvest running the combine. Well, that was back in the days of flat canola and swathers with tiny openings. The canola crop was good but beaver huts were everywhere and only a wrench for reversing the header. I have to admit I felt like a kid being taught to swim by being thrown in the deep end of the pool!! haha I guess it taught me to "man up" and keep on going even when I way rather would have quit, but that was not an option. I rented my first quarter in 2000 with my own money at stake. I think canola was around $5.65/bu. that year....gulp
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Post by meskie on May 6, 2021 8:51:47 GMT -6
]I rented my first quarter in 2000 with my own money at stake. I think canola was around $5.65/bu. that year....gulp Sold my first canola for $6.25 in 2001 I also paid off my input bill with the initial payment off my malt barley I hauled in off the combine
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Post by hardrockacres on May 6, 2021 9:44:51 GMT -6
Been at it 24 years so far...all on my own. Drove my first tractor around the age of 8, it was a 44 Massey and a 16' 1 way disk. Dad took me out and showed me how to run it and turn at the corners, stayed with me for a few rounds then left. Was 40 acre field and I felt like a king. Helped all through school and while aprenticing as a mechanic at a local Ag dealer. Ended up not enjoying the mechanical work and went back to school for engineering and took a city job. Still helped on weekends when I could. Then my dad passed away suddenly in 1997. Started then running the family farm that fall with my mom to get my dads last crop off. rented out a bit of his land but kept the home section and farmed it from the city for few years then moved home and kept at it. Still work full time off farm and also keep the wheels turning at the farm with just my wife now as mom is too old and jsut likes to watch or taxi us around. Made a lot of mistakes, but never lost any money yet. wish I had asked more questions to my dad and grandpa when they were around to have learned from their experience but I was young and just liked to drive equipment and help...new asked the why were were doing it or when was the right time to do it. I think I have done ok as the farm is improved and the older equipment is kept up and works well. I think dad would be proud.
Meskie - I remember one of my first years farming selling canola for 5.85/bu.....and I remember when 8 dollar canola was a jackpot.
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gleanerl
Junior Member
Posts: 97 Likes: 95
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Post by gleanerl on May 6, 2021 19:18:43 GMT -6
Hard to say exactly but think I've been driving a tractor now for 41 years. Chores as a kid started likely 45 years ago. Took over the hog production side of the farm in 1995, exited hogs in 2013. Been growing my own crops since 1998. Started mobile seed cleaning 2010 to generate more cash flow. Run old equipment kept in good shape and paid for. Only way a small guy like me with just farm income can survive. Plus we live within what we can afford. No sunny south for us in the winter. One man operation plus Dad at peak times. Unfortunately not sure how much more Dad will be able to help. Willing but age has different ideas. Wife is a stay at home Mom/Home school teacher for our daughter and gopher for me and bringer of lunch. Daughter says she is not going to farm so I will likely sale out at a young enough age to hopefully be able to enjoy a few years of retirement before the old body gives out.
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rf928
New Member
Posts: 14 Likes: 9
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Post by rf928 on May 7, 2021 11:18:38 GMT -6
Dad turned me loose on the combine when I was 12, I thought I ruined everything when the feeder house clutch slipped on the 9600 for the first time.
24 now. This will be my 3rd year seeding my own land. Year 1, wild success. Year 2, I learned to enjoy beans & rice dinner.
In my short farming career I’ve experienced several weather stricken seasons that the older gentleman tell me they’ve seen only a handful of times in the last 40 years... not sure if I’m fortunate for that or not!!
I am extremely fortunate to be the 5th generation here, my 82 year old grandpa gave me a ride to the tractor this morning, and I’m able to discuss certain pieces of land he’s been going around on since he was my age. Mornings like today I will cherish until I make my final pass.
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Post by kevlar on May 7, 2021 21:37:02 GMT -6
Good to see all the replies, always find it interesting to get a bit of a back story on all you guys. I like the mix of people here, from small to large farms, and all the different variations of livestock and grains.
I remember taking down the fence and breaking up what was left of dad's pasture by his house, only 5-6 acres tops, was about 16 at the time. Dad had a bag of canola left over, said I would be lucky to get enough off it to replace the seed. Had a little sulfer left over and put it on with the seed, when I combined it, it was a heaped load on our 3 ton! Took it in to the elevator and the price was just under 10 bucks, but my brother in law and a friend of ours ran the elevator, so they paid me 10 even. Took my money and traded off my 1993 Yamaha Phazer on a 95 Polaris 500 and had money left over. I don't think I have ever made that much an acre since, as it was free seed, land, fuel........
It must be hard to turn your kids loose in the equipment on their own? And even harder to let them make their own mistakes, but that is sometimes the best way to learn. Thanks for the replies. We've all had a different road that has lead us to where we are.
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Post by carlos on May 7, 2021 21:52:56 GMT -6
This will be my 37th crop. Started when I was 18, out of high school. Dad gave me 80 acres, and I rented 3 more from a lady that my grandfather was renting from. Got that ACS loan the Devine govt put out for farmers(25$/acre I believe). I was fortunate to farm with my grandfather for 4 years and my dad for 33. I knew I wanted to farm when I was a kid. Just like Kevlar said, remember sitting behind the seat on the 750. My 2 sons have zero interest in farming so I guess it stops at 4 generations.
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Post by serffarmer on May 7, 2021 22:11:03 GMT -6
First year was 04 I think for me farming my own ground. Rented a qtr from an older fella who was scaling back but still in the game. Seeded canola and had to sell a load in the fall off combine due to lack of bin space. Think the price was around $5.00 My landlord let his go in the winter for $4.30. I sat on the rest until July and squeezed out $6.00. Nobody was coming back to farm in those years but it’s all I wanted to do as far back as I could remember so I didn’t care if I wasnt making a dime. That’s what winter was for haha.
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