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Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 15, 2017, 7:43 pm
by slick4x4
In 1970 my dad planted 10 acres of soybeans
Just for reference, (football field = one acre)
Dad farmed about 500 acres back then ... average size here
He mostly planted wheat ... some milo & alfalfa
Not very much soybeans planted in this area

They got a good start & about half grown
Then we hit a dry spell.....
Dad was nervous they wouldn't amount to much
So he asked a neighbor if he wanted them for cattle feed
( you bale the whole plant... instead of harvesting the bean seed )

The neighbor said yes , we left on a vacation the next morning
When we got back... the beans were still there
And almost doubled in size !
It had rained the night we had left .....

Neighbor jokingly asked dad if he still wanted them cut ?
Dad had to admit he was glad he hadn't cut them

When dad cut them they made almost 30 bushel an acre
Pretty darn good back in the 70s in this area
He had to haul them to a grain elevator (terminal that buys grain)
About 50 miles away, because no local markets took soybeans

Dad sold them for $10 a bushel.....
$3000 for one truckload of soybeans
He went to linsborg Kansas and bought a brand new
1971 F250 2wd ... 360 engine & automatic transmission
AM radio & heater ....

It didn't even take the whole check .....

Today it would take close to 200 acres to buy the same 2017 truck

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 1:26 am
by Alan Mclennan
8) Good story Pat !, now going by your football field sizes, ours are the same length but 60' wider ....

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 2:30 am
by bobenhotep
Globalization.

Dan

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 8:22 am
by slick4x4
Alan Mclennan wrote:8) Good story Pat !, now going by your football field sizes, ours are the same length but 60' wider ....
An acre is 43,560 square ft
An American football field is 47,700 without endzones

Just a good example for people to understand the size...

Farmer that I know of nearby bought a new 60' planter
At 5 mph ... he can plant over 30 acres an hour

That's about 2 minutes to plant that football field !

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 11:19 am
by unifarmer
One hectare = 2.47 acres

One football field = one football field??

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 1:11 pm
by mercuryv8
That is very interesting.

So assuming farmland is more productive now (GMO, equipment, herbicide, pesticides). How much soy does that 10 acres produce now? How much higher are the costs?

I find this so interesting because I grew up in the city and have an embarrassing amount of knowledge about agriculture. I teach in a rural town and have learnt a lot from the students but I want to know more.

My grandma was telling me about... Back when grandpa made 75 cents an hour it was just as hard for us to pay our mortgage. I did a bit of rough math and grandma was pretty close except for a few thing... Housing jumped here, a lot! And most people have two household incomes. That's nearly double the money coming in... Less childcare.

Nic

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 1:58 pm
by orangeRcode
Great story. Ah, the good old days! :cheers:

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 3:12 pm
by slick4x4
mercuryv8 wrote:That is very interesting.

So assuming farmland is more productive now (GMO, equipment, herbicide, pesticides). How much soy does that 10 acres produce now? How much higher are the costs? Nic
The seed back then was probably around $15 an acre.. today over $50
I'm not sure on chemical cost.. I would guess less than $10 then.... today over $50
The local price is about $9 .... our local elevator will buy all grains

Farm ground in 1970 probably averaged $750 acre
Some ground around here sold for $4000 acre... but average is closer to $3000

The bigger the farm equipment gets ... the less farmers needed
One combine today , can cut what took at least 5 combines in 1970 did
They have in excess of 500 hp tractors now
Very few were over a hundred hp back then

Fuel was .25 cents.... today diesel is near $2.50 .... I have paid over $4
Fertilizer is probably 20 times as costly

The price of grain ..... not that much different than in 1970

I'm a small farmer with old equipment
I have 2 part time jobs
My wife has a job in town

But this is the future that I see happening 25 or less years from now

One farm in 2040 , where there was 30 now... a 100 in 1970
2 or 3 Companies like Monsanto controlling all seed sales (illegal to save own seed)........
2 or 3 machinery builders like Deere still selling .. and it will be illegal to work
On you own equipment ( they are already trying to get that )

I wouldn't be surprised if the government would make rules , so owning animals
Like pigs , cows , chickens will be very difficult for a regular person

All in the name of making farm industry more efficient ... just like the post office is

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 3:58 pm
by mercuryv8
LoL ... Just like the post office.

It's really illegal to save your own seed? How do they justify that?

Nic

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 6:32 pm
by Mr. Jones
Pat,
Did some copper gutters for a farmer in Bethany,Mo.This guy lived large,what you were saying about one farm where there were once ten.One of his sixteen full time employees was telling me the guy buys up more land every two years and at last count was planting 20,000 acres of corn.... What kind of paycheck would give you with an average crop....just curious...all I know bout farming is the hrs.are long and labor is the same....

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 16, 2017, 10:46 pm
by slick4x4
Merc v8

Soybean seed has been genetically modified to resist certain chemicals

"Roundup ready" means you can spray roundup (a weed killer)
And it doesn't kill the soybeans
Just another way to keep your fields free from weeds

When you buy them , you sign a contract saying you won't save
The seed to replant next year... some guys have been caught
And Monsanto has plenty of lawyers to convict them

I think wheat will follow .... at this time you can still save for
Your own personal use

Dan... I couldn't tell you , I hardly ever plant corn
The guys that do, have a lot of expense in it....
Fertilizer lots and usally irrigation .....
I have heard that in other states that raise lots of corn
Land has brought as much as $16,000 per acre

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 17, 2017, 2:15 pm
by The Big M
^Same here with canola.

And a Canadian football field is 1.47 acres without endzones, in case anyone was wondering. :wink:

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 31, 2017, 4:58 pm
by Alan Mclennan
Thought you might like to see this Pat and others ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Mwtai-zNo

Re: Just a story I thought I would share

Posted: October 31, 2017, 8:31 pm
by slick4x4
My neighbors have 3 new John Deeres like that...

This is exactly the same machine that we cut with.... about 1974 models

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n81hrb2NxX4