Its raining here so I'm here at my computer waiting on my daughter to finish her morning chores so we can have a sit down serious talk. I'm a little nervous.
Today we are going to talk about discontinuing the farming operation here. Or at least down sizing in a huge way.
For years we have raised and sold vegetable produce, pumpkins and gourds and all that truck, milked three or four Jersey cows and fed out several hogs a year. We raised and sold a few hundred meat chickens, sold eggs as well. All this while I logged full time and tried to grow my firewood business.
I'm 58. I haven't taken a whole day off in two years. Last days I had off was when I was in bed coughing blood from covid. That was last winter.
I gotta say I'm tired. My wife is tired and you know what, there just isnt much money in farming this way any more.
So, we are going to shift gears. My firewood business is doing good. Better than ever. I want to move toward making it a full time thing. Slowly, while I build my costumer base and upgrade my equipment.
Logging will become the part time thing when a timber piece comes up I want to do. I cut and skid alone with chainsaw and cable skidder or tractor and arch and Its hard on the body. I love it and will do it as long as I can but no longer every day. I need some down time.
We will keep some of the garden plots going and still grow all our own vegetables, keep some laying hens and raise our own meat chickens, raise a couple pigs and that's about it. Just for us and some family. More sustainable homesteading than farming now.
Im turning the other cows, some barns, pasture and fields over to my daughter and her husband, who is a hard working guy. I'll help when needed in key times to plow and fit.
Big day. Big life change. Scary.
Its the right thing to do. And I want this any way. So does my wife. Id rather play in the firewood yard or cut timber then spread manure any day. Saw dust is awesome. Weeds and manure not so much.
Well, she's here so its adult talk time. Hope this goes well for us all.
I wish you the very best of luck with the conversation and the transition. Completely understand where you are coming from, we have made a lot of changes here too and hoping they are the right ones.
Don't blame you for wanting a day off.
Hope the conversation goes well.
The day we sold the cows was tough for us The cows were the last of the farming for profit (or not) here. My wife grew up on this farm as did her father. There was more than 150 years of family farm history.
It was the right decision for her brother, my wife and me. The costs were not worth the time and energy. Our children had some interest in the farm but no interest in the work.
Wish you the best with whatever decisions you make. Been around and worked on farms my whole life. Some of the hardest times I've seen are the generational transitions. A few times the family members wouldn't even speak and things got ugly. Was sad to see unfold. Farmers are a stubborn batch by nature you gotta be to make it and often are resistant to change. Often times change is what's needed.
You having the hard conversation with your daughter leads me to believe you're on the right track. Nice to hear you have respect for your SIL as well.
Hate to see a farm shutting down but certainly understand needing some time off. Farming is a lifestyle not a job.
Good luck with the talk and your decisions.
It can be hard to shut down part of an operation and change gears. My wife and I also made that decision a few year ago to get rid of our small herd of cattle and sell some land. It was just too much work loading up and bouncing cattle from pasture to pasture all summer. We still miss the cows but a few feeder cattle are easier to manage. We still miss the land as well but 15 miles was just too far to road our old junk row crop equipment, and it feels better to have less debt.
Good luck to your daughter as well if she takes in a little more of the farm then she is used to.
Thanks for the comments and kind words guys. The conversation went very well. My daughter knew we were heading this way but did not know how serious we are or what I would be handing to her.
We all took notes so there's no misunderstandings moving forward. Around my family open communication and plan talk is the key. None of us good at hints or reading between lines. We like it plan and simple. I still intend to help quite a bit. I cant quite imagine a spring without turning over some fresh smelling soil.
Rained cats and dogs here all day so my wife and I went for a long ride to clear our heads. Tomorrow is another day and I have a big wooping pile of rounds to split and stack.
Isn't it wonderful to have options and honest work?
He closes a door, but he opens a window for us.
Can't keep your nose to the grindstone forever, once in a while you got to pick your head up and look around.
Had a similar convo with my Dad many years back, and basically neither I nor my Sister was keen on taking over the family dairy farm. Sister was studying medicine and I was working IT / office equipment back in the early days of computers.
Parents ended up retiring early, but had invested income from the farm over the years and were quite comfortable.
I sometimes wonder "what if?" But you make your choices as you think best at the time. Looking online the old farm now has a rates value of several million $. But if I'd taken that path who knows? Wouldn't have the great family I have now, maybe a different one, better or worse? Not wanting to swap my current family situation for a few more $.
Good luck to all of you.
Farm operations change. Ours has changed several times over the four generations we've been on this ground. Change is good and necessary. It'll work out for you :) :)