People have no clue what it takes to farm. I’m a small operator in the farming world, but I would bet I spend more just on chicken litter in a year than 75% of the people on here bring home in a year.

I was thinking of you driving back from the farm. lol.

It’s a terrible time to be a logger

I’m scared farming is headed that way for a few years
Last year really hurt a lot of farmers.

Yep.

Corn cost us 435 an acre to plant. Bean cost us 350 and acre to plant. Those are totals on average til time to harvest. Those prices do NOT include fuel, equipment, replant and repairs and zero payroll high only one guy gets paid is our helper. Consider an average size operation will plant 2500 acres of corn and that’s over 1,000,000. If the average farmer is doing 5000 acres there ya go
Last year, the county average was under 100 bushels. Talked to one farmer that hit 100 bushel corn and they dry their corn like many do. Don’t know that cost. Their beans cut less than 30 bushel averages and cotton stunk. Don’t know nothing about cotton they told me and it was not good like less than 2 bale per acre.

I’d imagine 150-160 corn is their break even cost. Their wet fields hit like 150 averages. That’s how dry it was.

The guy that farmed our place the first two year hit it big. Beans were 18 a bushel and he cut 60 plus bushel beans those two years. Corn was over 6 and he hit 160-170 bushel corn
He timed it perfect and called it done but not before he was docked on his wheat for mold after the fact. Only one farmer didn’t get hit that year in wheat in Colbert and he got it out before the rain hit the very one during harvest. One farmer got hit for a hard six figures.

There’s a lot of money on table every year for the farmer. Land owners and suppliers do well until they don’t get paid.
Hear did one farmer not paying a 7 figure bill.

I’d say it’s not for the faint of heart and many do it because they know nothing else to do. Others sale their land for huge profits and is devolved into sub divisions. Madison comes to mind.

Some beautiful farm land in NW Alabama Carter. Love that part of the state.

I would talk to different folks and decide on decent price. Sign a long term lease and put some rules in writing. Local co-op or banks would probably give you some names to call to get the best option. May not want to lease to someone that will wipe out the deer herd. I remember folks weren't to happy one year when a new to the area farmer came in and decimated the already low deer herd by shooting them at night during the summer.

Personally I like our farmers, so I don’t want it to come across like I’m upset with them. I know the past year was hard on everyone. I just don’t understand a lot when it comes to how much it costs them to farm. .

Certain aspects of my property I’ll have to look at my land as a business, since I’m allowing a farmer to farm it, I need to understand the costs associated with it. That’s why I’m here, for educational purposes.😀

I very well understand the cost of business and how expensive it is, I spent over $750k on air conditioning systems this year, add in the 2 trucks we bought, fuels, payroll, misc stuff, we were well over 1Million in expenses. I guess the difference is, is that I can somewhat control my end price to the consumer to protect my margins and profits as much as possible during a “down year” where, I guess farmers are stuck with whatever the going rate is for what they grow.

If you haven’t already, watch Clarkson’s Farm (you may recognize him from Top Gear). It is British, but does a good job of highlighting what it really takes to make a crop. He’s a TV personality, so has a “fall-back”, but his neighbor/farm mgr is the real star of the show (and Jeremy’s education!).

Cole the Cornstar on YT. We watch him while he rebuilds his great great grandfather's house. They farm 1000 acres of corn and soybeans in Iowa and last year lost close to $300,000. Yet he has the money to build an underground movie theater next to the house. Guess YT money pays pretty good.

He and his wife have very profitable YT channels. Lots of YT farmers do very well on their videos and sponsorships.

Jeremy , as for farming up on the mountain , far as I know there's only two people row cropping out there now. Really limits the choices.

Laura farms makes way more than her hubby does actually farming. She started in her dad’s farm and was making more than him before she could legally drive. John Deere sends a lot of money her way but now others are too. They planted and harvested last year one large tract with that new hybrid tractor system, Nexat from Europe.

What’s most standard sharecropped breaking down at, 25%? Owner keeps 25% of profit and pays 25% of expenses for fertilizer, insecticide, fungicide or whatever else?

That is how mine works

25% of gross or 25% of profit?

I pay 25% on all fertilize , chemicals and spray. Recieve 25% of gross minus it