What is the best reason you have heard about why money does or does not matter on a farm? Send in a comment.<\/p>\n
When I entered the field of farm business education and consulting I entered with the na\u00efve perception that farm managers would seek out strategies that improved the financial performance of the farm and themselves. Time and time again my presumption has proved wrong. Here is a list of reasons that money does not matter in farming. They all come from very reasonable farmers, for better or worse.<\/p>\n
\u2022 If we were profitable, we\u2019d have to pay taxes to the government.
\n\u2022 How could we continue to market products at these high prices if people knew we were actually making money?
\n\u2022 It\u2019s not about money\u2026. It\u2019s about the land and the animals.
\n\u2022 The economy\/marketplace does not yet recognize the true value of what we do as farmers, someday it will.
\n\u2022 If we made more money, my spouse would expect to go on a vacation. I don\u2019t much want to leave the farm and the prospect of sitting on a beach with nothing to do does not appeal much either.
\n\u2022 Our daughter will get better financial aid packages for college if we show a loss.
\n\u2022 To make more money we\u2019d have to make some tough decisions and probably makes some changes too.
\n\u2022 We won\u2019t have any retirement savings when we get old, but our kids will take care of us just like we did for our parents.
\n\u2022 Farming is risky business and if you can\u2019t handle that you should get out. I heard Extension has some jobs open.
\n\u2022 When you work this hard and don\u2019t make hardly anything you can\u2019t think about money. It\u2019s too depressing.<\/p>\n
5 Reasons Money Does Matter in Farming<\/strong> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is the best reason you have heard about why money does or does not matter on a farm? Send in a comment. When I entered the field of farm business education and consulting I entered with the na\u00efve perception … Continue reading
\n\u2022 When we decided to get a loan for a reverse osmosis unit for our maple operation it cut my labor in half and saved our marriage.
\n\u2022 I\u2019d like to put profits into a retirement account so that I don\u2019t have to parcel out the farm to support me when I am no longer able to work.
\n\u2022 My kids have seen us struggle to make a living on this farm for 30 years\u2026 they have no interest in farming or this place.
\n\u2022 I want to pay people well here and provide them year round work with good benefits.
\n\u2022 Making these money decisions is hard work, I figure that the only way I can justify paying myself well is by doing hard work. When I catch myself doing the things in the greenhouse I remember I can pay someone $10 per hour to do them. I need to focus on other things in order to earn my $30 per hour.<\/p>\n