Farming Backgrounds?

    • Farming Backgrounds?

      I Though I would create this thread to allow anyone with or without farming backgrounds to talk and share any experience they may of had. Or just to share some information about farming or running farms.

      I work on a 250 cow dairy. We have a 12 unit Swing round Parlor and about 80 Heifers off farm.
      We have 4 Tractors a NH 5060, NH TS100, Ford 4600 And A Ford 5030
      Feed the World... One Field At a Time :thumbsup:

      CnC Roadmap sorted by Milestones
    • My great grandfather, great uncle, and grandfather (particularly the first two) were in beef cattle farming. My Grandfather worked other jobs throughout his working life, but he still helped with the farming. My Dad, my Uncle, and their cousins all helped as farm hands growing up. It was never a huge operation by most measures; if you included some leased pastures with the family land, it all totaled up to a bit over a thousand acres, with a few hundred head at any given time, plus vegetable gardens and small harvests of corn, potato, and watermelon for family consumption and sale or sharing in the community.

      My great uncle favored mostly Case equipment, but my Great Grandfather and Grandfather had IH stuff. (This was when they were separate companies.) We still have an IH Farmall A, Super A, H, and a B414 to this day, plus a small Kubota (B-series) with loader that my Dad uses for small jobs around his property. Riding me on the Super A was the surest way to get me to sleep when I was little. I learned to drive tractors when I still had to slide off the seat to reach the peddles and could operate a backhoe and front loader before I was ten.

      Unfortunately, though, the younger generations in the family had other interests, so most of the land has been carved up and sold now. I think there's less than 400 acres left total, though I would like to try to buy as much as I can of that from my aunts and uncles to keep it in the family, assuming I can scrounge the finances.

      I grew up, went to school, and I'm an engineer by profession. But, I still (obviously) have the itch to get out and play in the dirt when I can, virtually or otherwise.
    • I have worked on and off on farms over the years, but most of my time has been in arboriculture/forestry, construction and quarrying, I also did a stint as an outsourced 3d artist, before MS pulled the plug on the game I was working on :rolleyes:

      I now work solely for myself 90% of the time and just do the odd job for people with my Unimog or repairing their equipment.
    • I have a 130 suckler herd plus 100 sheep plus 80 acres(ish) of barley. Other experience include dairy and potatoes.
      Tractors are Fendt 313, John Deere 5820 and a range of old timer Massey Fergusons ranging from the industrial 40 to a 3095

      If we're counting virtual farming I own FS 13, 15 and 17 with several hundred hours on each haven't looked anywhere else (actually not true also played Sim farm, harvest moon and stardew valley) but CNC looks to be something special hence my Gold status ;)
    • I grew up on the Grandparents Farm, these days ran part time since we sadly dont own enough Land to make a living of it anymore. As for Tractors besides a Ford 5610 we got a Steyr T80 from the 50's and a Warchalowski WT25 from the 60's both of which are still doing their part when needed without complaints.

      The old Iron is great for Forestry, getting through overgrowth and the likes where the bigger Machines just dont fit through.


      The Virtual world just offers the chance to work the big machines :D , really looking forward to CnC.
    • Closest I've been to real farming is driving a massey across a football field with a roller and cutter to flatten or give the grass more air in that respective order xD

      Though I can say I managed to get on said tractor, back it out of storage garage and learn all this all by myself. Witch I have to say is not too shabby ^^ Was really fun to try and guess all the gears, I figured what sticks are for high and low, rest was a bit of trial and see if the tractor wanted to go through the garage wall or door xD
    • Here in the US, many of our rural high schools had a program called Future Farmers of America (FFA). I spent my four high school years participating in this program (1981 - 1985) and learned a lot about general agriculture and many other things. But I had my sights set on different things and eventually found my way into the world of Information Technology.

      Back in the 80's, we learned and did much with various farm equipment including tractors, plows etc. I'm sure if these programs exist today, the actual "hands on" activities (like driving a tractor) is limited due to liabilities etc.

      Anyway, I enjoy the virtual world of farming and really looking forward to CnC.

      Jerry
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    • Although I have never been a farmer I was involved in agriculture. I worked for the largest Plant Nutrient company in the world .
      My job was to teach soil management and nutrient usage for both organic and synthetic nutrient crop management.
      Two things I personally helped bring about were getting the Portland Rose Festival growers a viable way to grow the roses hydroponically, considered a pretty tricky thing at that time. We also found a way to aid the Mexican Government in inexpensively renewing their failing tomato fields with the reintroduction of humic and fulvic acids into the soil in conjunction with a thriving mycorrhizal colony.
      Our company were also advocates of Medical Marijuana in Canada, teaching growers and supplying healthy organic nutrient schedules and nutrients free of charge to valid medical patients.
      I also play Farming Simulator 11,13,15 and 17 as well as Expert farmer etc etc. Like my friend Grizz up there i also run a long time Farm Sim Youtube channel.
      Looking forward to CnC big time!

      Check out my Youtube channel Folks

      youtube.com/channel/UCNtfZnwMlPc-ZLiHtBuGm5g
    • Never worked on a farm myself but being from Ireland farming is a major part of everyone's life. It's almost impossible to leave the house without seeing a tractor (and during harvest season impossible to sit in my living room without seeing one). I live on the fringes of town so I'm one of those people who look at the housing estate across the road and say "I remember when all of this was fields" as if it's somehow important. A highlight of my year is when I'm about in the living room when the combine is on it's way to harvest...because it gets stuck...every year without fail!
    • In couple of years I'm facing a decision whether to continue our family farm or not. My siblings are already older, and too old to be able to make the official transfer as supported by government. The farm is small, but I feel strongly motivated by tradition and family values. I would not need to quit my current job, so taking up the farm would not be a financial decision as so. But it means a change of lifestyle, and I'm about ready to say yes on that.
    • mvpfi wrote:

      In couple of years I'm facing a decision whether to continue our family farm or not. My siblings are already older, and too old to be able to make the official transfer as supported by government. The farm is small, but I feel strongly motivated by tradition and family values. I would not need to quit my current job, so taking up the farm would not be a financial decision as so. But it means a change of lifestyle, and I'm about ready to say yes on that.
      Where do you live?
      What size of farm is it?
      livestock / arable?
      more info please :D
    • JohnKalel wrote:

      Where do you live? What size of farm is it?
      livestock / arable?
      more info please :D
      Located above 60th paraller north, farming here is quite exotic. Short growing season, one harvest/year, long and dark winter. All farms here are small, our farm is small even by local standarts, 50 hectares (some 120 acres) of fields & woods. My grandad was still able to make up living on this, but since 1972 when my father took over, farming has been a part time job.

      Having a farm "just a side job" sounds like fun, but all the rules and laws around farming are not making it easy. To be able to continue, you'll need to prove that your farm is eligible, meaning, profitable for yourself. This is where it starts to go wrong: it is not enough if I would be able to, for example, feed my family and heat up my house with the farm, making it a profitable hobby for myself. I actually need to raise a certain amount of money through selling farming products to be able to pull this off.
    • mvpfi wrote:

      JohnKalel wrote:

      Where do you live? What size of farm is it?
      livestock / arable?
      more info please :D
      Located above 60th paraller north, farming here is quite exotic. Short growing season, one harvest/year, long and dark winter. All farms here are small, our farm is small even by local standarts, 50 hectares (some 120 acres) of fields & woods. My grandad was still able to make up living on this, but since 1972 when my father took over, farming has been a part time job.
      Having a farm "just a side job" sounds like fun, but all the rules and laws around farming are not making it easy. To be able to continue, you'll need to prove that your farm is eligible, meaning, profitable for yourself. This is where it starts to go wrong: it is not enough if I would be able to, for example, feed my family and heat up my house with the farm, making it a profitable hobby for myself. I actually need to raise a certain amount of money through selling farming products to be able to pull this off.
      .... the 60th degree north .... so either south alaska, north canada, sweden, norway, finland or russia?
      And why do you have to prove you can make it pay what if you don't do they take the farm off you ?
    • JohnKalel wrote:

      .... the 60th degree north .... so either south alaska, north canada, sweden, norway, finland or russia?And why do you have to prove you can make it pay what if you don't do they take the farm off you ?
      The problem is acquiring the farm to your name. Value of the land is so high that the market price for a farm of even this size is way above any change to get it paid by farming. It's like buying a business that costs much more than it's output generates for 50 years. You might be able to pay interests with that, but the loan would be there forever, waiting for your kids.

      This issue is well-known and addressed with mechanisms to sort this out, guided by government. I think Norwegians have something similar, I would be interested to know more about that if anyone knows. Yeah btw this is Finland, sorry for not being clear about that earlier.

      Your parents might sell you the farm under market value, or even give it up for free. Lets say you buy the farm from your parents with 10 % of the market value. Within next three years, you, as the new owner of the farm, need to have at least one year where you make minimum 15000 EUR benefit from selling products from your farm. Remember, we are talking about a country where average cereal yield per hectare is 2000-3000 kg.

      If you fail to prove that your farm is eligible, the business transaction between your parents and you is considered questionable, and both can get penalized in the form of enforced taxes. For buyer, the extra taxation is relative to the initial market value of the farm. In the end losers would be not only me and my parents but my siblings too.
    • mvpfi wrote:

      JohnKalel wrote:

      .... the 60th degree north .... so either south alaska, north canada, sweden, norway, finland or russia?And why do you have to prove you can make it pay what if you don't do they take the farm off you ?
      The problem is acquiring the farm to your name. Value of the land is so high that the market price for a farm of even this size is way above any change to get it paid by farming. It's like buying a business that costs much more than it's output generates for 50 years. You might be able to pay interests with that, but the loan would be there forever, waiting for your kids.
      This issue is well-known and addressed with mechanisms to sort this out, guided by government. I think Norwegians have something similar, I would be interested to know more about that if anyone knows. Yeah btw this is Finland, sorry for not being clear about that earlier.

      Your parents might sell you the farm under market value, or even give it up for free. Lets say you buy the farm from your parents with 10 % of the market value. Within next three years, you, as the new owner of the farm, need to have at least one year where you make minimum 15000 EUR benefit from selling products from your farm. Remember, we are talking about a country where average cereal yield per hectare is 2000-3000 kg.

      If you fail to prove that your farm is eligible, the business transaction between your parents and you is considered questionable, and both can get penalized in the form of enforced taxes. For buyer, the extra taxation is relative to the initial market value of the farm. In the end losers would be not only me and my parents but my siblings too.
      Awww thought your english was a bit ropey ( but still a billion times better than my finish ;P)
      ooo i see that sounds unfair it is far easier to hand the farm over in the UK don't have to prove anything. You don't even need to pay your parents anything they can just give it to you and as long as they don't die within 7 years your mostly fine (over simplifying)
      You would think the finnish government would want to encourage farmers of all sizes especially family farms, not burden them with conditions and hoops to jump through....
    • My uncle has about 200 hectares of cereal area in southern Finland Pirkanmaa Tampere nearby. He also makes the machine contracting.

      Equipment.

      Tractors:
      -Ford 5000
      -Ford 6600
      -Valmet 6600 turbo and frontloader
      -Valtra n141
      -Valtra n163 and frontloader
      - David-Brown 1410 turbo
      Excavators:
      -Fiat-Hitachi ex165
      - Huddig 960
      Combine:
      -Sampo Rosenlew comia c6
      and much more!