Now is the time!

G

GetTothePoint

Well-known member
If we as upland hunters and people pushing for habitat improvement and opportunities are ever going to get back some acres, now is the time. We're in/heading into a situation where farming will not pay for a big portion of this marginal land. Farmers are looking to drop low production acres or renegotiate contracts because they aren't working in today's farming economy. Landlords are crunching numbers because their shares deals aren't working. The list goes on of producers/managers that are looking for other options going forward with their land. Hopefully our organizations that are supposed to be helping us have some bullets ready to fire to go after some of this land. The stars are unfortunately aligning with commodity prices very low and inputs very high for some land to shake up. Go get it fellas!
 
A number of farmers in my area are turning to the "siren songs" of contracts with the wind and solar energy people. This is a disgusting turn of events which certainly doesn't bode well for bird hunters. With $3.50 Corn and $10 beans, below breakeven for most producers,--maybe lower by harvest--I can understand their interest....so the financial incentives to act on better alternatives to those must be present. In our locale, the better farmers, especially those with irrigation, look to specialty crops such as spearmint, peppermint, seed corn, tomatoes and potatoes to close the income gap. Those crops won't be readily practical in many of the drier Plains states. It's a quandary for sure.
 
haymaker said:
Perhaps more farmers should consider a hunting operation. I prefer to have wildlife rather than solar panels and wind turbines.
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I think they'll be a whole lot more receptive to offers these days. I wouldn't be afraid to make some offers on those pieces you drive by thinking man I wish I could hunt that. I think you'd be surprised how close you might be to what producers are actually profiting right now.
 
Big Ag is always going to win over conservation and hunting. They have more power, and its not even close.

As my farming uncle always used to say "When the price goes up, you plant more. When it goes down...you plant more!"
 
gimruis said:
Big Ag is always going to win over conservation and hunting. They have more power, and its not even close.

As my farming uncle always used to say "When the price goes up, you plant more. When it goes down...you plant more!"
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The math isn't mathing for these guys any longer. The smoke is blowing away and the mirrors cracking on this deal. I deal with producers daily and am one myself. The calculator and survival are 1 and 1a for these guys right now.
 
GetTothePoint said:
The math isn't mathing for these guys any longer.
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I'm sure that's accurate given the commodity prices right now compared to the input.

The great equalizer is yield and volume though. Yields should be very high this year because of plentiful moisture in many localities of the Midwest. And it would not surprise me to see a record harvest either.

This isn't the first time this has occured. Commodity prices go up and down all the time. The problem occurs when it stays low for extended periods of time. One year of low prices isn't going to make much of a difference.
 
20 years ago, it occurred to me that I was going to have three kids in college at the same time. Poor family planning I know. I realized that I better come up with another source of income. Now my kids are out of college, and I am more diversified. Because of the added habitat I have been recognized by the Izaak Walton League and the Audubon Society. That feels good and as I said earlier, I would rather have wildlife than wind turbines and solar panels.
 
The small farmers are gone unfortunately. Farms are getting huge.These guys are not allowing free hunting, that's for sure.
 
gimruis said:
I'm sure that's accurate given the commodity prices right now compared to the input.

The great equalizer is yield and volume though. Yields should be very high this year because of plentiful moisture in many localities of the Midwest. And it would not surprise me to see a record harvest either.

This isn't the first time this has occured. Commodity prices go up and down all the time. The problem occurs when it stays low for extended periods of time. One year of low prices isn't going to make much of a difference.
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In our side of the state we're 3 years in of crappy to no crops because of drought. This year corn will be really good and beans fair to good but the price is off so bad that the extra yields won't matter unfortunately.

100 bu corn @ $6.5 still beats 150bu @ 4.
 
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