farmfacts

I was thinking today that I would talk about some of the things that people have asked. So, here are the questions with the answers that I have.

1. What do farmers wear?

Well, this is a question with many answers. We mostly wear overalls, yes, overalls.  That’s not just a saying, you know. If we run out of those, we wear jeans. We—meaning not me because I hate being hot—always wear long-sleeved, button-down shirts because we’re in the sun all day long. It is actually cooler and it prevents burning. My father-in-law has several spots of skin cancer on his face, hands, and the back of his neck where he is not covered by clothing. We have to have ball caps on to prevent face burns, and during the hottest months they wear straw hats. We wear ropers instead of tennis shoes to protect our feet from cows stepping on them or hogs biting through tennis shoes.

In the winter it’s basically the same, except we have full-body coveralls and they usually wear ball caps that have wool covers to go over the ears and neck and t-shirts under the long-sleeved shirts. Our winter coat of choice is a Carhartt. They’re usually the warmest and easiest to move in.

Then, on top of all that, we have to have mud boots that go to our knees. It gets deep around here. We also have wool gloves, leather gloves, leather gloves lined with wool, thick cotton work gloves that we buy at the co-op, and gloves that fit inside of gloves.

That’s basically it in the clothing department, but it’s enough. Just to buy coveralls for all of us for the winter costs $300 or so. Overalls cost $40 a piece and we wear them out like crazy. Coats are around $70 and each of us usually goes through at least 1 a year. We use gloves like water and the 3 of us probably spend $100-$200 each year. Mud boots, which last about a year each, cost $75 a piece. Ropers are $130 and luckily they last about 2 years. Shirts were costing $15, but we started going to the Goodwill store and we can usually find them for about $4 each. That’s helped a lot. Hats last several years and they’re like $10-$15 each, but we have numerous hats. The wool hats are around $30 and straw hats are $25 or so.

One important thing is that you don’t want to wear baggy clothes. They get caught in the machinery and we know many, many people who have lost fingers and limbs that way. My father-in-law had to have 44 inches grafted from his leg to the upper part of his arm because he got caught in the grinder gears.

2. How much does it cost to buy a farm?

            The cost of a farm depends on the seller and location. Land around here is around $2,000-$2,500 an acre, but I’ve also seen it sell for $3,500 an acre. If you want 200 acres, which is a very small farm, you would expect to pay $400,000 plus interest for the loan. Most land comes in tracts of 80 acres, and usually comes in 2 tracts that are together. 160 acres would cost $320,000. Then you have the taxes associated with it, which also all depends on the county. I found land for sale in Nebraska, 160 acres, for $556,000, which is almost $3,500 an acre. If you are looking for a farm, expect to pay at least $2,000 per acre.

3. How many acres can you plant an hour?

            You can plant an average of 6 acres per hour.

4. How much do farmers make per year?

            I have had this question a lot. The answer is simply nothing. The money we make goes toward corn, mineral, loan payments, and so on. I will be putting up an income and expense list after the first of the year if you are really interested in knowing the ins and outs, but I have to finish our books for the year and I can’t do that yet. Look back in a month or a little longer and I will generate a somewhat itemized list and post it.

5. Cost of tractors then and now…

            Oh, I like this question! How interesting! Well, I can tell you that I can get this answer. I’ll talk to my father-in-law and get some costs from the 40s, 50s, and so on. He likes to talk about this stuff anyway. Look for this in the near future. I’ll try to do it this weekend and get some info together. Kudos to whoever did a search for this!

6. Deductions for farm equipment, including pickups

            I have all of the calculations for this stuff but I’ll have to get it all together. I’ll post this in the next couple of weeks.

            Those are the questions I have had so far. I hope it’s helpful. I will get the stuff together for those few questions I couldn’t answer right away and post them shortly. Please keep checking back for new information. I have so much that I could tell everyone but it will just take awhile to get to each topic. If you have something pressing that you really need to know right away, just let me know.

HAPPY FARMING!

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