Originally Posted by marshmud991
Originally Posted by kyles
They deserve it for what they go through. Long hours uncertain markets. You are at the mercy of the weather. I don't envy them. If everyone thinks they got it made I would go for it lol

I tell people that hunt to look at what it cost to plant a 1/2ac food plot if you’re going to try to get the max out of it. Once the figure what this few bags of fertilizer cost and that $20-$30 bag of seed costs they are probably close to $100. Depending on the price of fertilizer of course. I then tell them to look up 1 unit of hybrid corn, soybean and cotton seed and compare the price. I always use 500ac as an example and tell them to do the math just on seed costs to plant those acres 1 time. Sometimes you have to replant because nature is cruel sometimes. I tell them look at the price of the 2.5gal jug of gly they bought which is one of the cheaper herbicides on the market. Same formula. Nothing about growing crops for a living is cheap. Heck if I’d keep track of what is costs me each year for my gardening, I’d probably puke and never do it again. It’s in my blood and something I love to do. I wish 007 would chime in and explain the fertilizer and chemicals side of farming. It would make some of y’all choke if y’all would know the size of the checks farmers pay out during planting and growing season.



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.

Last edited by cartervj; 02/08/25 10:19 PM.
“Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they already have it.” ― Ronald Reagan