Farm Manager?

Have you thought about some type of “working agreement” with the landowner (assuming you’re buying existing farm ground)?

dl,
Are you familiar with the NYFarmnet’s NYFarmlink program, they have a website with a list of participating farmers looking for land, looking for someone to turn over land as they retire from farming etc. It can take a while to find the right place for you, so it doesn’t hurt to start looking now. I would post link, but computer is acting up.

I had an add up for years, it may still be there, I only had a handful of inquires, only one of which was a possibility, and by then I had found something else. It is not the fastest method, but it only works if people post to the site. If you post now, you could be waiting for years, or worst case something shows up quick and maybe you can make some plans with someone thinking of retiring. NYFarmNet is a great service/resource to look into for many of your concerns and needs, plus when you call them you get a real person on the line.

dlskidmore …. If I’m not singing to the choir here …. and “if” I’ve read your post correctly …. you’re in the middle of the great old question, “When’s the best time to buy a washer and dryer?”

You are painting a picture of what may need to be a hobby farm until you get your feet planted. And you know your going to commute back and forth to work from the current job. You have the basic wish list, but don’t know yet where the land is or the cost, correct? And we’ve never done this before so there’s a steep learning curve? Been there …. its hard to make the balance sheet make any sense out of thin air. Maybe this is the math you cannot solve … yet .

First you need a piece of land (x) which equals price or cost (y) = amount (down payment / monthly payments). I am assuming the land will come with house on it, as it’s my experience banks will not lend money for only land. Figure for the next 5 years all of your current salary will be needed just to keep the bank happy. Assume you can’t afford the farm in your mind (none of us can), and assume your going to buy absolutely the worst farm for what you had in mind (all of us have). Assume it’s going to work out in the end, but it’s gonna be a real tight fit …. you might also figure the absolute worst people to know concerning your bottom line are going to show up first. (i.e.. maybe a farm manager?)

When I was younger I was the smartest idiot you ever met, cost me a lot of money to be that smart …. now I”m about as stupid and pityful as it gets when it comes to business meetings. That said, do we know a solid attorney, banker, and CPA who knows farming? The hardest lesson to learn is the need to turn key areas over to a professional right out of the chute. And the first ‘professional’ I’d forget recruiting is the real estate person, no offense to the realtors out there, its just that where the farm is … is where the realtor is.

I’d want to set up a solid financial / legal understanding of what my options could be before I buy any land. May i ask if New York state tax law penalizes farms under a certain amount of acres for example? While your in the office asking all kinds of “dumb” questions with some professional, you might want to write another check to draw up that contract for a future ‘farm manager’.

I’ll most likely have to dodge a few bullets for what I’ve written. But let’s say I didn’t follow some of my advice here. Let’s say that maybe at the worst possible time the dang’ washer broke on me …. and a bunch of really ‘dumb’ people smartened me up. A dream’s a lot of hard work.

You’ll be just fine that first mornin’, sipping a cup of coffee on the porch lookin’ over the sunrise and the back 40.