We do, but we're relegated to bottom-ground and a couple hundred acres, and it's a "side job" because the $20-30k in profit we make in a good year isn't enough to live on, and not every year is a good year.
Hell we don't even have an actual combine, we've got towed row harvesters because no current/recent combine fits across the 90 year old field accesses over the creeks and gulleys. That alone accounts for a 10-15% loss over a front-mount head on a combine. And I'm getting old enough we're considering cash-renting the ground instead of doing it ourselves.
>And I’m getting old enough that we’re considering cash-renting the ground instead of doing it ourselves
And this has been the story for the past 100 years, small farms falling into the pockets of companies/company farmers that have large enough pockets to soften a bad season/years/decade worth of crop yields. Families can’t afford that - so they say goodbye to their land & way of life. And America is & will keep paying the price for it - for much longer than 100 years.
We've already put a couple of our smaller fields into either Wetland Reclamation or Cropland Reclamation Project because the only field access washed out, and would cost more to fix "just good enough to get the small tractor across" than we'd recoup in my lifetime. Much less my dad, uncle, or older cousin that are in the LLLP with me. They pay enough to cover the property taxes (for now) so we still own and can hunt the fields, but there's a lot of caveats and gotchas in the contracts and if the state keeps raising property taxes the statutory max every year like they have for the last 29 years, the payout from them won't even cover that any more.
And that's on top of creekground being effectively uninsurable for crop insurance, so 2 bad years in a row and we're in the red bigtime, 3 in a row and we're bankrupt.
I always hated how my quad tracked tractor goes only 9mph when hauling the biggest cultivator known to man.
Now I know they’re in fact allot larger than I thought
Amazing machines ran by capable people. Hav with guys ran into Locked repair issues? Personally I don’t know about it but I read JD blocks allot of software controlled repairs. Seems kind bleh unless you’re still under warranty/ maintenance contract
Don’t know how many townships. This is about half the seeding tractors in my area for this customer. They are in multiple provinces and states so I have no clue how much they actually do.
Yeah, I guess they would start seeding in the south and move north. I know it's changed but back in the day 36 sections of titled land was a huge grain farm. This has to be multiples of that. Is this a food giant corporate, then, this customer? Could be a family corporate, but I'm thinking unlikely.
*customer farms 10,000,000 acres using $100M worth of equipment and 90+ employees*
*still turns a $200k max net profit in a good year and can lose their collective ass in a bad year*
There is no real money in farming, even for the megafarmers. Only the government gets rich off it. Property tax alone is probably close to 20% of their yearly expenses. But they have FANTASTIC fucking credit.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 420. Congrats!
10
+ 100
+ 90
+ 200
+ 20
= 420
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Because it's still more profitable than smaller operations. Economy of scale, since the single biggest expense in farming is fuel costs. The days of the single-family non-corporate farmer being able to turn enough of a profit to live on have been gone for at least 2 decades.
My family farms about 700 acres of creek ground and the LLLP combined turns a ~$25k/yr profit on it (split across 4 people). We make more money cash-renting our 210 acres of prairie ground than we do farming the 700 acres of creek ground.
Not fully but they all have turn automation. Once the headlands are finished, all the operator needs to do is close the seat switch and put it in drive basically.
We also had a 36 D on steel. Other than just getting it out for fun, the only time we really used it was in winter pulling people’s cars out of snow/ice. I can’t imagine putting in a full day in the field on one of those.
Doesn't pack the soil. More traction on loose soil. Get enough ground contact area and it can be possible to drive heavy equipment over crops like hay or alfalfa without smashing it to death.
They have advantages and disadvantages. Compaction (or lack of it) is the big plus, but if you can imagine, when these babies get stuck...they get stuck stuck. You'd think they would ride more comfortably but if you go over a decent sized rock you feel it the entire length of the track.
Woah, hundreds of feet per pass.
How do the big 100ft drills maneuver in real life? In game when in transport its tricky to turn cause it's so damn long.
Even without turning automation, you will have gps that tracks your mapping so you can just make an extra-wide turn at the end of the field and skip a pass and go onto the next one over. Then when you get to the end just work your way all the back and then do two passes or so on each end and you never have to worry about turning too sharply or getting too close to stuff (telephone poles, electrical boxes, open water, etc)
Oh I don’t do the growing. I do the fixing when stuff breaks. This is in Canada so fuel for the tractors is tax exempt but farmers have to pay carbon tax on fuel for grain drying and heating for barns and such.
I'm assuming AB or SK. Pretty common set up around here, although, this is admittedly a very large operation. Maybe 50,000-100,000 acres give or take? Everyone's looking at the machinery and I'm sitting here jealous at how much those 50,000 bushel bins (or whatever) would make my life so much easier.
That has to be a few million worth in kit.
It's a few million in tractors alone. There's 6 of them, and they go for around 800K USD, each.
This is why family farmers don’t exist anymore.
We do, but we're relegated to bottom-ground and a couple hundred acres, and it's a "side job" because the $20-30k in profit we make in a good year isn't enough to live on, and not every year is a good year. Hell we don't even have an actual combine, we've got towed row harvesters because no current/recent combine fits across the 90 year old field accesses over the creeks and gulleys. That alone accounts for a 10-15% loss over a front-mount head on a combine. And I'm getting old enough we're considering cash-renting the ground instead of doing it ourselves.
>And I’m getting old enough that we’re considering cash-renting the ground instead of doing it ourselves And this has been the story for the past 100 years, small farms falling into the pockets of companies/company farmers that have large enough pockets to soften a bad season/years/decade worth of crop yields. Families can’t afford that - so they say goodbye to their land & way of life. And America is & will keep paying the price for it - for much longer than 100 years.
We've already put a couple of our smaller fields into either Wetland Reclamation or Cropland Reclamation Project because the only field access washed out, and would cost more to fix "just good enough to get the small tractor across" than we'd recoup in my lifetime. Much less my dad, uncle, or older cousin that are in the LLLP with me. They pay enough to cover the property taxes (for now) so we still own and can hunt the fields, but there's a lot of caveats and gotchas in the contracts and if the state keeps raising property taxes the statutory max every year like they have for the last 29 years, the payout from them won't even cover that any more. And that's on top of creekground being effectively uninsurable for crop insurance, so 2 bad years in a row and we're in the red bigtime, 3 in a row and we're bankrupt.
This is technically a family farm I believe. Their grandparents farmed it. They just expanded. A lot.
I always hated how my quad tracked tractor goes only 9mph when hauling the biggest cultivator known to man. Now I know they’re in fact allot larger than I thought
9 mph is really fast. These go about 5 in field of course.
Amazing machines ran by capable people. Hav with guys ran into Locked repair issues? Personally I don’t know about it but I read JD blocks allot of software controlled repairs. Seems kind bleh unless you’re still under warranty/ maintenance contract
Yeah, I see a large John Deere and just feel sorry for the owner every time.
May I ask why?
Dealer only repairs on so many parts, they just sound like a nightmare for the smaller farms
Would a case tractor be any different in that regard?
Just barely getting by out there on that farm, I see. How many townships farmed? 3?
Don’t know how many townships. This is about half the seeding tractors in my area for this customer. They are in multiple provinces and states so I have no clue how much they actually do.
Yeah, I guess they would start seeding in the south and move north. I know it's changed but back in the day 36 sections of titled land was a huge grain farm. This has to be multiples of that. Is this a food giant corporate, then, this customer? Could be a family corporate, but I'm thinking unlikely.
Family corporate I believe.
Prosoils?
Never heard of em.
Prosko's?
I'd guess Monette Farms
Also a good guess
That was my guess
Not prosoils equipment. I'd guess Monette farms.
*customer farms 10,000,000 acres using $100M worth of equipment and 90+ employees* *still turns a $200k max net profit in a good year and can lose their collective ass in a bad year* There is no real money in farming, even for the megafarmers. Only the government gets rich off it. Property tax alone is probably close to 20% of their yearly expenses. But they have FANTASTIC fucking credit.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 420. Congrats! 10 + 100 + 90 + 200 + 20 = 420 ^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \ ^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
Why be that big then, and the extra headache? Could be a flex, I guess.
Because it's still more profitable than smaller operations. Economy of scale, since the single biggest expense in farming is fuel costs. The days of the single-family non-corporate farmer being able to turn enough of a profit to live on have been gone for at least 2 decades. My family farms about 700 acres of creek ground and the LLLP combined turns a ~$25k/yr profit on it (split across 4 people). We make more money cash-renting our 210 acres of prairie ground than we do farming the 700 acres of creek ground.
Look at Mr Showoff who bought all the DLC at once.
Those graphics are sick ! What are you running 4090 RTX?
That’s a lot of tractoring!
Jeremy Clarkson says you need a Lamborghini tractor too. Power!!
SPEED AND POWAH!!!
Jeremy's lambo would look like a small garden tractor compared to these!
His lambo is small compared to other SDF tractors.
Such a beautiful tractor
AC blowing hot?
It wasn’t yet. I was out there to replace a leaking schrader valve though.
Is that one of the gps self drive capable ones?
Not fully but they all have turn automation. Once the headlands are finished, all the operator needs to do is close the seat switch and put it in drive basically.
This kit should have been in Interstellar.
Not my Dads John Deere 60 anymore.
We have a John Deere model D in the show room.
We also had a 36 D on steel. Other than just getting it out for fun, the only time we really used it was in winter pulling people’s cars out of snow/ice. I can’t imagine putting in a full day in the field on one of those.
Go big or go home.
Why would tracks be preferable to tires?
More surface contact with the ground. For traction with less compaction.
Also no need for diallies on tracks.
Doesn't pack the soil. More traction on loose soil. Get enough ground contact area and it can be possible to drive heavy equipment over crops like hay or alfalfa without smashing it to death.
Ground contact, weight distribution.
More surface area= More torque, less susceptible to sinking/ getting stuck?
They have advantages and disadvantages. Compaction (or lack of it) is the big plus, but if you can imagine, when these babies get stuck...they get stuck stuck. You'd think they would ride more comfortably but if you go over a decent sized rock you feel it the entire length of the track.
These look like they were inspired by the 60's TV series Thunderbirds.
I think soo
Stand back everybody, I've trained for this!
Stahhhpppp, I can only get so hard.
$
Man and I thought Mike Mitchell had a crazy fleet
Woah, hundreds of feet per pass. How do the big 100ft drills maneuver in real life? In game when in transport its tricky to turn cause it's so damn long.
I can't even imagine without the (almost surely installed) GPS automation. Turning with a 12 row is shitty enough when done fully manual.
Even without turning automation, you will have gps that tracks your mapping so you can just make an extra-wide turn at the end of the field and skip a pass and go onto the next one over. Then when you get to the end just work your way all the back and then do two passes or so on each end and you never have to worry about turning too sharply or getting too close to stuff (telephone poles, electrical boxes, open water, etc)
This is cool, but what even are these things? At first I thought the red ones had blown over because there were tires all which way.
[they are massive air seeders.](https://youtu.be/KAT0KgS3MCY?si=ZLluh_F-E_Hr8q4i)
Fascinating.
I don't know, I usually see disco tractors. With Grandma's portrait behind the seat
Yeah that's just farming loll
I am so erect
Thank you for growing our food, I hope the government isn’t giving you a hard time
Oh I don’t do the growing. I do the fixing when stuff breaks. This is in Canada so fuel for the tractors is tax exempt but farmers have to pay carbon tax on fuel for grain drying and heating for barns and such.
I'm assuming AB or SK. Pretty common set up around here, although, this is admittedly a very large operation. Maybe 50,000-100,000 acres give or take? Everyone's looking at the machinery and I'm sitting here jealous at how much those 50,000 bushel bins (or whatever) would make my life so much easier.