Farm Partnership ideas

Monte2014

Registered User
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41
Hi all,

My mother currently leases 122 acres to a local farmer, my brother leases 100 acres to the same local farmer and my wife's mother leases 100 acres to another farmer. Total acreage is 322 acres. The 3 farms are within a 12 mile radius of each other. Both farmers who are renting the farms claim single farm payments etc. My brother in law and I have discussed the possibility of entering into a farming partnership and renting the entire farms from our respective parents. We would continue with our full time jobs so would farm on a part time basis. Surely it is better for us to be receiving subsidies and possibly making a profit? Both of us work in the private sector and have a working knowledge of farming and relevant Teagasc certs. However, we are both 40 years of age so we would not qualify for young farmers scheme.

My question is (1) are we mad to consider renting the farms from our respective parents, and (2) what farm ideas would work where we have some chance of making a profit (taking into account rental costs etc)?

Thanks in advance.
 
The suggestion of dairying makes no sense here. It is a total non-runner as a part time activity. It also requires significant capital investment. The many new entrants to dairying in the past 5 years have suffered serious financial losses because of depressed world prices.

For most people with full time jobs, part time farming is a money pit, and it takes a lot of work and patience to recover one's initial investment let alone make money. The odds would be stacked against a partnership of two part time farmers entering the trade at age 40 and paying a significant rent on 300+ acres .
 
For most people with full time jobs, part time farming is a money pit, and it takes a lot of work and patience to recover one's initial investment let alone make money. The odds would be stacked against a partnership of two part time farmers entering the trade at age 40 and paying a significant rent on 300+ acres .

I totally agree here. I dont farm and never will, but a lot of people close to me do. They work their rear-ends off for very, very little profit. You currently have rental income from the farms without doing any work - stick to this plan! Farming is an expensive and risky business. You can turn a small/modest profit in a year, but you can also loose your proverbial in it over night. All it takes is a disease outbreak, bad weather, run of bad luck, a Brexit, etc to bankrupt you. Stick to the day job and collect your rent, let someone else take the risk
 
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