I don't give a rats ass about Cyprus or their problems. But the one thing I took from this and I have been saying this for years now. Is America was built on farming. The family farm is almost gone and no one wants to farm. I am very big into urban gardening and it just makes me sick that no one seems to try anymore.
(03-31-2013 01:10 PM)hawghiggs Wrote: I don't give a rats ass about Cyprus or their problems. But the one thing I took from this and I have been saying this for years now. Is America was built on farming. The family farm is almost gone and no one wants to farm. I am very big into urban gardening and it just makes me sick that no one seems to try anymore.
You can thank the leftist for inheritance taxes for that.
(03-31-2013 01:10 PM)hawghiggs Wrote: I don't give a rats ass about Cyprus or their problems. But the one thing I took from this and I have been saying this for years now. Is America was built on farming. The family farm is almost gone and no one wants to farm. I am very big into urban gardening and it just makes me sick that no one seems to try anymore.
You can thank the leftist for inheritance taxes for that.
(03-31-2013 01:10 PM)hawghiggs Wrote: I don't give a rats ass about Cyprus or their problems. But the one thing I took from this and I have been saying this for years now. Is America was built on farming. The family farm is almost gone and no one wants to farm. I am very big into urban gardening and it just makes me sick that no one seems to try anymore.
You can thank the leftist for inheritance taxes for that.
It sucks that the inheritance tax, for lots of people, will limit success to a single generation of family members. When Jerry Jones dies how will his family ever pay the taxes on what the Cowboys are worth? And why the F should they have to?
(03-31-2013 01:10 PM)hawghiggs Wrote: I don't give a rats ass about Cyprus or their problems. But the one thing I took from this and I have been saying this for years now. Is America was built on farming. The family farm is almost gone and no one wants to farm. I am very big into urban gardening and it just makes me sick that no one seems to try anymore.
You can thank the leftist for inheritance taxes for that.
It sucks that the inheritance tax, for lots of people, will limit success to a single generation of family members. When Jerry Jones dies how will his family ever pay the taxes on what the Cowboys are worth? And why the F should they have to?
Don't know who owns what there, if he's the sole owner, I'd incorporate and tell the Fed to go **** themselves.
(03-31-2013 01:10 PM)hawghiggs Wrote: I don't give a rats ass about Cyprus or their problems. But the one thing I took from this and I have been saying this for years now. Is America was built on farming. The family farm is almost gone and no one wants to farm. I am very big into urban gardening and it just makes me sick that no one seems to try anymore.
Seems farming would be all the rage these days. I mean, money is made when crops are sold and money is made from govt subsidies when when crops fail. The drought in the plains is a prime example. Farmers are making money, in some cases more money, from crop insurance than they would have made selling the crops.
Farming is not for the weak. It's a llot of work, though it has been lucrative. Regardless, my wife's family has been getting out of farming for 20 years now, slowing selling off equipment and renting off land. It's just easier to rent the land to bigger farmers or to multinationals, and get a job in town and gather a rent check. Her aunt and uncle rented out his land and that allowed him to spend all summer on a houseboat, drinking beer and fishing for bass.
The family asked me a while ago if I'd be interested in taking some land and starting a farm, and I said no; it was a good decision. There is a bit of romance about working the land, and we could have lived right in town in a beautiful old house, but small town life was not for me back at age 27.
Her cousin actually worked with the US Department of Agriculture and some local IL state agencies to turn some "bottom land" (susceptible to flooding) back over to nature, and planted almost 40 acres with swamp oak and other slow growth trees. As long as he keeps the acreage in conservation, he gets a huge tax break and actually makes a couple bucks (around $2k a year?) until the land and the tress mature. He has full access to the land, and it is still private property - we run ATV trails, a small shooting range, and a little camping / picnic area down by the creek for family fun.
(04-01-2013 09:58 AM)VA49er Wrote: Seems farming would be all the rage these days. I mean, money is made when crops are sold and money is made from govt subsidies when when crops fail. The drought in the plains is a prime example. Farmers are making money, in some cases more money, from crop insurance than they would have made selling the crops.
You have about 50% of America who are willing to work. Of that 50%, 90% are barely keeping their heads above water.
Farming is very expensive to start-up. The first years are likely a loss, and sometimes a major loss as in grape growing. My vineyard took 4 years for prime grapes to grow and be profitable - that's 4 years of hard labor before seeing a dime of profit. Luckily I am friends with a very prominent VA wine family who took me under their wings or I may have NEVER made a profit.
I also farm for my own food harvest, game birds, and meat production. I work 50 hours/week at the office, and 70 hours/week on the farm. How many people are going to do that nowadays? Few.
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Jim Rogers on Cyprus: Run For The Hills
