[3Blessings]

Please help me ....this is our situation.

We are farming and because of the nature of the trade, income is fluctuating. I work outside of the farm, part-time, enough to cover the health insurance and gas or groceries. Because the recession hit us hard, he decided to put the equipment he bought ( bulldozer ) to work and eventually he created a company. The "company" evolved to not just him working now but decided to hire crew. The company started three years ago. That first year, he worked alone. Grandpa basically managed the day to day chores in the farm. I was pregnant at that time. The first year had enough to pay the yearly payment of the Cat. next year, ( my son was born) whole spring and summer he was busy with work, aside from its expenses, it helped a little to pay the bills.. this year was not so great in the CAT work, he opted into making firewood and selling it. He worked hard.... however he hired people too. he has one site 50 miles from us that he said was a vast acreage to clear. the poeple who own the lands where the trees has to be clear agreed to give him the logs/firewood to him in exchange of the clearing. At the site he spent fuels for the saws, skidloader and the help.........i know in my heart that we lost a lot of money as well as valuable time. He came home so dogged tired.... i was pregnant too ( again). I am not really sure abt the profit and expenses on that particular job... i just didnt do the books for him at that time... it was so stressful, June was my last trimester.......though we felt in our bills in the farm not getting payed and in the form of groceries.. But i would say we were abled to survived it. Now we are still in the same tight income situation....last July he hired a foreman ( he promised to pay him $15/hr). Now he moved to a site closer to home. Its 1o miles only from our house. we had our baby end of July. Income from the dairying got smaller and smaller. At current time, the check from sale of milk only cover the rent of the farm and the rest have to come from the sale of firewood or something.
Making the firewood needs customer to buy it... it has its expenses like the fuels and other operating expenses. I know i should sit down and really get down to do some computation or do his books .....however before i could really get down i know where our farming business stands and we have debt up to or eyeball. we need to increase our cows.... we went to fsa but we were denied because of some errrors ( which i hope to be able to convince the guy )....................I honestly want him to stop spending money on the help..... we have two helps.. the foreman ( that gets $600/week) and our farm help ( 225/week)..until we can afford............can anybody shed some light...........thank you so much

 

[EleGirl]

Well seems that you already know what you need to do. You need to go through the books and find out what's really doing on. Only when you know the financial position will you be able to know if you can afford the help buy more cows.

if you buy more cows do you have the customers for the milk?

Is milk and fire wood your only products?

 

[827Aug]

I grew up on a farm, so I'm familiar with the situation. It can be a great life, but the financial struggles can be tough. Knowing your financials are key to surviving. Do that first.

You don't own the land? How many cows are you currently milking? I'm wondering if your husband is traveling and juggling too many things. That and having employees could be draining all profits. My brothers were doing the same thing at one point--and were in huge debt. They actually quit all the row crops and livestock 15 years ago. Part of the farm was planted in timber and the rest rented out for row crops. Then, both brothers went on the road with 18-wheelers. The debts were all paid off. Now only one brother goes out truck driving part time (as the family needs money). In addition, we have a 10 acre garden. It's primarily for us, but we sell (and give away) the surplus.

My advice would be to step back and look at the big picture. Are your goals to provide your family with a living, or are you working to provide employees with jobs. It sounds like you are stuck there.

 

[3Blessings]

Well seems that you already know what you need to do. You need to go through the books and find out what's really doing on. Only when you know the financial position will you be able to know if you can afford the help buy more cows.

if you buy more cows do you have the customers for the milk?

Is milk and fire wood your only products?

Thanks for the response. One thing abt this books....i hate doing it. But something i have to do to prove my point to him, So far snce i post4d this...we are doin somethin abt it. the finances really put a lot of strain in our marriage and lots of bickering and arguing/nagging from me...if ever he read this somehow, may he understands my point....my hands are tied behind my back and i fear for my kids.....but may the Good Lord guide us in making right decisions.

so far we still keep the two help......personally, i would prbably let go for now the help... until we can afford. we are having initiative team to help us sort this mess and to educate us. So hopefully things will improve. It has to. Have to overhaul the entire operation and us in order to put things in the right direction.

Thank you again for listening and being able to kinda put this dilemna on paper and seek other people
s perspective. If ever sweetheart you read this, i'm sorry but i dont intend to hurt your feelings.

 

[mel123]

If the CAT bulldozer is not producing income, it has become a drain on your finances.

Sounds to me like you need to cut overhead.Paying someone 15$ per hr to help cut wood? that's not a good business decision.