To give the board some background for where I'm coming from in looking into this as a possibility:

I don't anticipate being able to move on this for a couple of years, and I am in the pre-pre-planning stages where I'm not even sure I want to talk to the right lawyer about this and start racking up bills. I don't know anyone else who has done this and I'm looking for some examples, good bad and ugly. Because of my career I know I could plant, cultivate, and harvest multiple crop species successfully, but I am not a commercial farmer and have no prospects of inheriting land. I would be interested in switching to the commercial side of the industry if the right opportunity was there and I knew I wasn't 100% sacrificing my family's financial future by giving up my steady ag research paycheck.

Has anyone heard of a farm being sold to a non-family member through work-for-equity arrangements? How did it go? What caused the deal to go south, if it failed?

What area/state are you in and what crops are you considering? Do you also know good marketing avenues? It's one thing to produce, but there's a whole other side to the business.

I haven't really heard of such an arrangement outside of the Italian farmers who came over to the US as sharecroppers in the late 1800s/early 1900s. They worked until they got enough money & equity to own land in the Brazos Bottom area, which the original owners were glad to sell them after a couple of devastating floods. Now look at who got the last laugh, most of the best farmland in Brazos and Burleson counties is owned by the Italians in this area.

Not exactly a recent example but only one I can think of off the top of my head.

Your post reminds me of an example very similar to what you have in mind. You asked for the good, bad, and ugly so I offer it as a data point, even if it doesn't overlay perfectly with what you have in mind.

I have a friend who worked for an agri chemical retailer and called on an aging farmer with no succession plan. Over time my friend became more interested in farming himself and left his day job to start farming. I'm sorry I don't know the exact details of their arrangement - but it was obvious he was to succeed the farmer. My friend wasn't wealthy - so he couldn't just secure the finances to buy the equipment, assume the leases, and finance the crop.. this is the universal problem and why people don't just jump into farming. I presume that he started on a salary, and through time (maybe crop bonuses or other mechanisms) was building up (or intended to) equity in the farm.

The arrangement lasted about 3-4 crops if I recall correctly. This particular producer had farmed with sons years before my friend came to town and I'm sure that for some of the reasons they didn't stick around ended up being challenges for my friend. In time, my friend returned to his former industry and the producer continued to age, as did his equipment and practices - and he eventually doled out his own land and rented land to neighbor farmers then shuttered his farm. He was a friend too and passed away some time ago.

You're a plant science guy - so you know how stressful and high-stakes this is for every producer, big and small. Identifying a 'partner' that you can work with in good and bad times is key... like your personal happiness is at stake because this isn't a job you leave at 5pm. I know you know that already but it's always worth repeating because I think it is the #1 factor. It will never work with someone you don't trust or can't work with. These are trying times for our industry - but with those challenges come opportunities. I hope you find one that works for you.

agfan2013 said:

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What area/state are you in and what crops are you considering? Do you also know good marketing avenues? It's one thing to produce, but there's a whole other side to the business.

I haven't really heard of such an arrangement outside of the Italian farmers who came over to the US as sharecroppers in the late 1800s/early 1900s. They worked until they got enough money & equity to own land in the Brazos Bottom area, which the original owners were glad to sell them after a couple of devastating floods. Now look at who got the last laugh, most of the best farmland in Brazos and Burleson counties is owned by the Italians in this area.

Not exactly a recent example but only one I can think of off the top of my head.

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I'm in Bryan so most likely is Brazos Bottoms but anywhere within an hour would be plausible.

I know I can grow cotton/milo/corn, and I know that I don't know how to market them. I think that would be an advantage of finding someone looking to step back and work for them for a few years to learn that side and build relationships, since I know that's the hardest part sometimes.

Again, early research stage.

Centerpole90 said:

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Your post reminds me of an example very similar to what you have in mind. You asked for the good, bad, and ugly so I offer it as a data point, even if it doesn't overlay perfectly with what you have in mind.

I have a friend who worked for an agri chemical retailer and called on an aging farmer with no succession plan. Over time my friend became more interested in farming himself and left his day job to start farming. I'm sorry I don't know the exact details of their arrangement - but it was obvious he was to succeed the farmer. My friend wasn't wealthy - so he couldn't just secure the finances to buy the equipment, assume the leases, and finance the crop.. this is the universal problem and why people don't just jump into farming. I presume that he started on a salary, and through time (maybe crop bonuses or other mechanisms) was building up (or intended to) equity in the farm.

The arrangement lasted about 3-4 crops if I recall correctly. This particular producer had farmed with sons years before my friend came to town and I'm sure that for some of the reasons they didn't stick around ended up being challenges for my friend. In time, my friend returned to his former industry and the producer continued to age, as did his equipment and practices - and he eventually doled out his own land and rented land to neighbor farmers then shuttered his farm. He was a friend too and passed away some time ago.

You're a plant science guy - so you know how stressful and high-stakes this is for every producer, big and small. Identifying a 'partner' that you can work with in good and bad times is key... like your personal happiness is at stake because this isn't a job you leave at 5pm. I know you know that already but it's always worth repeating because I think it is the #1 factor. It will never work with someone you don't trust or can't work with. These are trying times for our industry - but with those challenges come opportunities. I hope you find one that works for you.

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You outlined exactly what I am trying to avoid, thank you. You also pointed out one of the reasons I went the research route after college instead of industry, lack of capitol. I could get a loan but honestly I'm not willing to gamble that much with a stable job and a young family. Having an experienced partner and not having $1mil in debt on day one seems slightly safer.

For me, I would need to see a business that would keep going if someone was there to invest in the future. And I would want to partner with someone who could appreciate the fact that I would keep their land out of development.

For their part, I know I would need to honor the work they've put in and the fact that they deserve security in retirement. They also probably want something to pass to their kids even if it's not the farm. I think those things are fair.

I appreciate your example.

Can you give me a better example of how this works...
Here is the prompt: I am 75 years old with 650 acres of cropland (don't care what species, pick something), and no one to will my land to when I die.

What does the agreement look like to you? What do you provide for me? What do I get out of this deal while I am alive?

I am trying to make sure I understand this plan. It is interesting, but I don't know that I understand the assignment here.

Just gonna say it, just cuz you have degree(s) in plant sciences doesn't mean you can farm a crop.

But good luck.

OnlyForNow said:

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Just gonna say it, just cuz you have degree(s) in plant sciences doesn't mean you can farm a crop.

But good luck.

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Yeah, the degrees didn't teach me how to fix equipment, plant, spray, cultivate, harvest, scout for pests, etc.

But my jobs since turning 16 did, and I think the 4-bale cotton I grew last year would argue in my favor. Not everyone is a yuppie.

Don't need your luck, but I'll take it.

Our family owns crop land in East Bernard and Lubbock that we get paid by the farmers to farm it. In your proposal, we'd be giving up both land and income. If we wanted to no longer own the land, we'd sell it and have a a giant pile of cash. I can't envision a scenario where your arrangement would ever make sense. Sorry

BrazosDog02 said:

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Can you give me a better example of how this works...
Here is the prompt: I am 75 years old with 650 acres of cropland (don't care what species, pick something), and no one to will my land to when I die.

What does the agreement look like to you? What do you provide for me? What do I get out of this deal while I am alive?

I am trying to make sure I understand this plan. It is interesting, but I don't know that I understand the assignment here.

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Well, I've never acquired a business and like I said I'm trying to see if it's even plausible.

The thought would be, I pay you $XXXXX for whatever X% ownership of the business that's worth, worked out by a professional with experience in this area.

First couple of years I work for you either full time (farm full time, not just 40 a week), or some agreed amount part time during the busiest times, learning the business. You can either pay me the full amount of what my work is worth or we could deduct some amount to go towards my ownership of the business (i.e. I'm working for equity). So in the short term you are getting discounted labor from a trained agronomist. At the end of the year when the checks come in, you keep all of it because I would use my % ownership of the profits and use it to buy more of the business from you, and you didn't have to work as much since you've got a much younger man around who is invested in keeping the place going.

Once I'm not completely lost on the business side (2 or 3 years working with you and building the relationships with key people, conservatively?), I can start taking more of the management over for you. I will have learned how to run the specific set of equipment you use so you don't need to hang around until 10pm getting planted or an application in ahead of a rain. So now you basically consult and step in when I need another pair of hands. And at the end of the year, you pocket the check.

Eventually I will have bought out the whole business through and you will have been paid for the value based on the agreement we set up at the beginning. Land, facilities, equipment, that's likely to be substantial plus whatever salary you've paid yourself. If you have a house on the land, keep living in it because I'm not going to kick you out. If you want to keep working, just at a reduced rate, you can keep working on the farm and I'll pay you. But now you've got a big chunk of cash you can give to your kids and grandkids if you want or just retire.

But again, I have no clue if this works for farms/ranches. I know other businesses have been purchased through similar models, and I know the average age of farmers isn't going down. I know I have more experience raising a crop than (at least) 90% of this board and I highly respect the other 10% and pay very close attention to their posts. I also know I don't have the business acumen to make it work, yet, which is why I didn't haul off and get a loan to do it the simpler way. And I know I need the advice of professionals like lawyers and ag credit people to structure the deal so that it's good for both parties.

That's why I'm looking for examples. If it's a terrible idea, then it's a terrible idea. I'm not married to it, and I'm not even trying to make it happen yet, but I'm looking for people who have seen it attempted who have advice they could give.

FIDO*98* said:

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Our family owns crop land in East Bernard and Lubbock that we get paid by the farmers to farm it. In your proposal, we'd be giving up both land and income. If we wanted to no longer own the land, we'd sell it and have a a giant pile of cash. I can't envision a scenario where your arrangement would ever make sense. Sorry

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That's fair, thank you.

plant science guy said:

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Has anyone heard of a farm being sold to a non-family member through work-for-equity arrangements? How did it go? What caused the deal to go south, if it failed?

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It's certainly not common, but I'm aware of two instances in which an unrelated younger man "looked after" the affairs of an aging rancher who either had no family, or from whose family he was estranged.

In both those cases, the aging rancher made the younger man executor of his estate, and left the man almost everything he had. In one of those cases, that included 800 acres of very nice pastureland and over 100 head of cattle. You can do the math.

What is "looking after," you might ask. It includes things like working cows, making sure the fences are in good repair, making sure the cows are fed and doctored, loading and taking them to the sale barn, and believe it or not, actually taking a genuine interest in the old guy and spending time and talking to him. I guess you could call it a surrogate sonship.

I say that this is not a common thing, and probably not something you'll just stumble into, but I've seen it happen twice in the past 15 years.

That sounds like a blessing for both the rancher and the younger man. Even better because they cared about each other's well being.

Thank you

Your proposal isn't far fetched and in a way it's apples to oranges with what FIDO is talking about. FIDO has tenant farmers working his land. In your proposal you would partner with an already operating producer, someone like his tenant, and come into the equation that way; essentially succeeding his tenant. FIDO is not a potential partner for your proposal, or any other absentee landowner with a tenant farmer.

Your prospective partner is producer whose kids aren't coming home to farm and they're trying to figure out how to unwind this. Believe me - there are lots of them out there. Your 'competition' here are neighbor producers looking to grow their operations. In most situations like this a neighbor will approach a prospective retiring farmer and in extremely simple terms - buy their equipment, rent (or buy if it's for sale) land the exiting grower owns, and assume available rental agreements where that grower was a tenant. This has played out a million times and I'm sure the mechanizations of it change region to region - but that's the basics of it.

One thing I will say for the sake of readers who are following along and aren't in the industry. Not every farm has a farmer who owns and operates on just their own land. We learned from FIDO's example there are worlds of absentee landowners who rent their land to producers who either work the crops on the shares, or pay an up front cash price per acre. I dare say a vast majority of farms are a combination of own and rented land. So plant science guy' is having to work his way into a business that requires 3 big piles of money: One to buy, rent, maintain, and operate the equipment needed to farm, a second one to finance all the crop expenses like seed, tillage, fuel, insurance, chemicals and fertilizers, and a third one to acquire the land - either through outright purchase or (nearly impossible for a starting farmer) or rent either on shares (some risk is carried by the landowner) or straight cash rent (again, more $$). This is how farm consolidation happens and why those of us who are family farmers often operate on a scale that does not fit the previous generation's idea of family farm with a few cows and chickens and a single tractor. Margins have narrowed, volatility has increased, input costs have soared, and the only way to stay in is to get bigger - which makes it even more challenging for someone to jump on the train.

So, who's your guy, or gal? The equation I outlined above disadvantages you with a producer who is farms right up to their last day and wan't to walk away overnight. It just doesn't fit what you have in mind and without a huge pile of cash or collateral - it's not even really doable. You are on the right track wanting to partner with someone and work alongside them, learning from them, to be their successful successor. And, because you want to continue your day job - and we've acknowledged how capital intensive this is, I believe you should/would be looking for a smaller producer who either works alone or with maybe one hired had. You should look for a prospective farmer and think: can I do everything they do, AND do what I do, at the same time? Because that's what you're looking at if you want to keep the day job. Just know - at some point you ARE going to have to put yourself at significant financial risk - unless you are sitting on piles of cash you are quite likely going to have to enter into a financing arrangement with someone like our sponsor Capital Farm Credit and depending on the size of your farm - it can be a LOT of money.

I believe you can do this if you find the right person. I also think you are in a place where it's possible to find that person. If you were my neighbor - I'd be less optimistic because we've already had enough farm consolidation here that all of you prospective partners have been absorbed and there are few prospects, if any, in my neighborhood. Look for people you have something in common with - don't overlook your denomination if you are a churchgoer. It still matters in a lot of small communities.

IMHO you should be prepared to work for a salary for a crop or two so you can feel out the arrangement. Figure out if it's really what you want to do before you actually put your own money on the line. Most of all figure out who you are doing it WITH. This gives you the opportunity to learn while you do this because there is a lot to learn: navigating financing, FSA, crop insurance, and marketing just to name a few. You can be planning succession as you do this - but before you put your finances at risk know what you're doing and who you are doing it with.

I apologize for the length of this post. I want to help and be encouraging, I just know this is not something to take lightly - so I kinda went overboard.

Well, Centerpole knows his stuff and that's the first commentary I would digest several times over.

You're thinking about things the right way. You're thinking about how to make money or gain a benefit. Regardless of this particular plan maybe not being perfect, you're thinking of the future and that's smart.

Some of the comments on your original post, though, don't lend themselves to good business in my opinion. It seems like you still want it to be mostly safe, low cost, with a huge payout, and that is just not generally the way it works when starting a new venture unless you are 19 years old with parents funding your bills creating a new global social media platform.

Personally, if I did not have an heir to my land, and couldn't do it myself, I would just hire out the work and collect the check. As an aside, ideas like "I would keep their land out of development" is something you simply cannot promise, nor should you. For a business venture, this would be a horrible thing to put in your business plan or contract, unless it was after their death or something. But either way, it's a variable you don't control reasonably.

Based on your situation, like a lot of folks, you weren't blessed with being born into money with a free ride for land or a business. Where I am, even the ones that are immediately sell it off when they can. So, you are going to have to take a hell of a lot more risk and pony up a hell of a lot more cash up front. If it were me, I would keep working hard and start looking at loans to buy your own piece and farm it yourself. At some point, everyone that is farming had to do exactly that. For example, my 85 year old hay guy farms his piece, along with his brothers and sisters and several cousins, but he lives in the same house his grandfather did in 1950 from land that was granted to them decades earlier....most of his infrastructure was already there.

You will need to use your current job to fund your new business. Also, get away from the idea that having a million dollar loan is a bad thing. It's not. Being 'debt free' is a Dave Ramsey podcast talking point for people that can't manage money and live check to check.

Lots of folks will tell you it's a bad idea, and some will tell you it's a good idea. If you do your research and talk to folks who have done it, then you'll come up with the right way forward, just be open to the idea that the way forward might be "this is not a good idea". In fact, thinking of how this can fail is a great way to start figuring out how to make it work. I don't see anyone wanting to do this, but there are 30 million people in this state and you only need one.

If you made it this far, go back and read Centerpole's post again.

Centerpole, I appreciate the depth! You brought up a lot of points I've been mulling over especially at what point do I quit my day job, or how much income am I willing to lose if I just go straight over?

I'm going to read over this a couple more times today. Thank you

I appreciate your point of view as well. There is a good chance my initial payment into the business would have to be a large loan. There will always be risk, I'm just trying to mitigate the damages if the odds aren't in my favor and it fails. If I take out a loan, I have to pay it back. Right now I'm of the opinion it won't work, but I would like to know for sure before I give up on the thought.

What's the brand?



"Take the brand, work the hand"

Most farmers don't own their land, only their equipment. If they do own some land, it's typically a very small proportion of their total farmed acreage.

What i typically see in a wind down is it becomes lease land to other farmers until the owner passes and then the kids either keep some and farm it and or keep leasing or they sell it off to other farmers, often the one's that have leased it for a long time. The brazos bottom story is an interesting one due to the flooding. Previous owners had gotten frustrated with the issue and then the Italians came over and lucked out as the govt built dams upstream which took that unknown out of the equation.

There is a lot of risk involved for an uncertain outcome every year. It is one thing to have a job and lose your income, but an entirely different beast to borrow money and sometimes have the same result.

plant science guy said:

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To give the board some background for where I'm coming from in looking into this as a possibility:

I don't anticipate being able to move on this for a couple of years, and I am in the pre-pre-planning stages where I'm not even sure I want to talk to the right lawyer about this and start racking up bills. I don't know anyone else who has done this and I'm looking for some examples, good bad and ugly. Because of my career I know I could plant, cultivate, and harvest multiple crop species successfully, but I am not a commercial farmer and have no prospects of inheriting land. I would be interested in switching to the commercial side of the industry if the right opportunity was there and I knew I wasn't 100% sacrificing my family's financial future by giving up my steady ag research paycheck.

Has anyone heard of a farm being sold to a non-family member through work-for-equity arrangements? How did it go? What caused the deal to go south, if it failed?

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Never heard of this type of arrangement and I had very many farmers and ranchers for tax clients. I doubt you will find anyone who would be willing to do what you are proposing. They would be much better off just selling the property, or more likely their heirs would be after he dies, and they pay no taxes on the sale.

The farmer's land and equipment (particularly the land) are worth a lot of money. Despite your confidence in your ability to farm multiple crops, I don't think you could, year in and year out, do well enough through your efforts to live on PLUS purchase the farm. The older farmer probably isn't making a lot of money as it is, but he likely doesn't have a land note to have to cover, he either has paid it off, or inherited the property long ago. If he is at the tail end of his career, most of his equipment is probably in need of replacement. He hasn't replaced it probably due to the cost, his age, etc. which means you would have to borrow in order to do so. Under your arrangement, you would have to be successful enough to make enough money for a young family to live on, plus enough to start buying him out, plus enough to pay for equipment. I don't see that as being possible.

I'm gonna suggest you marry a farmer or rancher's daughter……

My wife may not be down for that but I could ask.

So… you're basically asking to be the CEO in exchange for stock ownership.

Those deals go wrong all the time.

Your best bet is going to be a farm manager/ranch manager for a corp.

Bradley.Kohr.II said:

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So… you're basically asking to be the CEO in exchange for stock ownership.

Those deals go wrong all the time.

Your best bet is going to be a farm manager/ranch manager for a corp.

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I'm not a business owner and I only creep on the stock market thread, so I don't know how accurate that comparison is.

To me it seems like I'm asking to invest in a company, take a smaller paycheck doing anything from technician to VP of whatever duties in exchange for equity for years, and when I become the majority owner then I step into being a C-suite exec.

My best bet is building someone else's dream instead of my own? At that point I should just stick with my career now. It pays better than most farm/ranch manager jobs, I can leave at 5, and if my contribution to the Ag industry doesn't feel like enough I can pretend to farm a 5 acre plot that I bought in a development that someone's kids sold off because they wanted the big payout now instead of leasing to another farmer.

After reading through Centerpole and One Safe Place's responses several times I'm now sure of what I suspected before I started the thread. It's going to be a one in a million chance that I happen across someone who isn't looking to maximize their profits on the deal (which makes complete sense). I would need to find someone who cares about helping get new farmers into the game and are willing to make a little sacrifice to accomplish that.

I will say, I think the current model of only being able to farm if you were born into it leads to a bad place. If you can never bring in new blood, and families are leaving the industry all the time, eventually you will run out of people who can farm. At that point every farm will be owned and run by a corporation, like a corporation. I think Bill Gates is already in on this game, maybe Blackrock too? I don't know, I just creep on the stock exchange thread.

I'll get off my soapbox now and probably stop checking the thread since I think we've reached a conclusion.

Again, thank you all for your input in helping me work through the problem mentally!

Working for equity = getting ripped off by the board, on a regular basis.

Statistically, "EVERY" VC is greedy. None of them believe in the idea, only in a dollar they didn't have to work for.

There is no such thing as an "angel" investor, only varying degrees of demon.

(I know this isn't ALWAYS true. But, it's mostly Finance Bros all the way down.).

I heard of one serious cattle operation going to a long term employee, because they had no known family.

There are people making ag pay, but they aren't doing it, TMK, in TX and they have to do specialized products, etc.

It's hard to make a living, fighting a company, happily on its way to bankruptcy.

(Statistically, other than Ford and Coca-Cola, every Fortune 500 is bankrupt in.. 7 years after making the list? It's been accelerating over time.)

Entry into production agriculture and succession planning are two very challenging issues facing farmers. When the time comes to secure financing or seek out financial options check in with one of our local offices and discuss some loan programs we offer like our NextGen, AgVista, or AgStart loan programs. Thanks to Centerpole90 for the shout out.

Remember that at renewal time.

Just so you know, your half joking comment of buying 5 acres some kid sold off is actually probably the best idea on the thread so far.

If it's been sold and cut up into small pieces and you can get one or 5 of those pieces, you're in an area that is developing and you'll make way more money on the resale on that than you will on the work equity idea and you can 1031 all those pieces on a much bigger piece that has real income potential or repeat the process.

Just something to think about as you modify your plan, and I still think you should make changes but not give up the dream.

A) How do you know you can farm successfully? What in your career, if you have not been a corp farm manager, makes you think you can do so?

B) if you do have particular expertise, can you think of a way to improve profits?

IOW, could you come up with a plan, provide some work history showing you can do it, and go to a capital group and get them to back you?

The odds of someone giving you a… what, $20MM+ estate for your "work," is less likely than winning the lottery/making that kind of money in oil, plumbing etc.

C) Does it have to be row crops? A few acres of fresh herbs in the right market/hiring out goats/sheep for brush management, etc might work.

Not sure your location. I am near Iola.

I've had thoughts of maybe similar arrangement, if you want to visit, wai3gotgoats@above.im

One of the largest family owned ranches on the SE Tx coast was Given to the current ranchers great grandfather by the elderly, childless owner when he passed over a hundred years ago. Their great grandfather was a long time employee and promised to pass it to his sons one day. My friends live there and operate the ranch still today.
The inter coastal canal was built thru the ranch and it has been under water several times during a hurricane. Definitely a unique property, the Brahman cross cattle, horses, and the men that ranch them are tough.

At 50 years old and being in the farming industry my entire life in some form or another, I've seen a handful of young farmers start with nothing and make it. I've seen more bust out. That's just the nature of it.

What I've seen work is starting with older equipment and doing a lot of custom work. Most also have another full time job they work till they get established and even then keep a full time job for insurance purposes. They have to keep their cost down and try and maximize the revenue to afford newer, more reliable and efficient equipment. They may work for 3 to 5 years doing custom work and leasing 20 acres here, 50 acres there and 100 acres waaaay over there. Eventually they can afford the down payment on their first 100 to 200 acre place. If weather, and markets work in their favor for the next 3 to 5 years, and they can find another piece of property at the right price they may have enough equity in the first property and equipment to convince the bank to bet on them again.

What I'm not seeing in your post is the long term time line. Most farmers I know that didn't inherit their land work 20 or 30 years to get where they want to be. That's what it takes in most cases to build up your line of credit and equity enough to get to an operation than is large enough to support yourself and your family on your own farm. I don't see many old farmers wanting to or being able to draw out a timeline long enough to let you build up enough equity to purchase the operation outright. If they pass away in the middle of your agreement, the kids inheriting the farm might not want to continue on the same path. That would need to be worked out with all parties in the event the purchase timeline goes beyond the life of the original owner.

Personal experience, my dad farmed his entire life. He leased land and did a lot of custom work from the time he got out of the Navy at 22 till he was able to purchase his first property at the age of 35 in 1980. Started with 160 acres, a few years later he purchased another 160 and a few years later inherited another 240 acres from his dad. He leased another 300 to 600 acres any given year depending on who had land to lease due to deaths, inheritances, farm sales etc. About the time he inherited the 240 acres was when I graduated from high school and he had to decide what to do based off what I wanted to do. If I stayed on the farm he was going to have to ramp up more acreage so the farm would support 2 families. If I went to A&M he decided he would just stay the same size and ride it out till he died/retired. He's still farming that same 860 acres today at 81 years old. He hasn't gotten rich, he's worked more hours/days/weeks/years than any man I know but he's made a life/career farming that is more rewarding/satisfying than any corporate gig I've had in the last 30 years.

If you're not inheriting the farm you better be prepared for 100+ hour work weeks, your wife better have insurance through her job and you better be able to deal with stresses that you have absolutely no control over. Weather sucks, markets suck, equipment breaks down, hired help flakes out, etc...... welcome to farming. If stress gets to you, pick another career. Suicide rates among farmers is and has been among the highest of any careers in the US since before I was born.

If you are going to do it, do it while you're young and capable. If you go bankrupt, you have lots of time to recover. It's not the end of the world and it happens all the time in all types of businesses. I wish I would have bet on myself 20 years ago and tried to start my own business. I think succeeding in something you own and control is way more rewarding (maybe not financially) than working for someone else and helping them build their dream instead of yours.

When I was talking to my wife's relatives in Idaho, in a farming community:

1) the rich people in the town are the farmers (the ones who own farming land).

2) the non-farmers often work in the service industry for the farms. Like run the Combines. Spray the potato plants. Hire out for services.

3) Land has gotten so expensive that young adults starting out can't really buy a farm. They are priced out. Extremely difficult to start from nothing.