I was talking with a couple of farmers recently, discussing the barriers to entry for new farmers. Some numbers were thrown out as to how much capital it would take for a young man or woman to get started into farming.
"$1 million, $2 million, more" were amounts bandied about. This made me curious, so I decided to drill down on the actual capital requirement.
First of all, we need to decide what kind of farmer we are talking about here. For this article, I'm assuming someone with no family farm who wants to become a full-time grain farmer in Iowa, Illinois, or Indiana.
The first thing a budding farmer might do is get a degree in agriculture, since he/she would not have learned farming on the family farm. This will cost somewhere between $20,000 and $120,000, depending on where he/she goes and what scholarships are available. The average of those two numbers is $70,000, which will require student loan debt for most young people. Of course, a degree is not required, but it might come in handy for convincing banks to loan money or landlords to lease cropland.
The equipment requirement could be an extensive discussion; however, I'll try to keep it as short as possible. One could buy all new machines, but to get started, let's assume the acquisition of decent used equipment – about 5 to 10 years old.
The basic list would include: a combine with corn head and grain platform for $175,000; a big tractor for plowing and planting at 125K; a grain truck for 60K; a planter that runs about 75K; a grain drill for 40K; a disk at around 30K; a chisel-plow for 30K; a field cultivator at 25K; a pull-type sprayer costs 35K; a grain dryer is 30K; a utility tractor for brush-hogging/ditching/grading at 35K; a grain cart for 15K; a trailer at around 15K; an ATV for 10K; and a full complement of tools costs 15K.
We may be missing something here, but that's already $715,000 in equipment.
The building requirement probably includes a couple of metal buildings ($200,000) and at least a few grain storage bins to hold 75,000 bushels, about $75,000. There is no hard-and-fast land requirement. However, the farmers I spoke with said that someone would need at least 500 owned acres and 1,000 leased acres to make a living.
The quality of the land certainly affects those numbers. For this article, let's assume 150-plus corn bushel-per-acre land for about $7,500 an acre. If you bought 500 acres as a base of operations, the total land cost would be $3,750,000.
The total thus far is $4,810,000. However, we still need operating capital to plant the first crop and survive for the first growing season. To plant, fertilize, and spray 750 acres of beans and 750 acres of corn right now will cost you about $140 an acre for beans and $290 an acre for corn – $322,500 in total. To survive for six months until harvest will cost at least $25,000.
Add it all up, and we arrive at $5,157,500. Wow! That's a big number, and it's out of reach for most young entrepreneurs.
Because of the cost of land and equipment today, some farmers are concerned about who will be able to follow them into the industry. How will they fund the enterprise, even with family land and equipment?
Because of greater access to capital, more corporate farms are likely.
The problem is not just start-up capital but also surviving drought years and low commodity prices until they turn around. Unfortunately, even though you are already a biologist, engineer, equipment operator, accountant, carpenter, and mechanic, you have to become an expert financier, as well, to get into farming and stay there.
Written by Shawn Williamson, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) MBA in Missouri and Illinois. This article is designed to be a commentary on the amount of capital required for a row-crop farm in the Midwest. It is not meant to be a guide on how to get started in farming.
