KEY CHANGES

nal

FUTURE FARMER

vvjT*--

require

new

steps to land ownership.

year ^{. . .} into urban, industrial, hiyh- wav. or other noniarm use.

A

smaller acreage of land is brought into culti- vation each year by irrigation and drainage.

The

net result: Total land in

farms is decreasing.

In 1965 there were 1,155 million acres of land in farms. ^It is estimated that this figure will shrink by about 15 million acres in the next 15 years.

Free government land for Iarming

is a thing of the past. Practically, all available land suitable for farming is

privately owned.

Although thefederal homestead laws

are still on the books, verv few tracts

of land suitable for farming

become

available any more. Those that do be-

come

available are "in the rough." Be- foreone can

make

a livingfrom them, he must put in a lot ofhard

work

and spend

much

timeand money.

Some

land in Alaska

may

be

home-

steaded,

some

leased,and

some

bought.

But before settling there, the prospec- tive farmer should get information from reliable sources about climate, farmingconditions, and markets ⁱⁿ the area in which he is interested. Land

may

have to be cleared. Chances of successare limited bv lack o\ markets and transportation facilities.

Resources

Needed

How much

land, labor, and capital does it take to farm? Harrv L Gra- ham, legislative representative for the National

Grange

gave the National

Commission

on

Food

and Fiber this example of the high capital require- ments which are

making

land too ex- pensive to farm.

He

said. "The prob- April-Ma) 1967

lem o\ capitalization was demonstrated bv attempts to divide the Di Giorgio holdingsin California.

The

time ol the recordable contracts had expired, and about two vears ago the government placed these smallerfarmscomingwith- in the 160-acre criterion on sale. They were appraised at S160.000 to $325.- 000. Only one was sold, despite the factthat thiswas part of themost high-

Iv productive area in the world."

Total requirements for resources vary widely

among

different types of farms. Not only do the total inputs of each resource varv with type, but there

isa great difference in the relative im- portance of each.

For example,

compare

two extreme-

ly different farms

...

a typical

New

Jersey farm producing eggs and a sheep ranch in the Southwest.

The

poultry farm has onlv ten acres of land: the sheep ranch 13.520.

The

poultry farm requires 5.030 hours of labor per year tocare for 4.625 hens:

the sheep ranch requires 5.390 hours per year to care for 1.350 head of sheep. Totalcapital invested isS44.740

in the poultrv farm, and $217,220 in the sheep ranch.

For a list showing land, labor, capi- tal requirements, and returns for 13 representative, operating commercial farms indifferent parts ofthecountrv.

write The National

FUTURE FARM- ER

c o Breaking the Entry Barrier.

Alexandria. Virginia 22306.

You

will receive this free information bv return mail.

As Mr. Ficktoldthe

Food

andFiber Commission. "Corn Belt livestock farms require 132 percent

more

ma-

chinery and Inn percent more livcstocl than the) did 15 vears ago. Even ifthe beginner can rent land and buildings valued at $100.00(1 to S150.000, he

still needs $17,000 for machinery, on

the grain farm and $27,500 for ma- chinery, and livestock on the livestock farm.

Add

to this his operating needs oi$30.00peracreon 250acresol Ian ¹ operated, and

we

can see the ver.

high initial capital the current beginner must he able to

come

up with^"

While farm

management

specialists have long emphasized the importance ol an adequate resourcebase, it isclear that beginners start significant!) small- er. For example, beginners farming for the first time in Iowa between ^I''5'' and 1960 operated units with a land base of 165acres.

On

Januarv 1 of the year ofentry,beginning farmers

owned

crops, livestock, machinery, and equip- ment having a

mean

value of onl\

$2,000.

In the same Iowa State University study, interviewers asked. "If you had

known when

you ^started farming what you

know

today, would you still have decided to farm?" Over SO percent of the group said yes. Only 13 percent said thev would have decided not to farm, .tnJ .thou: 7 percent sa.d thev did not

know

what thev would have done

As .i

Fm

ure Farmer, von have the edge

when

it comes to breaking the entry barrier. Even with higher land.

labor, and capital requirements,

manv

Future Farmers do

make

a successful start in farming. Be sure and read

"FFA

Helped

Me

Get Started."' on page 30 of this issue.

With each sunrise ^.

.

34 The National

FUTURE FARMER

dawns a new day of Opportunity

A new

opportunity for

tomorrow's

progressive

young

farmers because a

new

idea in tractors is

sweeping

the nation. Across the country thousands of farmers are dis- coveringthe

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