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Post by Bryan83 on Feb 9, 2020 23:06:56 GMT -6
Dear Family,
I'm sorry that it has been so long since I have written, but things have been much busier here than I had anticipated. I woke up this late fall morning to a bone chilling 26°. The locals tell me that's actually pretty moderate for this time of year. Yikes. Late fall. To read those words I can't believe I'm here already. Seems like just yesterday I was getting settled in here in Shelby, planting my first barley crop and praying it would grow strong.
But now, it has been planted, grown and harvested. I am pleased to tell you that I brought in 18,200 bushels of the stuff, and it should fetch a decent price this winter. Not bad for a first year's harvest. On the subject of finances, I have made the money I saved stretch pretty far, and the neighbors have been real good about giving me contract work, although in complete honesty I think some times they pay me too much. One gentleman even gave me over $91,000 to harvest about 30 acres of sugar beets. I know its tedious, but still.
With some of the contract money, plus a small loan from the local bank, I managed to buy another field, just to the north of my farm. Before I plowed it under for crops next year, I rented a mower and a few pieces of equipment and made 200 hay bales, as well as putting nearly another 8,000 bushels of loose hay in the loft. It's packed full. But thanks to an online community of farmers that one of my friends here told me about, I was able to sell off 133 of the bales so far.
The online community is great, as I've been able to find cheaper used equipment to keep me running strong. I'm currently trying to sell off one of the smaller trailers that came with the place when I bought it, but not much luck so far. If it doesn't move soon, I'll probably just take it to Big Sky Equipment and trade it in on a bigger one. Speaking of equipment, I found out the county hires local farmers to help plow the roads when it snows, so I might get a cheap plow to help bring money in during the winter months.
Well, the winter wheat is in the ground, despite not having had rain for quite some time, but there's snow in the forecast next week, so even that should provide some much needed moisture if it comes through. Not much else going on for now, except more contracts and getting a head start on maintenance before it gets too cold. At least I have a nice shop here. I won't wait so long to write again, but until then, give my best to my brothers.
Yours truly,
Bryan.
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Post by Bryan83 on Feb 16, 2020 23:56:36 GMT -6
Dear Family,
Winter has arrived and isn't being quiet about it. Temperatures have been in the teens and twenties. Snow has fallen and is becoming quite the nemesis. But I'm still making it as best I can.
Prices for my remaining barley crop spiked locally today and I was planning to sell most of it, but nature had other plans. After trying to get one of my trucks started, I didn't get going until late morning. I got going with my first load and the snow thought it would come along for the ride. By my second load, I was slipping around on the road. But not to worry, I had to slow down a bit, but I made it through.
Not long after I got back to the farm from my second turn, some officials from Toole County came by and told me that the roads were closing until they could get plows going. I asked him how long it would be and explained to him that I really needed to get this grain moved. He said he wasn't sure, but he was going to have one of his operators prioritize my route. Well, not only did his guy come through in great speed, but he actually came through my farm yard and cleared the path to my silos to make it easier.
After that was done, I got 2 more loads in before CHS closed, hoping to get some more in tomorrow before the price drops but we shall see if tonight brings anymore snow, but at least for now, the roads I need are cleared. Gave some thought to taking my sleeper truck down there and spending the night at the gate to make sure I can at least get one more in in the morning.
The winter wheat has done remarkably well, considering the low soil moisture at the time of planting. I'd say I've had less than 5% loss for the whole field. In the finance department, got dealt a blow when I had accepted a beet harvesting contract, but partway through we ran into crops that were still too green to pick. I ended up having to pay over $43,000 for missing crops by the terms of our agreement, but I made it up with a series of contracts for other activities.
Though my equipment is strong, I've decided to sell my Big Bud 747. It's way more ower than I need here on the flat lands of Shelby, and with no 3 point or PTO, it's uses are somewhat limited to me. I hear that there's a retrofit kit to change that, but again, I really don't have a need for it now. I finally sold that trailer to a farmer in Oregon, or at least will be there when they move in from the UK. As for purchases, I'm in talks with my real estate agent Jessi about buying the field south of me. I think once that 747 gets sold I'll probably pull the trigger on that deal.
Well that's all the news from me here. I remain in good spirits and am eagerly awaiting the spring. This year I will be planting sunflowers and, if I get that other field, canola. I'll let you know as soon as the deal closes on the new property. Until the next time, say hi to the neighbors for me.
Yours truly,
Bryan
PS: Now that things have slowed down a bit, I'll try to get some pictures of the place to send in my next letter.
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Post by Bryan83 on Feb 25, 2020 7:06:54 GMT -6
Dear Family,
Spring has come over Montana and a welcome change it is. The snow has all but melted, and field work is back in full swing. I've taken to doing contract work for now, as I am waiting for a decent rain before I try to put this year's spring crops in. For sure I'll be doing sunflowers and, if I can get my hands on a new field, canola as well. We've had a warm week to start spring, which has helped with the ground temperatures, but not there enough for my liking.
My real estate agent got back to me, something about a will reading, but it sounds like the owners of the field I really wanted to buy are prepared to make a screamin' deal. I hope to be closing on it in time for planting. I suppose if I miss this window, I could always plan it as a winter crop. Anyway, I put an offer in of a million and a half, but I'm prepared to go as high as 1.8.
Finances held exceedingly well through the winter. There weren't any plowing contracts from the county, but I still managed well and got my equipment serviced in the downtime. Maybe by next winter if I make enough off my crops, I can buy a small patch of land and do some tree farming. There's also the possibility of building some animal pens and improving my income that way. Beef market is pretty good from what I hear.
Nick and Scott Welker, the sons of the man I bought this place from, stopped by for a visit. Took them in to town and had a burger while we talked farming. We had a great time and they said if ever I needed help with the farm to just give them a call. I think they miss the work so I might call them and take them up on that.
Well, it'll be a short letter this time around, as the winter didn't allow for much to be done. I took those pictures that I talked about in my last letter and as soon as they're developed I'll send them off. Thanks Mom for your famous cookies. Of course I enjoyed them and they were a big hit with the Welkers, too.
All my best,
Bryan
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Post by Bryan83 on Feb 25, 2020 20:43:18 GMT -6
(Creator's note: some equipment is not correctly identified because as a console player with only so many mods, I have to use a bit of imagination/roleplay to make an accurate representation of the genuine Welker equipment.) Dear Family, I hope my last letter found you well. I am excited to share with you the photos now that I have them back from the developers. First, a photo of CHS Grain, where I sell most of my produce.  My office  An unfortunate prank, someone thought this would be a good way to fill the pool for spring  Prankster #1, a.k.a. Nick Welker  And his accomplice Scott "Leg Arms" Welker  Scott knew deep in snow at the local burger joint  My workhorses in the stable for the winter  A snowman someone made in town between the Burger Shack and Big Sky Equipment  The Best Supporting Tractors, my International 7140 and John Deere 4520  Had to do something with all the snow I cleared off the driveways.  The snow was so deep, only the tops of my wheat were sticking out, but almost covered  A shot from the roof of the shop, looking out over one of my fields  My shop  Working on the fuel tender  My main truck, the International 9370  That's all for now, but more will come later. Yours truly, Bryan |
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Post by Bryan83 on Mar 5, 2020 12:08:31 GMT -6
Dear Family,
Well good news has come about, and fortune has smiled upon me. My realtor got back to me and the final price for the field I've been trying to buy came in at $1.5 million. That's over $700K less than the original asking price. And I thought I'd be lucky to get it for $1.8 mil. With that done and paperwork signed, I'll be rushed a little bit because of timing, but I'm still going to throw a canola crop in the ground and hope for the best.
Speaking of planting, I was so wrapped up in the purchase and other things going on that I didn't know one of my workers loaded the wrong seed in a planter. So this year I'll have 2/3 sunflowers and 1/3 corn. The winter wheat continues to do fairly well, thanks to some recent rain. Don't imagine we'll see too much more of that as summer is right around the corner.
Finances are still doing well, and I'm thinking of taking some of the money I saved and upgrading some of my equipment. The local dealer said they're going to be getting in a new brand this month, called Bourgault, and they seem to specialize in equipment for larger fields. They have one drill/seed cart combo that my Big Buds would actually be capable of pulling, and they're over 17 feet wider than the seed drill I have now. I can only imagine saving time will also save me money in the long run. And who knows, maybe in a couple years they'd pay for themselves, if I bought them.
Well, more work to be done and I need to get back to it. I'll send some more pictures in my next letter for our cousin. Maybe at some point this summer you all can come out for a visit, I'd really like that. Until then, all my best.
Yous truly,
Bryan
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Post by Bryan83 on Mar 15, 2020 20:03:21 GMT -6
Dear Family, Summer has flown by here. It's already late in the season and my winter wheat crop has come in. Glad I did it when I did, as the next day while I was working on a harvesting contract for another farmer, it began to rain. Can't complain too much though since it was forecast to come a day earlier, originally, which would have been right in the middle of my wheat harvest. Pulled in over 18,000 bushels on the wheat, which historically will fetch the best price between late fall and mid winter. The sunflowers, corn and canola are still growing, but I figure I'll be bringing them all in next month. Two at the most. With the field purchase and supplies, I still have just shy of $3.5 million in the business account. I'll have to be careful with it as until my crops sell, that's all I have for a winter maintenance budget. A couple of new things this year though that should help bring income. First, they've finished construction on the new biogas facility in town. I can now take any excess hay, grass and straw, as well as silage down there, they convert it to energy and then pay me for the materials. Secondly, new this year at Welker is chickens. That's right, I've branched out into the livestock business with a simple pen, but it holds 500 birds. I only bought 36 (8 roosters and 28 White Leghorn hens) but I've already had 7 hatchlings looks to be 3 males and 4 females. A few more hens look to be brooding so I may see more before the year is out. In equipment news, my Apache sprayer is underperforming for the size of fields we work around here. So I've made the decision to replace it. I've found an identical New Holland sprayer to the one I already have, and Ron over at Big Equipment (not to be confused with Big Sky Equipment) has found me a few more Big Bud parts. With that, and a Holmer Terra Variant frame I found for cheap, we are going to build a second Big Brute, this one with row crop tires. It'll be a lot of fabrication work, but worth it in the end. I'll send more photos when we get her done. Well that's the big news for now. I'll write again when we finish the harvest. Thanks Mom and Dad for the wool socks. They'll come in handy this winter. Yours Truly, Bryan PS, here's a few pictures I happen to have handy, one is the Terra in the shop before we got started, one is some of the new tools I bought, and one is a nice drone shot of me doing some cultivating in the 580 Quadtrac.    |
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Post by Bryan83 on Mar 22, 2020 21:26:07 GMT -6
To my faithful readers:
As some of you know, my RL job is driving truck in the grocery supply chain. With the current COVID-19 situation, my work life has been exceedingly busy over the past week. As a result, I chose to spend my time with my family over this weekend and therefore was unable to do anything with my farm and will not have my weekly installment of Dear Family (A Montana Journey). I hope you will all understand this and I hope to be back on the farm next week with more news to write home about.
Until the next time, I thank you for reading my story and am grateful for all the likes received. Please stay safe, take care of yourselves and each other, we're all in this together.
Yours truly,
Bryan.
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Post by PrincessJessi on Mar 22, 2020 21:29:49 GMT -6
Family first, always  I look forward to the continuance of your blog.. Please stay safe out there |
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Post by thefisherj on Mar 23, 2020 12:29:29 GMT -6
As PrincessJessi says, family first. Stay safe |
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Post by Bryan83 on Mar 30, 2020 14:10:46 GMT -6
Dear Family,
With everything going on in the world right now, people still have to eat, so the farming continues. We are in the middle of the harvest season and have been plagued by rain the last couple of days. We got all the sunflowers in before the weather turned, little over 6,000 bushels worth, but a good haul. I've been trying to bring in my canola crop, but it seems like as soon as I can get restarted, the rain comes again and shuts me down. Tomorrow is supposed to be dry, so I'll be up early and hitting it hard to try to get it in by sundown.
One good thing that came from the shut down was that I had time to notice that one of our grain elevators put a demand notice out for sunflowers. So I jumped in my truck, grabbed the demo trailer I have from BsM Trailer, and made 2 runs, selling about 4,000 bushels and made over $220,000. Not bad for an hours work. The price they offered was higher than last year's spike, so I think I made a good choice. Still have another 2,000+ bushels I can sell later.
Not much on the contracts front as I signed one for an oat harvest, but again, rain is slowing that down and i can't get released from it until it's done. After that, i think I'll prioritize contracts that aren't as weather dependent. There's a pretty sweet sowing contract available for $51,000, so I'm hoping to get this harvest wrapped up before someone else signs it.
Equipment is good, but I may need to buy a 3rd harvester soon. There's just a lot to keep up with. Construction on Big Brute II is coming along, but with harvesting in full swing, it's kinda on the back burner at the moment. Figuring to have it done in time for next spring's planting season. Then I'll sell the other one because I don't need 3 sprayers. Also this season, I've decided to rent a forage harvester to handle the unexpected corn crop. I've already made the deposit to get my time reserved for a New Holland FR850. I know, it's not a Case, but good enough.
The chickens are still healthy, haven't gotten a current count on how many are in my coop, but I'll probably head out there when the canola crop is done and get a head count.
That's all the news that's fit to print this time around, but I'm sure there will be more soon. After all, winter is right around the corner. It was nice seeing you all last month, and this winter I'm going to find time to fly home for the holidays. Pretty sure I can get cheap airfare with the way things are going. All my best to the family.
Yours Truly,
Bryan
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Post by Bryan83 on Apr 10, 2020 21:12:44 GMT -6
Dear Family, What a whirlwind it has been this year. I feel as if I haven't had a break since the harvest started in the fall. Between trying to finish ahead of the rain, completing contracts before the ground froze, getting my produce to market and maintaining equipment, there's more to be done then there are hours in the day it seems. It has been a very busy winter but it has helped the time to pass. When last I wrote, I told of a rain stricken harvest and the hope of a dry day. Well it came through and I finished my harvest with incredible numbers. Over 13,700 bushels of canola, almost 12,000 of sunflowers and just shy of 9,000 of corn. Most of the corn I chopped for silage and dropped in the bunkers at the biogas plant. As luck would have it, no sooner than I finished the harvest a local supplier got in a huge order for sunflower seeds and they were paying more than $1,500 a ton for them. I made over $700,000 on my crop! Now into the winter, canola was buying at $1,100+ per ton. I only sold about 75% of what I had on hand. I also sold 2 loads of oat, 1 load each of wheat and barley and had a one day total of $648,000. Sold my remaining straw to biogas with an additional 920 bushels of silage for an extra $13,000. Even after a 6 day maintenance binge, my farm account is up to over $4.6 million. Speaking of equipment, Big Brute II is finished and is ready for this spring. I've consigned the Apache sprayer, hoping to get $170K for it, but offers have been kinda slow lately. Had to repaint the old Brute this year, she was really showing her age. For new equipment, I'm trying to decide between a seed drill or tractor upgrade with a new weeder. Leaning towards a new tractor. That Deere 4520 is getting a little long in the tooth. The 36 chickens I bought are now 112 chickens. I thought rabbits were supposed to do that. Come this spring time I'll probably sell most of the males, as I want to keep plenty of room for laying hens. They are producing eggs, but not as fast as I'd like. I may buy more hens this spring to up the production. Then I think in another year or two I might get into raising either sheep or cattle. Well I could go on, but a picture is worth a thousand words, so here it is through my eyes: Harvesting through the evening and into the night:    The completed Big Brute II with narrow tires:  The Toole County road crew taking a minute to resupply with more road salt, then getting right back to work:    Really appreciate those guys. With their new plow trucks they've really got it done this year. So that's the way it is for harvest through January. Just got to get through February, and hopefully I'll have a moment to rest because, then we are into spring and planting and contracts again. This coming year will see corn, oats, and maybe soybeans. Wow, just about to start my third year in Montana. Anyways, it was great being home for Christmas and seeing all of you, but as you see from my letter, a farmer's work is never done. I'll send you guys some farm fresh eggs next week. Yours Truly, Bryan |
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Post by Bryan83 on Apr 18, 2020 0:59:53 GMT -6
Dear Family,
Spring has been moving right along. Here we are in May and I just finished planting my last field for the season. I know, it's late in the year for sowing, but the conditions have to be right for soybeans. So with that, soybeans are on field 1, oats are on 2, and in a change of plans this year, sunflower are on field 3 instead of corn. But that's nature for you, she can change your plans on a whim. The best laid plans..., the old saying goes.
Contracts have been a bit slim this year, I think a lot of folks here are just trying to save some money with the way the economy has been. Though I did have a couple of $100,000 plus days, thanks to two very lucrative potato planting contracts. This was not the year for contracts to be light, as I spent quite a bit of money this year modernizing some of my equipment, but that's what I get for spending before the income was realized. A costly lesson, to be sure.
On finances, I am still ok, but, in all honesty, no where near what I'd like to be at. I'm left with about $1.9 million after having spent close to $100K in winter maintenance, plus over $2.2 million in new equipment. I've never written so big of checks in my life, and can only hope it pays off. Between improved efficiency and reduced maintenance costs on new equipment, I'm sure it will, it's just a question of how long until it does.
So what did I spend millions on? Here's the new equipment situation. I've sold the old green machine to a farmer in Greenwich, and put my old front loader up for sale, but no takers as yet. I'm also putting up for sale my two air drill as soon as I'm finished cleaning and servicing them. The other sprayer also remains for sale, I think it's just a rough economy right now. And lastly, I traded in my Scarok pickup and the fuel tender and put my red truck with the 5th wheel up for private sale.
So now that we're out with the old, in with the new. I've bought a pair of brand new Bourgault 3420-100 Paralink Hoe Drills with matching 71300 air carts. This gives me a full 100' of planting, versus 60' on my old setup. And with these I had to get a new Quadtrac 540, because the Big Buds just don't have enough power to pull them. I also got a Bourgault XR770-90 90' harrow, which will be good if I can get weeding contracts as it will work for that. The old support tractors have been replaced with a new Case Magnum 340 and my new front loader is a Case Puma CVX 185. Another new purchase is a New Holland FR850 forage harvester, as I'm going to have to start some serious silage production. Lastly, the pickups have been replaced with two new flatbed trucks.
One good thing I've had this year is weather. The rains have been good this spring and at last test, the soil is at 48% water saturation with more rain on the way in a couple of days. Should be enough moisture in the soil to carry the crops through the summer. How quickly the rain went from foe to friend, huh? Well I'll take my wins where I can get 'em.
Lastly, on the animal front, I'm up to 203 chickens at last count, including 40 new laying hens I bought this spring. Up to 203 in a year and I only ever bought 76 of them. I talked about selling some this year, but it seems if I hold on to them until they're about 2 years old, then I'll get a better price for them, so I guess they get another year.
Well, that's what I have for now. I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing with the money. After all, nearly $2 mil isn't bad shape to be in, there's definitely worse I could do. But you know me, I like to be sure I have enough for just in case type scenarios. Hope you all enjoyed the eggs, I'll be sending more. I might even get a week off this summer, and I'll probably go to the Farm Progress Show this year with it. I've always wanted to check that out.
Yours Truly,
Bryan
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Post by Bryan83 on May 12, 2020 16:47:48 GMT -6
Dear Family,
I wish I was writing with better news, but at least it's not as bad as it could be. With the economy the way it is, it's been the summer of tough decisions. Contracts continue to trickle in, but still pretty thin. Tough choice number one, I've had to eliminate overtime for my workers for the foreseeable future.
The finances are growing slowly. Over the last 4 months I've been able to make just barely $100,000. Between feeding the animals, keeping fertilizer in the sprayers for the few jobs I'm getting and other routine costs, the profits have been minimal. Tough choice number two, I've had to do some of the jobs myself, cutting my worker's hours.
One high point is that we've gotten some summer rain around here, which was good for the crops. Last measurements were around 40% soil and 82% crop moisture. Should be more than enough water to see through to harvest. Only down side is with things they way they are, I have no idea what prices will be like later this year. Tough choice number three, do I sell my harvest or hold out in hopes of better prices?
I've also decided that after the harvest I'm going to plant oilseed radish. It means I'll be skipping a stage of fertilization with the sprayer, but it should save some money in the long run. And with one of my fields probably needing lime next season, I'll need money for that which means cutting some purchases now. Tough decision number four, taking money out of the local economy when it seems to be needed the most.
But the equipment is strong, no major problems there. I have a couple old planters that could use a fresh coat of paint, but for now they work so I'll worry about cosmetics later. On another positive, I've been able to acquire an interest in the local equipment dealer, so when I'm not taking care of the farm I'll be working there. Maybe call it tough choice number five, working away from the farm and thus dividing my attention, but I see it being a good thing in the long run, especially if I make enough off that job to give my workers a few more hours.
On the animals front, I'm up to 284 chickens, with 5 more brooding. I have enough males that I sold my roosters. I want to sell a few of my chickens now, but I'll make more profit waiting until they're at least 2 years old. Cows aren't going to be a reality next year, but I might put up a small horse stable before winter. I guess some folks around here will pay for help with their horses over the winter. With the exercise and feeding requirements changing, they take all the help they can get.
I know this letter has run long, so I'll save some news for the next one. I'll call you guys next month on my birthday. Oh, and speaking of summer, things are just too much up in the air, so I'm not going to do Farm Progress this year, but rather looking forward to next. Enough planning and maybe you can join me for it. Until then, know I am in good spirits and I know I will come though these hard times, as will we all.
Yours truly,
Bryan.
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Post by Bryan83 on May 26, 2020 11:58:46 GMT -6
Dear Family,
By now I'm sure you've heard about our cousin, so let me give you the facts. When Cousin Chet saw what I was doing here, he was convinced he could do the same. So he bought a farm in Westbridge Hills and wanted to make it a big successful venture before he told me about it. Unfortunately for him, farming is a bit more complicated than it looks from a few photos and letters. Long story short, Chet got into a bit of financial trouble and when it was all about to go down he called me for help.
So I hopped the next flight out to Westbridge and I told him to tell his banker that I would be there the next day to discuss options. Chet said his banker was a bit skeptical at first, but agreed to meet with me. The next day at the meeting, the 3 of us sat down and I was told how much he was in debt and that the bank was ready to take his farm, everything on it and possibly take Chet to court for whatever was left owed. I asked him if I could pay his debt, and the banker kinda looked at me like I was on something, but when I showed him the financials from my farm and other diversified ventures, that attitude changed real quick. The end result was they let me pay half of the debt in cash, and gave me a loan contract for 8.5 years on the other half, with no prepayment penalties. All told I'm in to it for $1.5 million.
Now I know I don't have enough time to run two farms in separate parts of the country and an equipment dealership, so I put an ad out and hired a farm manager to see to my interests in Westbridge Hills. A bright young farmer named Chester Eely, he did the same thing for a farm in Australia and was looking for a new challenge. I told him the deal was that I needed to make back the $1.5 mil on the place, and once that was satisfied, I'd sign the place over to him. We agreed that he would run the show his way, and we would split the earnings 90/10. I gave him the lion's share figuring he would need money to upgrade the equipment that was there. He seemed to really like the proposal, and he's already there and started.
So for Chet, he moved out of the farmhouse and I helped go get settled in at a rental house in town. He said he was going to ask the guy I hired for a job, and I told him he might want to wait until he gets going a bit, but Chet said he was going to ask him as soon as he could meet him. He wants to pay his own way, and maybe help with the debt if he can. I admire that. I also told him that if he's serious about running his own farm one day, he should pay attention to Chester and learn from him.
Well im going to wrap this up, just wanted you all to know that the situation is handled. I'll send you an update on my farm just as soon as I'm back in Shelby. Let the high school baseball team know that im going to have lots of sunflower seeds to send their way this season.
Yours Truly,
Bryan
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Post by Bryan83 on May 27, 2020 23:52:19 GMT -6
Dear Family, It feels good to be back home in Shelby. Chet is all settled in to his rental house in Westbridge Hills on the west end of town, overlooking some fields. It's the blue place off field 1 if you decide to go visit. By the time my flight landed back home, I had already got a text from him saying that the guy I hired is pretty good people, and already offered him work. I hope he takes my advice and learns a little something about farm management. After all, he's a natural born equipment operator. I returned home on the first day of late summer to find good news. A majority of the winter crops that had been planted by other farmers became ready for harvest, and as a result, I went from hardly any contract work to more contracts then I could deal with in one day. Quite a few of them paid over $20,000 each and in all I completed 5 harvesting contracts today alone for a total of $142,623 in revenue. So after taking care of my cousin, I have $1,585,257 left in my business account, with a loan of $750,000 out there. I don't have any payments for 60 days, but then it's $7,500 a month for 8 years and 4 months. I'm hoping Chester will start making some revenues soon, so I can bank some of that money towards loan payments. Glad I got diversified. Speaking of my other venture, the owner of the dealership network and I have negotiated my salary so I can start getting paid. I'll get $10,000 per year base salary, plus commissions and a performance bonus if I hit yearly sales targets. Right now, for every $1M in sales per year I'll get an additional $5,000 on top of my commissions. That will help pay down that loan. Looks like I'll Neff to become a motivated seller, lol. On the subject of equipment, I finally tracked down that used 7240 harvester I've been looking for. It came with a 3050 cutter head, which is about 5 feet shorter than my other ones, and big Mitas tires like Beastbine and cost me $300,000. Well you know how we have a penchant for naming our machines, so with the big tires, being a 7 series instead of an 8 and the smaller header, I decided to call it Mini Beast. Not miniature by any means, but I thought it was a nice play on the mini me thing from Austin Powers. Have a look.  My crops are nearing harvest, guessing by this time next month I'll be bringing in those sunflowers, and the oats and soybeans in short order after that. Looks like it's going to be a real healthy crop this year, thanks to the summer rains we've been having. Should be a pretty good haul. I also have a good haul of eggs, a full pallet of them, waiting on the next price spike to sell. By the way, I'm up to 336 chickens now, and 5 are brooding. I might have to upgrade my chicken facilities, if this keeps up. Well that's the major stuff for now, this letter is running a little long anyway. Got a big day tomorrow with more contracts, and it feels good to give my crew not only their hours, but to actually be able to bring back a little overtime for them. Life is good now, and be sure to thank grandma for the handmade afghan. I'll be using that this winter. Yours Truly, Bryan. |
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Post by thefisherj on May 28, 2020 3:18:07 GMT -6
love the name mini-beast, hope it serves you well for the many upcoming harvest seasons
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Post by Bryan83 on Jun 30, 2020 9:36:24 GMT -6
Dear Family,
I know it's been awhile since my last letter, and I really need to be better about that, but as you can imagine it's a busy life for the farmer. I'm just thankful it has been busy, as compared to the lean times we went through this summer. Fall is setting in now, and the hustle and bustle of the harvest season is kicking in to full effect.
Although my crops aren't quite ready for harvest yet, there's been plenty of winter crops around that have come up for contract. So much so that in addition to my workers, I've had to go out there myself and work fields. I think in the last few weeks I've done somewhere around $220K worth of jobs. That sure helps heading in to winter
While we're discussing money, I had a price spike on wheat up to $704/ton. I sold 210 to CHS North, and that netted me about $145K. Also had an off season demand on eggs, so I sold a pallet for almost $8,000. Of all that income, I took $20,000 from my contracts and $50,000 of my harvest and pt it towards my loan at the bank. I also bought two new parcels of land that had beeb on the market for a long time for $600,000 total. Next I'm going to buy some materials for a cattle barn. At the end of it all, I still have $1.4 Mil in the bank.
Some sad news on the equipment front, as I've had to make the decision to put my Big Buds up for sale. I'd like to keep them, but they're getting older and the quadtracs make the Buds kind of redundant. Especially now that I have those big Bourgault drills that they just can't pull. I also decided that my 540 Quadtrac was a little under powered for what I wanted it to do, so I traded it in on a 620 20th Anniversary Edition. Lastly, I bought 2 new 60' Great Plains planters.
Out on the farm yard, I'm planning to build a second storage shed for all this new gear, and we are making plans to build sheep and pig enclosures within the next 5 years. But first we're going to start with the cattle that I mentioned above. The chickens are up over 300 now, and I may yet have to build that new chicken coop I mentioned last time I wrote.
I got a letter from Cousin Chet the other day. He says he's doing well out in Westbridge Hills and that my manager Chester has been giving him steady work. He's doing good, and with his help, Chester has made good progress paying of the debt.
He wanted me to send his best to Auntie. I hope you all are well too. Now I have to get back to work, but I'll write again after the harvest is finished, then I'll get a much needed break.
Yours truly,
Bryan
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Post by Bryan83 on Sept 29, 2020 6:25:11 GMT -6
Dear Family, Well I guess I still haven't gotten any better about writing as often as I should. Between fixing the house, the machines, running the dealership and checking in with my farm manager back in Westbridge Hills, I still have a very full schedule. And here I thought after last harvest I was going to get a break! HA! Well to get you caught up, harvest finished without any major problems. Over the course of the winter I sold all of my crops for a little over $300,000. That combined with contract work from this spring and I'm sitting with a cool $2.4 million in the bank. On the dealership side, I've made a few sales, and I picked up an old IH 1056 XL for the used lot. We also had a retirement auction recently and sold off a lot of green machines, but we still have a few left and we're trying to decide whether to put them up online or just sell locally. For crops this year, we are going in a new direction. First, in place of a round of chemical fertilizer, we are planting oilseed radish to give the soil a good start. Secondly, the prices on soybeans has been going up recently so I'm rolling the dice and planting large quantities of the stuff and hoping it will fetch a good price later. Almost all of it is in, but the oilseed radish on field 3 hasn't sprouted yet, which is concerning to me as summer is getting underway and if I don't get it in the ground soon, it might not ripen before the ground freezes again. A special bit here about land, as we've made a few deals. First, we now own fields 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 19, 20 and 21. I'm considering buying field 14 this fall after its harvested and combining the block of 14, 15 and 16. Also on a special note, this year with all the new ground to make up the difference, I've decided to chem-fallow field 2 this season. So I won't know how much yield I've gained until next year's crops come in. Another land improvement is this summer I'm building a new equipment shed out back. When it's done I'll send all the pictures. With equipment this season, the first new thing is a Case IH 470 Steiger. I know I could have bought another Quadtrac, but I've been kind of missing my old Big Buds, and this was the next best thing to one of those.  The other new thing is a Case 821G loader. The Case IH partnership with Welker Farms is the gift that keeps on giving. That's just about all I can think of for now. I got another payment from my manager, so that debt is almost paid off, I sent that money off to Cousin Nels in Sweden you asked me to, he says thank you. Speaking of family, have you guys heard from cousin Chet lately? I haven't and I just want to make sure he's still doing ok. Until next time. Yours Truly, Bryan |
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Post by Bryan83 on Jan 10, 2021 15:12:12 GMT -6
To all that have been wondering,
I haven't been as active as usual lately due to a family issue that I am ready to share about now. My mother on a recent visit to the doctors discovered a mass growing on her brain. Well we found out now that while yes, it is a tumor, it does appear to be benign. My mother will have to do a short course of radiation treatment, as the location of the mass makes surgery not a viable option. Things are looking much better now, so once the treatment is done I should be back to normal activity. I didn't mention anything before now because we really didn't know a whole lot and I didn't want to bring the room down unnecessarily.
Until next time, please take care of yourselves and each other. And don't put off that call, because you never know.
Warmest Regards,
Bryan
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Post by DEERE317 on Jan 10, 2021 18:37:34 GMT -6
That stinks worse than a manure pile or a pig barn.
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Post by PrincessJessi on Feb 27, 2021 8:00:03 GMT -6
I removed my nonsense from this thread. I am sorry but I also had to delete the comments as they seemed VERY out of context with bryans last entry and honestly it was kind of creepy and seemed disrespectful. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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Post by Bryan83 on Jun 29, 2022 20:07:38 GMT -6
A new season is beginning in Montana, and Welker Farms is about to awaken from a long slumber...
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Post by Bryan83 on Jul 10, 2022 7:43:42 GMT -6
Dear Family,
It has been quite awhile, but it has been very busy times here in Montana. We've had a harvest, a winter and now I'm right in the middle of spring planting. All in all good work for the soul, just doesn't leave much time for writing. Let me fix that...
So last year's canola turned out to be a bumper crop and between that, the sunflowers and the wheat I put in for insurance, the farm brought in a little over $2 million in revenue. I immediately turned around and put a big chunk of that into upgrades and land acquisition. Most notably was the purchase of the monster field 17. With that, I now own the entire southern half of the area.
For the upgrades, we had a few big changes to the lineup. We have said goodbye to our Puma 185 and our older Magnum 380, and now standing in their steam are 2 AFS Connect Magnums, a 340 and a 310. In a bittersweet move, we sold off Big Brute II and bought a Case 5550 that we demoed. Wider boom and faster working speeds made for an increase in efficiency that I just couldn't pass up. There's a few more, but I'll save those for the next letter so I have something to talk about.
While contracts have been plentiful, there's also no shortage of work on our own land, especially with the new field. We are changing our operation up a little bit in that we are spreading more dry fertilizer, thanks to our Lizard Maximus 20.000, and relying less this year on liquid products. I think this will save us a bit in the long run. This year we have mix of barley, canola, wheat and we're even going to give corn a go on a few plots, just to see how it withe works out. For the corn planting, I have 2 Case 2150 16 row units on demo that, if the corn works out, I may end up buying
It seems like the years are getting longer lately, maybe that will leave more time for writing. Cousin Chet and Nels are settled in in a new town, Fox Bluffs, Missouri. He bought a house, a yard and a couple fields with his insurance settlement from the storm. Nels sounds pretty happy and even Chet is in good spirits, considering this is the second major storm he's been through. He said it brought back memories of Westbridge Hills, but he's OK.
Author's note- at this point in the story, I have switched seasons from 9 to 12 days.
Well I'm rambling on, so that means it's about time to close this letter. All my best to everyone. I'll be selling some chickens this year, so I'll send you all some fryers when I get them in.
Yours Truly,
Bryan
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Post by Bryan83 on Dec 13, 2022 21:20:14 GMT -6
Dear Family,
I wish I was writing with better news. This year's crop was stunted, and with late autumn getting underway, it's not looking too good. I hope that at least the experimental corn crop will finish in time, and then I'll have to decide whether or not to let the other crops ride the winter, or claim insurance on them and till them under. If the corn doesn't turn, then I'll just claim insurance on the whole farm and start over next year. Luckily, money wise, we're riding good on last year's bumper income, even after all the improvements we've made around here. Thankful for that. The other option is to rent a forage harvester and sell the corn for silage, which I might do. Of course that would mean renting a trailer, too.
Well since I won't have harvest shots to show all my new toys off, let me tell you what I got. The 8240's that have served me well over the years have finally been replaced. This was supposed to be the debut year of my 2 brand new 8250's, but I guess they'll get their opening run next year. Along with the harvesters, I bought 2 new 45' 3162 headers along with 2 new Case 4416 40' corn heads. I've built 2 new equipment sheds, with an option for one more. One is built on the site where the old homes of Nick and Scott Welker used to live, but with them moved out and on to bigger better things, I decided to remove the old, empty mobile homes. Starting to run out of land to build things at the main yard, might have to develop the area around the quonset soon if the fleet keeps growing.
On to the finances, we've picked up a few contracts in light of the current crop situation, but not much to report for income. I guess the tax man will just have to wait until next year, just like the rest of us. The farm account still has over $800K in it, so even without an insurance payment, I'd still be able to buy seed and fertilizer for next year, it's just that I was hoping to buy a new field next year with the proceeds from this harvest.
Now that I read that myself, I realize it is a tempting trade off. Make a claim now, and get a percentage of the crops projected value, plus spend all the money next spring in seed, fertilizer, fuel and labor, or let it ride in to a full crop next year for expenses already paid out. Either way, I have to decide before the first day of winter, otherwise the insurance commission will classify it as a winter crop and I'd have to wait until next spring to make a claim. If you all back home have any thoughts, don't be afraid to share because I really don't know what to do.
Guess now its time to talk critters. Sold off a little over 160 chickens last spring to make room for new ones that seem to be hatching every day. The oldest and heaviest got the pink slip, while the younger, active breeders were kept on for the obvious reasons. Did you guys get those fryer chickensI sent? I got to pick the 5 best ones for you, but the meat company said they'd handle sending them out on account of their experience doing so.
Well, the letter is getting long again, so let me just close by sharing that this year, we actually got a late autumn snowfall. First one I've seen in the now 6 years I've been here in Montana. Feels like a long time, doesn't it? Anyway, I'll be flying home for Christmas this year, still thinking about where to go for New Year's.
Until then,
Bryan.
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Post by Bryan83 on Dec 18, 2022 18:47:59 GMT -6
Dear Family,
Thought I'd drop a line to fill you all in on the decisions I've made. I know my last letter seemed a little bleak, and I don't want you to worry. After careful consideration, I decided to rent the forager and fill the bunkers at the biogas plant. I barely used half of the corn in field 1, but all 3 bunkers are now teeming with silage. A little over 1.8 million liters when all was said and done.
As to the rest of the corn, I called the insurance adjuster to come out and take a claim. I should know within a week or 2 how much they'll pay out. For the other crops, I choose to let it ride and convert them to winter crops. I hope I know what I'm doing, but I think that they're young enough to go dormant and survive the freeze. If this pays off, then I'll be in good shape for the next harvest. Added benefit is that I only have to plant the 4 fields of corn I plowed under instead of the whole farm.
With the onset of winter, maintenance is now in full swing. Mostly routine stuff, with the exception of my 620 Quadtrac that needed work on the hydraulic system to the tune of about $2,300. Oh well, that's the life of farming. Stuff breaks, and then you gotta fix it.
Anyway, it's all good and I've got a plan in place. Time will tell if it was a good choice.
Warmest regards,
Bryan.
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Post by Bryan83 on Mar 6, 2023 16:46:56 GMT -6
Dear Family,
Bad news, I'm afraid, the gamble didn't pay off. We got some pretty cold temperatures around here and the crops didn't survive the freeze. It was even too cold to snow for a couple of weeks. Temps have come back up to normal for this time of year, but the damage has been done. And as I declined to take an insurance payment, I will now get nothing for the loss. I'm hoping there will be plenty of contract work this spring. I guess I could always take an operations loan if I had to.
Of the corn we did harvest and chaff, we put in almost 700,000 liters at Shelby Biogas. After it fermented, I was able to get a job there this winter with my loader feeding the plant with silage. As I don't have any other crops to haul, I've got the time to work a Monday to Friday job. I start at 8:30 every morning and work until 5:00. Between the wages and the payments on the silage (they actually don't pay for it until it goes in the hopper at the plant) we should carry through winter alright.
I feed the chickens every day before I head off to work, they're still going strong. I'll have enough to ship out 2 pallets of eggs soon, so that will be a little more money coming in. Don't have an exact count on how many are in the coop, but believe me, there's plenty.
Nothing on the equipment front this time around, obviously. Though through the hard times this year, I still can't wait to get out there and take my new harvesters for a spin. Oh, I guess something that is news worthy, I got the Fummins back up and running after some engine trouble, so I'll also have that back next season.
As I mentioned earlier, the temperature has come up a bit as of late, and we had a half day at the plant Friday due to snow. So i came home and fired up the skid steer and cleared the driveway after the county did their plowing work.
Well that's all I have for now from Big Sky Country. Please don't worry, I'll make it. I always do.
Warmest Regards,
Bryan
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I look forward to the continuance of your blog.. Please stay safe out there
