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Post by thefisherj on Mar 22, 2020 9:30:32 GMT -6
Dear Diary
My Grandpa has fallen ill and can no longer continue to farm, I have decided to take the reins to try and save it as the medical bills and loan debts are continuing to rise. As of this moment I do not know how much I am in for. I have sold my house back in the uk. so I have $400K to Spare, I have already spent $100k on some equipment. A new pickup, a flatbed trailer and animal transport trailer which the pickup can pull, and a John Deere Skidloader.        
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Post by thefisherj on Mar 23, 2020 15:25:40 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Spring 2020
Its All go I got to plant our 20 acres and 9 acres rented to plant. Managed to do a first cut siliage, and keeping the limousine cows all fed. I am going to a local beef/milk cow auction in the summer.    
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Post by thefisherj on Mar 28, 2020 10:32:03 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Summer
I managed to go to the cattle auction and I bought 50 head of Ayrshire cows, baled my second grass field and got 34 bales, got my first harvest of the year done just got under 260 bushes of wheat, and baled the wheat straw. I have now turned that field into a alfalfa field which I extended a bit. I'm going to see what land comes up in auction in late Autumn to see if I can expand the farm. I had a break down with the John Deere Skidloader, mechanic said the hydraulic system was blocked up causing the arms to move slow, I ended up selling it, I got a bobcat 550 Skidloader on trial till winter.
        
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 2, 2020 12:04:02 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Autumn
Time to harvest my corn and soybean fields managed to get 1,226 bushels of soybeans and 2,500 bushels of corn, managed to plough the corn field up and got my girlfriend plant winter wheat in it while I help harvest a neighbour corn field which he gave me 1,477 bushels and $16,000. I got a second cut of siliage before the season was over. I decided to go for a John Deere Skidloader as I struggled to get round driving the bobcat. sold the 10 limousines as they got to weight i managed to get $30,000       
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 3, 2020 6:13:07 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Winter
Well my first winter went well, we had no snow fall, unfortunately my wheat and corn had a lot of moisture so I had a lot of deductions I got $1,108 for wheat and $13,000 for the corn. I have found out how much the farm owes to the bank and casino, plus my grandad's personal debt to the casino and medical fees.
His personal debts are $300,000 owed to the casino and $100,000 in medical fees, The farm owes $300,000 to the casino and $1,000,000 to the bank.
My grandmother has hidden it away from us that he has a gambling addiction, so after talking to the debt collectors I have payed out $100,000 to all the debts. $60,000 to the casino (personal and farm) $20,000 to the medical fees and $20,000 interest paid off the bank loan. I have set up a $15,000 Quarterly payment to pay off the casino debts so the bills are spread out.
My grandad has gotten worse and they say he has weeks or months left to live 
I have bought with the remaining money a used Fertiliser sprayer, a new slurry sprayer and a manure spreader.
   
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 6, 2020 10:18:05 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Spring 2021
So its Spring, time to fertilise the fields plant field 14 and 18 in corn and Field 19 in Oats, I also did a first cut hay which I got 25 bales, calving season is full go 20 so far 19 females and 1 males. I'm not sure how long they will stay as I got not room for them. Seen the finance sheets for last year there was a little improvement but still in the red. The milkman is now coming daily to pick up the milk.
Unfortunately my grandad has passed away and the funeral is in the summer.
      
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 7, 2020 15:50:08 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Summer
Time to harvest my Wheat field managed to get a decent crop off it and got 24 bales of straw for the cows bedding, A further 19 Calves were born. I have made my mind up late winter or early Spring I will be selling the young cows to make room for next years Calves seasons. I managed to do a second cut of hay which I got 35 bales and a first cut siliage to top up. I bought an old ford grain truck to help the harvest and sell of grain. I sold 1225 bushels of soybeans for $14,000. Also the Oat field was ready to harvest quicker than anticipated so it wasn't fully fertilised but still got a load of it and I have also stocked up with seeds and liquid fertiliser. With the Alfalfa hay have a low price I have decided it is not worth the time so I have cultivated it up to turn it into a crop field.
            
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 9, 2020 8:21:25 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Autumn
Time to harvest my corn fields and plant them with winter oats after my girlfriend limed and spread slurry on them, managed to harvest my double crop soybeans, sold 1,811 bushes of oats for $19,775, sold off the milk for $42,620 with 10% going to the milkman. the old corn head caught fire so the insurance got me a new one, a little to big header for the current combine but its the only one they had at the dealer that was suitable for my combine.
         
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Post by Bryan83 on Apr 9, 2020 12:55:51 GMT -6
Tough break about the corn header, but lucky you had insurance and that they processed that as fast as they did.
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 9, 2020 16:36:17 GMT -6
Tough break about the corn header, but lucky you had insurance and that they processed that as fast as they did. yep couldn't believe it, thank god for a very friendly insurance company which is also a family run business and they know we in a deep financial hole. |
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 10, 2020 4:42:09 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Winter
Time to slow down, and take notes on what areas that need improving, I'm thinking its time for a bigger tractor and getting a implement that cultivates to make the seed bed smoother. I sold 823 bushels of wheat for $6,152 and 2837 bushels of corn for $6,465, and another tanker and a half of milk as the price was $2.41 per gallon which got me $64,119 and 10% go to the milkman. I paid the bailiffs the final $15,000 this year for the casino debts, $20,000 medical fees, $20,000 bank loan interest and $20,000 of the bank loan, and of course this time they came in a brand new ford mustang. so it leaves me with $240,000 casino debt (personal and farm), $60,000 medical fees and $980,000 bank loan.    
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 14, 2020 3:12:43 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Spring 2022
So The finance spreadsheet looks better but still in the red. It was a very busy Spring getting Field 13 and 2 ready to be planted with corn, and field 19 in Soybeans. I had a Demo in a John Deere 4950 and a brand new John Deere 30ft Disc it went very well and I'm planning to buy the tractor and was tempted to buy the disc. I have had 3 new calves this season.
I have Sold 16 calves from last year and got $9,494,
First cut Silage and hay went well got 23 bales of hay.
        
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 18, 2020 5:53:34 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Summer
First harvest of the year is complete with a disastrous ending the John Deere 2266 Thrashing part has stopped working, luckily I was done with harvesting the winter oats. The local dealer has picked it up to see if they can get it working but have a long queue for them to repair it that is they can get the parts for it, but they had a John Deere 9600 with a brand new 625 X header on hand so they said I could use it for the remaining harvest season. I have had 10 new calves which nearly puts me at the maximum number cows my pen can hold without being packed in, So it looks like I'm going to sell the rest of last year calves in autumn.
I have rented field 3 for a year for $5,000 it is a 13 acre field, My John Deere 2266 may be to small for this field but time will tell. My Dad was over here for the first 1 month of summer helping me plant soybeans and spreading slurry over field 14 and 18. My neighbour helped out with transporting the slurry to the fields with his Mack Superliner and grant tanker in return I helped him harvest field 1 and field 5.
My dad had secretly signed me up for a demo New Holland standalone mower which so far I managed to cut second cut siliage but the weather stopped me doing second cut hay, but hopefully in autumn I could use it for second cut hay and a third cut siliage that is I still have it if not back to the normal haybine.
         
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 21, 2020 8:23:10 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Autumn
Been busy harvest corn and getting it to the corn dryer as I heard that gets you a better price and I had a new local grain dryer business start up only a few miles down the road he will dry it for 10% of the sale price plus the client has to buy the propane costs. there was a great demand for dry corn it was $182.59 per ton of dry corn I managed to get 2 loads in with the ford grain truck which took 35.28t each load and another load at $140.45 and unfortunately the rest of the corn didn't try in time so in total 105.84 tonnes of dry corn sold I got $17,835 so out of that $1,784 goes to grain dryer. I also sold the milk for $103,268 and $10,327 goes to the milk man. I bought a new John Deere 1590 Grain drill for $54,000 I have managed to drill Field 2, 3 and 13 in winter oats. Managed to harvest soybeans in field 14, 18 and 19 which took to the last day of autumn. Unfortunately the grass did not dry into hay so at this moment I have left the grass I may make siliage bales to sell as my siliage silo is nearly full. I do not know if I have enough hay to last till I can get more hay baled. I have sold 16 1 year old calves for $ 12,787 I plan on selling more in winter as the number carries on rising. on the last day I saw a Chula coop was offering $125 per ton of dry corn I have decided to sell the remaining 42.67 tons and got $5,341 and $534 goes to the grain dryer.
        
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 22, 2020 8:00:59 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Winter
I sold off all 1620 bushels of oats to Galt Coop for $13.78 per bushel in total I got $22,321, Sold 14 Calves for $10,830 and had two great demands for milk the first one was sold to Galt for $26,016 which $2602 goes to the milkman and the second one goes to Chula for £22,607 and $2261 goes to the milkman. Paid the Debt collectors the final $15,000 for this year towards the gaming debts, paid $19,600 interest to the bank loan, this year I did not pay more of the loan down, and paid $20,000 towards the Medical fees which leaves me with $210,000 per casino debt, $998,000 loan and $40,000 medical fees. I have decided to take another loan out for $290,000 to buy another cattle farm which holds 200 cows, thanks to my neighbour and the milkman telling me the old owner was retiring and selling of his lands sadly there was no equipment or tractors included it the sales agreement as they were already sold off that John Deere 7r would of been nice to have and also no fields come with it as well. I plan doing a mix beef and dairy cow farm there, it will also take 5 months or older calves from Grandads farm which will be grown to milking age and the males will be fatten up to sell off I plan on using the milk income and selling of cows to pay off the debt, with the new farm comes a new challenge on how to feed them I have seen a nice Peterbilt feed truck I like maybe in a few years I'll have enough to buy it but for now I will use my current tmr wagon and cart between both farms. I also sold off the John Deere 2266 combine and header for $123,274, and Brought a John Deere 9610 with a Lizard Draper 9m header for $5144,482 and also paid the repair cost for the JD 2266 was $1,500. How could I nearly forget the grass finally dried to hay and I managed to get 31 bales.           
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Post by thefisherj on Apr 27, 2020 4:06:21 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Spring 2023
Manage to fertilise and seed Field 14, 18 and 19 in corn and I decided to plough up the grass field next to Field 19 to break up the soil after many years of compaction plus the grass were dying off in areas and I reseeded it with grass. I have a John Deere 330 Moco mower on demo for spring and summer and a Lely loading wagon for the same time. My Girlfriend fertilised field 2, 3 and 13 with the final dressing of liquid form of nitrogen, I did some custom fertilising for one of my neighbours with his brand new John Deere 4095 Spreader. I did have the Police turn up as it turns out my neighbour was a big drug grower and dealer, he said I was in it with him, which I am not and I had prove that all I was doing was fertilising his wheat and barley fields and helped him out harvesting his wheat and barley fields. which comes to my mind he was never bothered fertilising his fields before I was always confused why you would not want the best yields from your fields now I see why, he was trying to hide he was a drug grower and making his money from that and buying new farm equipment as he has shares in most of the big companies, maybe he was using his shares to turn the money clean again, I did pay off $30,000 into my second cow farm loan from the money earned doing the custom fertilising. and again he has his hands in the bank as well. well back to the police they said they believe I'm innocent and I can keep they money I earned from him. Well back to my second farm it has now got 31 calves in it 29 females and 2 males.
         
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Post by thefisherj on May 3, 2020 12:35:50 GMT -6
Dear diary
Summer
The harvest season is all go, Field 2, 3 and 13 all harvested got 3,600 bushels of Winter Oats, Sold off last years Soybeans for $28,677, I have also bought 16 Saler Calves for $31,948 8 Salers for $1,997 per cow and $1,996 for the other 8 cows. I plan on fattening them up to 1,200Ibs and sell them to the slaughter house, I got a Siloking Tmr mixer on demo along with a black John Deere 6m till winter. I did a first cut hay on the grass field I reseeded this spring and got 24 bales off it, but I'm pretty sure the next cut will produce more, I also did a second cut of hay which got me 22 bales, the first lot went to the Large cattle farm and the second lot went to the south cattle farm (main farm).             
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Post by thefisherj on May 7, 2020 14:45:56 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Autumn
The harvest season is over it went well, managed to plant oats in field 14, 18 and 19 after liming field 14 and 18. Sold the milk for $100,066 which $1000 goes to the milk man I sold 35.28T of dry corn for $7,467 at $211.71 per ton and $747 goes to the drying company and 70.56t for $16,769 at $237.31 and $1,677 goes to the drying company, I bought field 3 from the local government as they took it over when they seized my neighbours farm which cost me $83,130 at auction. I traded in the new Holland haybine for the John Deere 330 Moco which in total cost me $9,000.       
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Post by thefisherj on May 8, 2020 7:39:04 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Winter
A Busy winter I have had, I had building permission granted to build a new $400,000 silo which has been built, I decided I need to have a silo that accepts truck trailers to unload, I did take a loan out for it I will be taking a percentage of grain sales to pay it off. The Siloking demo is up, I have decided not to buy it as I see no need to buy a new one at this stage, but I am looking to getting a used one. I sold the saler cows for $3,249 each got in total $52,001 which means I got $20,053 in profits, I have put $32,000 aside for next years saler purchases. Sold 12,000 gallons of milk for $27,58 which $11,736 goes to the milkman as I got the last amount short by $9,000. I sold 3,600 bushels of oats off for $36,887 and 148.77T of dry corn for $33,107 and $3,311 goes to the drying company. and of course the baliffs came, now i'm down to $180,000 x2 casino debts, $20,000 medical bills and paid $19,600 loan interest. I have one more year and then the medical bill is paid off and the casino debts would be half paid off. I have also installed water pipes to the cows water troves.     
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Post by thefisherj on May 11, 2020 10:59:45 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Spring 2024
So I bought a second hand John Deere 7530 and a kamzik tmr mixer, and a new John Deere 12 Row planter. I have turned field 2 into a grass field, Field 3 and a new field on lease (F8), and managed to get a grassfield on lease next tow my second cattle farm which I have decided to house all my dairy cows from now on, and the main cattle farm will be a beef farm. I managed to get 26 bales of hay from the lease field, I split the bales between farms but still need more bales to take me through the year and till next year.        
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Post by thefisherj on May 17, 2020 5:09:15 GMT -6
Dear Diary
SummerThe Start of harvest 2023, managed to get 3203 bushels of oats, sold of 2501 bushels of soybeans from last year for $29,907 and have decided to take 25% of each grain sale towards the new grain silo loan for now, Sold off a tanker and 3 quarters of another tanker of milk for $61,104 and $6,110 goes to the milk man, and I paid $40,000 towards the large cattle farm loan which is also combined in with the planter and John Deere 7530 loan. The Local area have decided to use a new system for field leasing which you pay per week instead per year, so I'm going to have to find a way to have a constant flow of income, which I been speaking to the local Electricity company and they do a $20,000 license to have a solar panel put up where I can sell off excess electricity to the grid. I managed to plant soybeans in Field 14, 18 and 19 , I did a first cut with F2 and the siliage field with hay, field 2 got me 36 bales which went to the large cattle farm, and the siliage field got me 22 bales of hay which will go to the south cattle farm which I have stocked up with 16 Salers and 8 male Ayrshire calves to be fatten up for sale. managed to get a first cut of silage with the grass field by F19 and a second cut siliage on the leased farm which I baled this one and got 41 bales to be sold off to the Cassey's dealer wife's farm as they grass fields caught alight and they needed to get some siliage bales for the next year which they gave me a John Deere square baler on demo and I have it for another field of baling.        
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Post by thefisherj on May 22, 2020 4:19:15 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Autumn
Corn harvest was a massive suggest with 343.85T of dry corn produced, with most of been sold off for $64,403 with $6,441 going to the drying company and $10,895 to the silo loan, which leaves me with 61.61T of dry corn left to sell, I planted Field 3 and 13 with Winter Oats and a Canola in Field 8 as the Local Seed manufacturer is seeing if Canola grows well here, if it does I will be doing a crop rotation with one field has winter canola instead of Oats. I baled Field 13 corn stalks to see if its worth doing I of coursed used the square baler on demo for it, and got 99 bales from it which I sold straight off the field for $2,414 So I'm at this moment not going to bale corn stalks for the foreseeable future . the dealer's wife farm bought the 41 silage bales for $1,441 and also the dealer gave me a free use of the truck and slurry tanker to top the payment off. I had a half a tanker load of milk sold off for %18,095 which $ 1,809 goes to the milkman. and sold off another two Ayrshire bulls for $3,033 and the soybean harvest went well.      
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Post by thefisherj on May 23, 2020 4:38:15 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Winter
Its been a cold winter had a bit of snow, but not that much. Sold of the last 61.61T of dry corn for $12,801 and $1,280 goes to the drying company, Sold off another near full tank of milk for $32,616 and $3,262 goes to the milkman. Sold off 3,203 bushels for $33,329 and $8,332 goes to the silo loan. The bailiffs came, paid off the medical fee completely, the casino debts are $150,000 each and paid of the interest of the bank loan, Under 400k on the large cattle farm loan, and in total paid $26,703 off the silo loan which brings down to $374,691. I bought a license for a solar panel which gives £1,800 per week in selling excess electricity to the grid, which with the weekly interest and lease fees I see $670 is left from $1,800 but at least I'm not losing money each week. I bought a New John Deere 618c Corn head from a online dealer that was having a John Deere sale, I also traded in my current header, so in total it cost me $25,650 instead of $57,000. I sold off the Salers for $52,164 giving me a $20,306 profit, I did buy another 16 Salers for $34,346 , I'm experimenting on if I can fatten the beef calves twice a year.
        
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Post by Bryan83 on May 23, 2020 4:42:11 GMT -6
That's a sharp looking corn header you got there.  |
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Post by thefisherj on May 27, 2020 5:22:25 GMT -6
That's a sharp looking corn header you got there. Nice doing some business with you  |
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Post by thefisherj on May 27, 2020 6:30:28 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Spring 2025
A busy season again, I manged to spread manure over Field 14, 18 and 19, lime field 19, Cultivate field 14, 18 and 19 and planted them with corn, did a first cut hay on 3 fields and 1 first cut siliage on the leased grass field. and spread the last of the manure on field 2 and grass field by field 19, Sold some milk for $20,517 and $2,052 goes to the milkman, 5 Ayrshire bulls got to the ideal weight of 1200IBs and some were over it which I got in total $6,874, I paid some of the Cattle loan off, which now I have $780 weekly interest. Peterbilt gave me a Peterbilt 389 with a Wilson pacesetter b trailer and a kinze 1057 augur wagon on demo for two seasons.        
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Post by thefisherj on Jun 1, 2020 9:40:52 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Summer
Time to harvest again, went well over 2000 bushels of oats and a very good crop of canola as well being over 2000 bushels as well. Sold off last year 2363.2 bushels of soybeans for $29,116 and $7,279 goes to the silo loan. Bought 16 Salers for $1,990 each in total $31,849 which I paid with my personal money coming out of my account which held the money I got for selling my old business leaves me with $68k in that account I may drop it all in the bank loan, but I'm not sure if its a wise decision, or leave it as a buffer for later troubles. I baled the straw of field 13 and sold 31 of the 55 straw bales for a measly $500, kept 24 bales for the large cattle farm, I did a second cut of hay and siliage, with a demo Krone Big M was nice, I wish I had the funds to buy it, I got 37 bales of hay which all will be going to the large cattle farm which should see me through the winter. the dealer lent me their flat bed trailer to try out with the Peterbilt 389.
        
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Post by thefisherj on Jun 6, 2020 9:21:44 GMT -6
Dear diary
Autumn
Last season with the lovely Peterbilt 389 and the Wilson pacesetter train grain trailer, unfortunately the farm can not afford one. The Corn harvest went well and got it into the grain dryer I got in total 254.20 tonnes of dry corn which I sold to Chula Coop for $248.80 per ton which comes to $63,242 and which $6,324 goes to the grain drying company and $14,230 goes to the silo loan. the Soybean harvest went well got 3,133 bushels, planted field 14, 18 and 19 with canola. I had to move 24 calves from the large cattle farm to the main farm as it is getting to its capacity, I had a lovely demo of the Wilson animal transporter, I sold the winter Salers at 1300 IBs for $60,879 with a profit of $26,533 I put the orginal capital away for this winters purchase, and put $20,000 into the large cattle farm loan along with $50,000 from the milk sale which I got $80,928 with $8,093 going to the milkman.
I have a big announcement, I am starting up my own grain hauling business using a $250k capital from my grandad's from my mums side inheritance, my mum wont allow me to use it to pay off some debts on the farm or buy equipment for the farm, so I thought the farm really needs a Truck and trailer, so me and my Friend who works as a lawyer in Washington d.c discuss how I could buy a truck and trailer for the farm but not buying it for the farm, as she has threaten take me to court if I do, He said if the farm contracts me to haul their grain, it would stand up in court that I have not bought the truck and trailer for the farm and of course it opens my money making abilities as I can haul grain for other farmers in the surrounding states. I have set up a 10% off harvest income as my fee. I have done a deal with the (my) farm that I will haul their grain for free and they will let me store the truck and trailer at the farm. I will be collecting the truck and trailer at the start of winter from my local Peterbilt dealer
       
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Post by thefisherj on Jun 13, 2020 9:37:49 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Winter
Well calm winter it has been sold of the 2635 bushels of oats in the new truck and a demo merit super bee trailer, got $27,221 and $6,805 goes to the silo loan, sold another 2 and a quarter milk tank loads for $84,035 and $8,404 goes to the milkman, I paid the last $15,000 payment for this year for the casino debts, Paid the interest and $20,000 off the bank loan and in total paid $28,314 of the silo loan which leaves me with $120,000 x2 casino debts, $960,000 bank loan, $346,377 silo loan and $215,000 large cattle farm loan. I lease a bigger Wilson animal transporter to move some off the calves to the main farm as the large cattle farm was nearly full and to buy another 16 Salers for $2,168 each. I have settled for a normal Wilson pacesseter, I have also now taken over the financial side of the farm over as my grandmother has fallen seriously ill so to take the strain off her I said ill do it, I have also bought a special farm finance app that does all the calculations for you.       
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Post by thefisherj on Jul 1, 2020 12:47:03 GMT -6
Dear Diary
Spring 2026
busy spring, with a John Deere 7310r on demo for a whole year, with serval other equipment on demo for me to use with the demo tractor. I decided to upgrade the baler after the John Deere baler had baled 500 bales while I have been here, I got a Vicon fastbaler for $68,250 and sold the John Deere baler for $7,000, planted field 7 with oats and field 3, 8 and 13 in corn. used the Vicon front and butterfly mowers on demo to cut first cut hay, and also used the Vicon windrower before using my new baler, which does say what the name says, baled 98 bales very quickly. sold all last years canola for a grand total $136,588 with $34,147 going towards the silo loan, sold a tanker and a bit for $47,469 with $4,747 going to the milkman, and sold 16 Salers for $58,423.
           
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