TRUE VALUE

Another Hardscrabble Farmer comment deserving of a post. The idiot who ridiculed him was none other than our dear departed Reverse Engineer.

 

A few weeks back I made mention of a meal I had made that was sourced entirely from the bounty of our land and work. Someone who read it divided the cost by the purchase price of our property and concluded that that single meal cost several thousand dollars to eat as opposed to his 80 cent can of chili. He had made a sound financial decision, I was a fool. If that meal had been the only thing we ever got from our decision to buy this place and become farmers it would have been a foolish purchase indeed. Of course that was a ridiculous analysis of our cost benefit, but he had a point.

Had I ever really looked at the value of what we had decided to do in purely economic terms and was it worth it. As I commented above not everything we do in life can be boiled down to a monetary equation, that there are some investments we make that aren’t denominated in federal reserve notes yet which still bring value to our lives. Not one person responded to that comment and I decided I had been mistaken to leave out the accounting aspect.

Yesterday we took a break from splitting food to go look at a small stand of pine and mixed hardwood hat we had filed an intent to cut on. The piece is oddly shaped with some wet, marshy areas but it makes up the eastern boundary to the property and because of the age and size of the pines on it- over sixty years and close to one hundred feet- it has cast a shadow on a much larger piece of grazing land as well as affect the ph of the soil. We had tagged all the oaks we were leaving as well as the sugar maples and tried to get a count on the board feet the stand contained.

It was nice walk since the ground had frozen and it gave us an opportunity to really get a feeling for how the cut would expand the adjoining pasture. We’d install new fence afterwards, of course, and maybe rebuild a section of rock wall along the neighbors land, but that was work for another time after the timbering was done. The land was on a grade and fell several hundred feet from the northern end to the southern most point. The total acreage was only two and half or three acres at most, but the age of the trees added dimension and gave us enough board feet to equal a stand twice that size.

I mention these things because there is a valuation to them. I have come to a point in my life where I think far less in terms of dollars and cents and more in terms of future yields and fertility. However, after a couple of days of reflection based on some comments I read I thought it might be a worthwhile exercise to try and figure out the dollar amounts connected to this sliver of land and it’s future outputs. The cost of the land was tied up in the original purchase which included the house and buildings. Dividing from the total purchase price by acre would skew the numbers, that and the fact that this particular piece was not prime land, but marginal at best. We had made a purchase of an adjoining parcel a couple of years ago that was similar, so I will rely on that figure for my cost basis.

Let’s say that the approximate value at current rates would be around $2,000. I estimate that we will harvest approximately 25,000 board feet of pine at a current price of $1,800 per one thousand board foot. Our cost for cutting, clearing and trucking are approximately 75 cents a board foot. The town must be paid a tax based on stumpage- in other words for every tree cut whether it is top quality or rotten- leaving us with a total income on the pine of $20,000. From that I subtract 10% for wear and tear on our tools and equipment, gas and oil for the chainsaws, etc. and we are left with $18,000. We’ll harvest approximately 20 cords of firewood @ $300 per cord for an additional $5,400 (minus 10% for expenses noted above). When completed the number of remaining sugar maples with give us an additional 125- 150 taps with a production rate of one gallon per tap, annually. Syrup currently retails for $60 per gallon, $40 in bulk sales so we’ll use an average of $50 per gallon. There are an additional 100-150 taps potentially on that line based on the number of seedling and saplings.

This figure will not generate an income for 15 years, but it is part of the calculation. The remaining oaks each produce enough mast to feed the pigs in the Fall. Calculating the feed rate of mast is next to impossible, but let us assume that out of our total herd size annually, one pig is produced from the nourishment provided in that stand. A single harvested hog will net us $250. This figure is an annuity. When completely harvested and seeded and returned to pasture the total free land will produce approximately 300 bales of hay with one cut, 450 if we get two for an annual average production of 375 bales. The price per bale is currently $4-$5. Less costs in baling (50%) we have a total annual income of just over$2,000. Since we do not sell our hay but use it to feed our livestock based on annual consumption of hay per animal, the hay produced is enough to feed a steer to harvest. Live, on the hoof prices are currently $2.25 per pound. Hanging weight if slaughtered goes for $4.50 per pound and yields 65% of live weight.We harvest at 2 years an under for an average live weight of half a ton. Our average beef income on that single piece of newly cleared land will average $2,500 per year.

You may have noticed that the one figure I do not include is my labor. I do this for several reasons, first because we do not hire labor on our farm, we do it ourselves because we want to and because we love it. If I were living my old life I would have paid someone to let me do what I do now. I no longer belong to a gym and pay dues because I get all the fitness training I need doing what I do and am in better shape than I was when I did belong to a gym. I get all my meals right here and they are both nutritive and delicious. I have a quality of life that exceeds my wildest expectations and that I couldn’t imagine putting a price on, but if I did it would exceed a $20 an hour pay rate. With the exception of two injuries in the past 6 years (broken wrist, distal bicep rupture) I have not been to see a doctor nor have I taken any medication. I don’t know what the savings in health insurance/health care has been, but based on my last plan it is a minimum of 20-30K. So labor, as far as I’m concerned, is a wash.

The cost of the land- the ‘investment” for economic folks- was $2,000. The net return on the one year harvest- will be over $20,000. The annualized returns of the product of that effort- the maple syrup, the beef and pork production sustained by the organic matter of that clearing effort- will be $9,000, in perpetuity.

There are plenty of factors that could affect the annual returns in either direction- if we get a cow calf as opposed to a bull calf she will produce between 10-20 calves during her life greatly expanding our returns on beef. Same for the pigs. If we have a sow who throws two litters per year of 10 piglets we quadruple the return on pork. Of course things could also go the other way if there is a drought (we live on the side of a mountain with numerous springs, streams, wells and cisterns) or if we have severe fluctuations in commodities prices.

If we had taken our lifetime savings and placed them into a 401K rather than our homestead we would still have to live with the risks of the market. We’d still be paying for energy. We still be buying food, paying our mortgage, health insurance and deductibles, water bills, vacations and distractions, health club, etc. I can’t even begin to figure in the benefits this lifestyle has brought my children and our marriage. I spend the majority of my life in the company of the people I love and care for the most, I get to share with them not only the skills and experiences of self reliance, but the health benefits and intellectual stimulation of living in tune with nature and the seasons. By carefully balancing our income with our improvements we can keep our tax burden at a manageable level where as successful consumers it was onerous. We also enjoy some of the finest meals on a daily basis and deep sleep unencumbered by anxiety and the restlessness that attends a sedentary lifestyle.

There is a hidden economy in our world that is ours for the taking. It requires hard work, physically demanding labor and long term planning based on timelines much further apart than paydays. There are fewer opportunities for consumer goods and vacations, we do not clothe ourselves in the latest fashions ( I spent the better part of our Friday date night sewing patches on my overalls while my wife and I talked and enjoyed a glass of wine by candlelight) and we haven’t got any of the I-gadgetry that has been at the center of everyone’s lives these days. What we do have is a life based on the pillars of family, industry and an accord with Nature.

To me there is no more sound investment than that.

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John the bruce
John the bruce

Hoping to hit the point you are at . Have not been at it long enuf yet, and the weather is tuff with a short growing season, but I will get there in time. Been doing the lumber cutting thing, and there is plenty yet to be done.

John
John

Good post Hardscrabble. Excellent writing.

A man of conviction, with a good story to tell as he builds out a dream.

Good riddance to the suburban sheeple perspective, like a billion of them is worth a single Hardscrabble.

Golden Oxen
Golden Oxen

Yes Hardscrabble, John beat me to it, but you have a marvelous gift for writing sir.

Thanks for pointing out what sound investment really is, and what’s truly important in life.

Dave Doe
Dave Doe

Excellent – thanks.

mrk030
mrk030

So thankful to have a voice like HF to enjoy. Refreshing, wholesome, REAL. Imagine how much better our country (and world for that matter) would be if more people had that sensible outlook on life? Jeez.

This is what happens when you allow the manipulators of the world inside. I could go on… but I think you get my point.

bb

H F ,do know about ‘RE and his criticism but I do think you live in a fantasy world created with your own imagination. Built on houses of sand in your own mind.My grandparents owned a farm and I never remember it being so rosey. Did I miss something all those 20+years?

Bea Lever
Bea Lever

What do they mean ,dearly departed reverse engineer ?

ottomatik
ottomatik

Thanks for the post and all of the others, I am a romantic at heart, especially when it comes to nature. I am attempting to follow suit but my patch is high altitude and 95% devoid of grass, still I do what I can.
I sense a resurgence in participation for this type of lifestyle dovetailing with our post industrial National character. Certainly the unplugged, including you, realize its incompatibility with maintenance of the Empire. Thanks for the insight into the trail you have blazed.

IndenturedServant

Bea Lever says:
“What do they mean ,dearly departed reverse engineer ?”

RE shit in his own mess kit yesterday and was invited to piss off on the NO ONE TOLD YOU WHEN TO RUN thread.

hardscrabble farmer

bb- I’m not your grandparents. Someone else has said as much before about what I write. I have bad days, injuries, losses, etc I just don’t focus on them. There are plenty of people who run down family farming if that’s what you’re looking for, I’m just not that guy.

John
John

“What do they mean ,dearly departed reverse engineer ?”

Maybe his sheeple lifestyle and Jack Daniels habits caught up with him? I mean really, the guy needed some help.

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Bostonbob

HSF,
Wonderful read as always. Thank you for sharing.
Bob.

BUCKHED
BUCKHED

HSF….I love the unpasteurized milk I drink each day….supplied by a local farmer. Like the old saying goes….don’t talk about the local farmer with your mouth full of food .

paganlust
paganlust

We have a little farmers market on saturdays. Everything except lettuce. Take mom and pop there every week. Our cowshare is 30 bucks a month. Anyone else do a cowshare? What do you pay? We geta gallon of milk a week, a half gallon of heavy cream, and one pound of cheese at the end of the month. Not alot, but the taste is stellar.

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