farm land, page-2

Newfish,

I like your thinking. Most of my asset base is in farmland.

However some cons for you to consider:

1. Global warming or should I say "climate change". Whether
it be real or not...The burden will be passed down to the farmer.

2. Under the current status quo (at least in Australia) the mantra
is "get big or get out". Whilst the average farmer is indebted up to his eyeballs
he/she will always be at the mercy of the banks and hence be a price taker not a price maker.

3. Farming is essentially nutrient mining. "I see no point in major inputs for major outputs".
This strategy will send you backwards or send you broke. The only way it would work is if you
are subsistence farming and you excrete back onto the land.

4. We live in a "democracy". Do you think the starving masses are going to sit by and see
a farmer make "excess profits". The government can re-claim land if it sees fit and is the
national interest. Look at Uganda...

5. Animal have legs and can walk. Sheep make easy pilferings.

6. Don't buy low lying land as it is a salinity timebomb.

7. Everything costs more out in the country.

8. It's hard to find a good partner ala "Farmer wants a wife"...

9. It is lonely, and despite the country spirit that is meant to exist, it is actually very
competitive.

At the end of the day the system is structured such that the return balance the risk.

Despite this I still love it, it is almost therapeutic. Nothing satisfies more than looking across
fields swaying in the wind, the fruits of your labour. You only reap what you sow.

A wise person once said to me, if you can make a living off the land you are doing well, if you
make a profit its the cream on top.

Land will always be a store of wealth in real terms.

Robocop