FUEL PRICES

Well, I don't know what how you would call it but I grew up on a farm.  When I left home for college I had 5 cows and a Chevy pickup.  My dad was tired of feeding my cows so somehow I managed to rent 300 acres of grass and buy 25 more cows while I was in college, I did get a couple years of school paid for on a football scholarship so that helped.  Last two years I worked in a repair shop for a farmer who became sick and one year after I got out of school he died.  His wife and sister in law rented me their ground (3 quarters plus 2 that was family a lot of irrigation)  I bought equipment and the following year rented another 13 quarters, spent a lot of nights sleeping over a steering wheel and about 6 years later got rid of that damn old Chevy pickup that had 490,000 miles on 400 pontiac engine, she was getting a little rough, but still would break the motor mounts.  The first two years I raised corn my dad did pick it for me as I didn't have a cornhead yet, and he once gave me 50 bales, other than that every piece of land, equipment, livestock or anything I have I paid for with the business.  It's a great feeling when you can do what you want and everyone else can kiss your azz.  I won't never complain I've made a comfortable living and pretty much have bought whatever I wanted, after several years of building, within reason.  Sure I bich just like any farmer but there is almost always money to be made, if your diversified.  For me that means corn, milo, soybeans, wheat, cow calf, feeder cattle.  Does that mean you can't go broke, of course not, but it's the same for any business.  Now if you want to buy all new equipment and every piece of land you farm, you're going to go broke, but a business man would know not to do that. 

Another thing, a lot of business men will buy farmland for investments and rent it on shares.  I farm for a man that grew up here and believe it or not has a CPA and is a attorney, and one of his clients is AGCO, and he still buys land however I farm his families ground and he buys land in eastern KS because he said he owned enough land in the dry hellhole where I farm.  He's a great guy and one of the smartest people you'll ever talk too.  My accountant also owns his farm, equipment land and all, but in his case he has God on his side, he's a ND grad and his papa was the Grand Pooba of the KofC.  I get my moneys worth when I see him out of all those Tootsie Rolls I eat.

As far as my degree, it came in the mail, don't know where I put it, and I still have nightmares about the business law professor.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.