I listen to your program whenever I'm planting,
spraying, or combining. I thoroughly enjoy your
segments. I must tell you I am a young farmer from
TAYLOR North Dakota. You've been interviewing and
mentioning people from Taylor this week and I find it
refreshing to hear people from this area on the radio.
I know the Larsen Bros, Orville, and Jay Elkin. I
farm next to Jay in several locations. Just wanted to
thank you for stopping by our small community. I am a
4th generation farmer and I am in my late 20's. I
farm with my dad for several reasons. 1. I've been to
many, many land sales and I just can't compete with
the out of state hunters, or guys like Jay Elkin, who
are large farmers and have the financials to pay a
premium. I have nothing against the large farmer, he
has to do what he has to do to stay alive. As Jay
said in the NBC interview, it takes a lot of acres
just to pay for the inputs. 95% of the land I farm, I
rent which leads me to my second reason. 2. Land rents
have increased dramatically over the last couple of
years, so inputs are rising every year. It is nice to
see a good strong commodity price, but this year we
are facing sever drought, again. I believe it is an
isolated area North of Taylor, which happens to be
where all my land is located. This is the 3rd year of
drought for me. Even through these drought years, I
still look forward to everyday and I can't wait to get
out of bed and go outside and breath the fresh air and
start my day in, (as you say), my little piece of
heaven!!
I must tell you, my only fear is that if rents, land
values, and other inputs keep increasing and we can't
break this drought cycle, I may be forced to move on
to something else. I have a family, so if I can't
provide, I will have to find something else to do. I
love what I do more than anything and I will continue
on as long as I can. 3. Equipment. Who can afford
to go out and buy a line of equipment necessary for
production when they rent most or all of the land??
No one. Good used equipment is hard to find, its even
harder to find the money to buy the used equipment.
New equipment is basically unreachable.
4. There is nothing better than working with your
family on the farm. Everyone works in harmony
together and that makes efficiency. Efficiency is
what makes a farm successful. If you don't have it
your not maximizing your potential. It is virtually
impossible to do it alone!! You need some help and
who better than your family.
Once again, thanks for putting Taylor on the map.
Sincerely,
Chris Bernhardt
Young Farmer from good old Taylor.