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As a Nebraskan, I resonated with this - big time. My first question is _always_: "How does it make money?", and I've shied away from ideas that had no clear mo

by dwrowe 15y ago

As a Nebraskan, I resonated with this - big time. My first question is _always_: "How does it make money?", and I've shied away from ideas that had no clear money-making potential. It is likely the predominant 'agricultural' culture.

randomdata 15y ago
> It is likely the predominant 'agricultural' culture. Ironically, farming is kind of like a startup. You raise millions in capital to get started, and then you work for many years without making a cent in hopes that one year you'll finally hit it big. With that said, I farm in Canada. Perhaps the subsidies you American farmers have access to changes the dynamics.
- eurleif 15y ago
  Pardon my ignorance, but how does a farmer hit it big?
  - randomdata 15y ago
    Exceptionally high yields, combined with unnaturally high prices. It happens sometimes. The people growing white beans in my area did amazingly well last year, seeing $1,000/acre in net profit, where normally you make little to no profit. Others bank on the sale of all the assets when they retire. A farm that cost $25,000 30 years ago is now worth $1.6M. But when you are starting out, you have no idea what the future will hold. Just as many defaulted on their loans for those $25,000 farms and are no longer in the business.
- dwrowe 15y ago
  There isn't a really strong comparison though. I think it would be quite rare for you to find a farmer that raised capital and just struck out on their own without knowing _exactly_ what they needed to do to reach profitability - nor would they pivot away from the act of farming. To try and apply the 'startup' concept talked about in the article, to farming would be something more along the lines of buying land and beginning to plow - then 'pivoting' and using the land to house private jets. Yes that is a strong example of pivoting, but I think that is the focus of the article (Wasn't the Reddit team originally working on mobile food ordering?). Traditionally (this has certainly changed with corporate farms) farming has been strong family history and bootstrapping (likely via loans for land/equipment purchase) rather than investors.

by dwrowe 15y ago

randomdata 15y ago

> It is likely the predominant 'agricultural' culture. Ironically, farming is kind of like a startup. You raise millions in capital to get started, and then you work for many years without making a cent in hopes that one year you'll finally hit it big. With that said, I farm in Canada. Perhaps the subsidies you American farmers have access to changes the dynamics.

eurleif 15y ago
Pardon my ignorance, but how does a farmer hit it big?
- randomdata 15y ago
  Exceptionally high yields, combined with unnaturally high prices. It happens sometimes. The people growing white beans in my area did amazingly well last year, seeing $1,000/acre in net profit, where normally you make little to no profit. Others bank on the sale of all the assets when they retire. A farm that cost $25,000 30 years ago is now worth $1.6M. But when you are starting out, you have no idea what the future will hold. Just as many defaulted on their loans for those $25,000 farms and are no longer in the business.
dwrowe 15y ago
There isn't a really strong comparison though. I think it would be quite rare for you to find a farmer that raised capital and just struck out on their own without knowing _exactly_ what they needed to do to reach profitability - nor would they pivot away from the act of farming. To try and apply the 'startup' concept talked about in the article, to farming would be something more along the lines of buying land and beginning to plow - then 'pivoting' and using the land to house private jets. Yes that is a strong example of pivoting, but I think that is the focus of the article (Wasn't the Reddit team originally working on mobile food ordering?). Traditionally (this has certainly changed with corporate farms) farming has been strong family history and bootstrapping (likely via loans for land/equipment purchase) rather than investors.