The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXV

[Cutlass]

They have now, they ship "harder" new from the store than they used to. But have you priced those things recently? You aren't going to pitch the old ones that were new and too soft. You're going to have stuck them in a corner somewhere until they got harder.

I have to say that I rarely price tires for heavy farm machinery.....

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

ooh ooh I read this two summers ago. I forget when, but sometime in the 1100s-1300s horses had been bred stronger and stronger to the point that they way out-powered oxen. Oxen were much cheaper though, and were much stronger than many horses- most horses from before then.

I believe it. The war horses they bred in Europe were incredible animals. Fast, strong, quiet, and almost fearless.

 

[Flying Pig]

They still breed cavalry horses, although the prized quality nowadays seems to be an imperviousness to noise.

 

[Phrossack]

They still breed cavalry horses, although the prized quality nowadays seems to be an imperviousness to noise.

I'm amazed by how cavalry horses are able to tolerate having a rifle go off when its muzzle is inches from its ears.

 

[really]

I can name a few famous horses off the top of my head - Red Rum, Marengo, Seabiscuit for example.

Have there ever been any famous cows?

 

[Farm Boy]

I have to say that I rarely price tires for heavy farm machinery.....

Kinda annoying to find prices without talking to a dealer since pricing on things with significant shipping is a local sort of thing, but selecting a 2011 combine from the most local implement dealer, looking at the tires it was being sold with, then finding the first site selling those tires(so yes, very rigorous! ), puts the price on an "overstock" at $2399 per.

 

[Phrossack]

$2399 will get you a tire?! How the hell is farming even possible?

 

[Farm Boy]

A healthy relationship with your banker and some luck. But you get the general idea of why a tire blowout is severely frustrating, and when people realized it was happening 3 times in a row how maddening it was. Most of the small time guys I know aren't very into lotto/Vegas/sports gambling. They get plenty of that already! The way inheritances and subsidies work though, eventually the luck will run out which is why every generational switch increases the functional size of the fewer remaining operations. I don't know how you would reverse that.

 

[Phrossack]

Big landowners swallowing up small landholders was a huge problem in the medieval Roman Empire. They never did reverse it. Depressing, really. My cousin became a farmer in part to help save small farming, but I dunno how that'll go.

 

[Farm Boy]

Best wishes for the cousin! May the rain fall when and where (s)he needs it, may the prices be reasonable, and the expenses bearable.

 

[Borachio]

Big landowners swallowing up small landholders was a huge problem in the medieval Roman Empire.

Latifundia?

 

[Hygro]

A healthy relationship with your banker and some luck. But you get the general idea of why a tire blowout is severely frustrating, and when people realized it was happening 3 times in a row how maddening it was. Most of the small time guys I know aren't very into lotto/Vegas/sports gambling. They get plenty of that already! The way inheritances and subsidies work though, eventually the luck will run out which is why every generational switch increases the functional size of the fewer remaining operations. I don't know how you would reverse that.

I mean, wouldn't go the other direction be more profitable? I mean, more labor intensive for sure but increasing diversity of land use and having animals just walk on through, using minimum synthetics/'cides possible (erring on zero, but very targeted if needed), and just using natures own machinery full on? It's certainly not as profitable per hour of attention spent but it's certainly more profitable as a function of input, no?

 

[Farm Boy]

I mean, wouldn't go the other direction be more profitable? I mean, more labor intensive for sure but increasing diversity of land use and having animals just walk on through, using minimum synthetics/'cides possible (erring on zero, but very targeted if needed), and just using natures own machinery full on? It's certainly not as profitable per hour of attention spent but it's certainly more profitable as a function of input, no?

Profitable for who? Say you have somebody with just enough acres to make a part-time go of it with their spouse working outside farm. Let's say that's somewhere about 400 acres tillable being whatever less the farmstead, accesses, drainage is. Then say they have 3 kids. It'd be unusual for somebody to write a kid out of their will, or to divide inheritance in a drastically unequal fashion, so you have the next generation and if one of those kids wants to farm he's now getting 1/3 of the capital that's necessary to do it. Prices around here can be estimated at ~$10,000 an acre. 400 acres/one third leaves about 266 acres for that inheritor to buy out, plus value of house, plus value of machinery. Land puts that up there at ~2.5 million of investment needed. Depending on how well the siblings get along, that's swingable. The Mortgage can probably be acquired with the land being collateral if there is any equity built up - but, if the siblings don't cooperate well you have to realize that an entire parcel of land generally has a higher value per acre than divvying it up. Which means that all inheritors have the right to demand the entire thing go to auction to acquire fair market share for their piece. And if that land goes to auction, a large operation is far more likely to be capable of handling adding on 400 more acres to a 25,000 acre operation than Joe farmkid with the secretary wife is going to be able to swing several million bucks. So maybe it all sells out. Or maybe one or two siblings sell, and the remaining ones retain a hundred acres each, which is now profitable to own and rent out, but not self operate.

 

[Hygro]

Oh I see. That sounds like quite a significant problem. I totally misunderstood your meaning.

 

[sophie]

I can name a few famous horses off the top of my head - Red Rum, Marengo, Seabiscuit for example.

Have there ever been any famous cows?

There's Mrs. O'Leary's Cow.

Also you forgot Mr. Ed in your list of famous horses.

 

[Borachio]

Ermintrude.

Spoiler :

Also, if you're going to mention Marengo, please don't neglect Copenhagen.

 

[Cutlass]

I mean, wouldn't go the other direction be more profitable? I mean, more labor intensive for sure but increasing diversity of land use and having animals just walk on through, using minimum synthetics/'cides possible (erring on zero, but very targeted if needed), and just using natures own machinery full on? It's certainly not as profitable per hour of attention spent but it's certainly more profitable as a function of input, no?

That would be at least partially dependent on the type of farming you are talking about. Grain farming is highly mechanized, and so favors high capital inputs. Fruits, not so much.

 

[Disgustipated]

Are there places to learn courses (high school) level for free on the internet? I may have asked this, but I do want to learn Algebra. It seems I have forgotten in the past 26 years. I don't really need to learn it for any reason at all. But I think it will be good exercise for my brain. I used to be so good at math, and I don't like not being able to do stuff I used to be able to do. Just recently I ran the 1 1/2 mile as fast as I did back when I was 21 years old in the Navy. It felt good to be able to do something I used to be able to do. If I could get my mind and body to the level it was when I was 18, that would be sweet.

 

[Hygro]

Are there places to learn courses (high school) level for free on the internet? I may have asked this, but I do want to learn Algebra. It seems I have forgotten in the past 26 years. I don't really need to learn it for any reason at all. But I think it will be good exercise for my brain. I used to be so good at math, and I don't like not being able to do stuff I used to be able to do. Just recently I ran the 1 1/2 mile as fast as I did back when I was 21 years old in the Navy. It felt good to be able to do something I used to be able to do. If I could get my mind and body to the level it was when I was 18, that would be sweet.

khanacademy.org homie. Good luck. I'll be following your footsteps soon brushing up one some stuff.

 

[Borachio]

Yes. I was impressed with khanacademy, too. Certainly good for high school level maths.