Agriculture Articles: Land Markets, Livestock Program, Succession

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The following are my recommended agriculture articles for Monday, April 25th, 2011

Peak Land Markets Don’t Deter Beginners (by Elizabeth Williams – DTN Progressive Farmer)

EXCERPT: “Getting around that land barrier takes more patience than I first envisioned,” said Cannon, “because I don’t want to get land by being the highest rental bidder and undercutting the neighboring farmers. I don’t think that relationship is sustainable in the long run. If that’s all the landowner is looking for, who’s to say down the road, someone won’t come along and out bid me,” Cannon said. “I try to build a relationship with family friends, neighboring farmers and farm managers. I don’t want to come off as pushy.”

Livestock Indemnity Program Can Benefit Producers (by By Ellen Crawford – AgWeb)

EXCERPT: The federal Livestock Indemnity Program is available to provide payments to livestock producers who lose animals as a result of adverse weather conditions this year. “With flooding this spring, this program could be very helpful to producers,” says Oliver County, North Dakota Extension agent Rick Schmidt. “But the program is not limited to livestock losses from flooding. It also applies to losses from blizzards, wildfires, and extreme heat or cold.”

It’s an Inside Job! (By Kevin Spafford – Farm Journal Legacy Project)

EXCERPT: Family farms are not destroyed by outside forces—the estate tax, government regulations or any other untoward burden—as often as they are left in ruin by a lack of communication and the natural self-interests of active and inactive family members. As a rule, most farmers are not good verbal communicators.