# Screw-ups, bad decisions....



## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

I am un-building all of the supports of a grape vineyard. One of my daughters came home from university with big ideas about wine and grapes, I took the bait in the interest of positive growth for my girl and the possibility of moderate success.

Didn't work out at all, unless you have a squad of extra helper monkeys grapes will consume WAY too much time/money.

We did have a fair crop of Malbec grapes. Tried to sell them to ANY local wineries, that didn't work as the margin is too small for them to buy any grapes outside from what they grow. Nobody wanted to buy and transplant the healthy growing vines. Plus I like beer---not too much on wine! Hay & cattle--I won't rock the canoe again!

Using the steel and posts at the farm for real work. The cows and deer will enjoy the spring growth. Any one else want to share any bad decisions?


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

I don't consider things like your attempt a bad thing, some professor put it in her head as he doesn't know where his head really is either....

Maybe it gave her a realistic look at some things that look good on paper to someone sitting behind a desk doesn't work in the real world...

Good for you for giving yourself & her the chance for it, I'll bet she will think a little more with the next project...

Chris


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

I could say every decision from the age 14-35. Seriously though, not buying the farm when my off farm income was more than sufficient to foot the bill. Tenant farming is becoming the norm around here though.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

My first marraige......


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

azmike said:


> I am un-building all of the supports of a grape vineyard. One of my daughters came home from university with big ideas about wine and grapes, I took the bait in the interest of positive growth for my girl and the possibility of moderate success.
> 
> Didn't work out at all, unless you have a squad of extra helper monkeys grapes will consume WAY too much time/money.
> 
> ...


I don't think that is to bad of a mistake. I don't see anywhere that you lost the ranch or that someone died. Maybe your daughter learned something also about risk without risking that much.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Not buying land when prices were reasonable.

Although I have a suspicion that years from now I might be thinking the same thing about today's prices.


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## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

Teslan said:


> I don't think that is to bad of a mistake. I don't see anywhere that you lost the ranch or that someone died. Maybe your daughter learned something also about risk without risking that much.


I just picture the cash spent would have been better on a bunch of lovely heifers!

My daughter now works at the local branch of a major fertilizer/seed company and is in line for the managers job. All is well, just I told her to go to Safeway and get her wine in a box!


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

azmike said:


> I just picture the cash spent would have been better on a bunch of lovely heifers!
> 
> My daughter now works at the local branch of a major fertilizer/seed company and is in line for the managers job. All is well, just I told her to go to Safeway and get her wine in a box!


yes possibly would have been better. But what if just what if the grapes would have worked better then cattle. Now you know. So now if you hear of someone wanting to start a vineyard you can tell them to just go buy heifers instead and know what you are talking about.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Well one thing is now the cattle market is lower so maybe you can by the heifers at a lot less money.

I see a lot of grapes have been planted around here also.Was a Lot of articles in farm papers about raising them and how much you could make per acre,blah,blah.I doubt many have a market for the grapes.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

1. Should have moved out of this area after college and found a job in an area where a young man could buy a farm and get a start. A place where an ambitious hardworking man can make a decend little farm operation for himself.

2. After not doing #1. I shouldn't have put money and effort into Dad's land. Should have banked all my money and just worked a part time farm job for someone else to fulfill my farming desires...


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

I know nothing I have done was perfect (far from). But it set forth in motion me to where I am at now.

I (attempt) to celebrate my successes and learn from my failures.

I could be doing a lot better. I could be doing A LOT worse. All in all, happy with my path.

And when you least expect it, another fork will come with a decision which way to go. I am looking forward to meeting the next one.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

I am trying to think of my failures. I had too many. But as time goes by, I choose to look at them as lessons learned. A failure to me would be doing the same thing again, getting the same result, but expecting a different one.

Education is not cheap. You can pay someone else or teach yourself. Either way it is going to cost a lot of money. And time. And effort. If you aren't there paying attention to what the teacher is saying it is money tossed away.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

azmike said:


> One of my daughters came home from university with big ideas about wine and grapes, I took the bait in the interest of positive growth for my girl and the possibility of moderate success.
> 
> Didn't work out at all, unless you have a squad of extra helper monkeys grapes will consume WAY too much time/money.


Yeah, the wine and grapes thing didn't work out. Hopefully, you and your daughter got a lot of father / daughter time working on this project and she learned some lessons about starting up a business that will benefit her later in her life.

Sometimes, I think the best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to fail. You could have told her that getting into the wine making business was too risky, or that it was a stupid idea, or any number of reasons why she shouldn't do it. But you didn't. You allowed her to test the waters and gain some valuable experience.

I don't think that is a bad thing.

Besides. It sounds like Dad learned a couple of things as well.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

azmike said:


> I just picture the cash spent would have been better on a bunch of lovely heifers!
> 
> My daughter now works at the local branch of a major fertilizer/seed company and is in line for the managers job. All is well, just I told her to go to Safeway and get her wine in a box!


Mike, I can tell that the wine making business is not your "glass of wine".....I'm sure when you told her that she rolled her eyes, life is too short to drink cheap wine...quality wine comes in bottles with corks


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

somedevildawg said:


> Mike, I can tell that the wine making business is not your "glass of wine".....I'm sure when you told her that she rolled her eyes, life is too short to drink cheap wine...quality wine comes in bottles with corks


I thought wine came in a box with a little spout on it...


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

JMT said:


> Not buying land when prices were reasonable.
> 
> Although I have a suspicion that years from now I might be thinking the same thing about today's prices.


Amen Amen


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Many years ago I got good financial advice from a banker (lender) and accountant . BUT the worse thing I ever did was let them tell me how to farm . I was young and thought they had to be smarter than my dad .


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## Widairy (Jan 1, 2016)

For me the worst decision was working two jobs to be able to start small with farming and trying to bankroll the farm myself. I should have went and dove in head first with the banks money. With what land prices did over those 15 years and everything else as far as land rents and improvements done to rented land. I either would be better off or no longer farming.


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

Shoulda invested with my Dad and grew into a larger dairy. Shoulda bought more land. Shoulda stayed away from alcohol/tobacco. 
What I will do: 
spend time with my wife and kids
Add more beehives, my kids like having bees so its a family project.
Be more efficient to spend more time with family.
Be more involved in church/community. 
Work less (still pay the bills).
Stop living in the past, live today for tomorrow.


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## Waldo (Apr 29, 2016)

Ha haven't you guys realized we all sado masacest.worsted gamblers in the world eternal optermists .but hey not everyone could do this job.my trouble is the good ideas I have are getting harder to do the minds willing but the body not so much


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Never made any bad decisions---just choices. But, some choices where better than others and some were worse (sometimes a lot worse) than others. (Like, should I have one more beer?)

From what I have learned, the key to decisions is:

---to get as much information as possible,

---give your brain time to digest it,

---trust your gut feel about it,

---don't let ANYBODY push or rush you into another decision and,

---lastly, don't COMPROMISE your decision.

Then, if it doesn't work out the way you thought, change it! (That's the hard part!)

Ralph


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