# 1300 Acres - Alfalfa & Small Grain ~ Free or Bids?



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

1300 Acres of alfalfa and small grain have traditionally have been grown on this land, and still does. I'm not a farmer but I don't want the land to become a waste land of weeds and brush. My yearly taxes are $9k, and I was thinking about taking bids from famers who would like to farm the land. So what kind of bids should I take, and would it be enough to pay the taxes? Portion of the land I would like to take bids on and the other portion to be farmed by farmers who have equipment but can't afford the land use or water. Make sense? I have great water rights to boot!


----------



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

They is a few on this site from your neck, most will be glad to opin with regional knowledge......I know them water rights is a big deal. 
Welcome to haytalk Notafarmer......don't blame you for not wanting it to go feral


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

somedevildawg said:


> They is a few on this site from your neck, most will be glad to opin with regional knowledge......I know them water rights is a big deal.
> Welcome to haytalk Notafarmer......don't blame you for not wanting it to go feral


Land is in Moffat Colorado.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

NotAFarmer said:


> 1300 Acres of alfalfa and small grain have traditionally have been grown on this land, and still does. I'm not a farmer but I don't want the land to become a waste land of weeds and brush. My yearly taxes are $9k, and I was thinking about taking bids from famers who would like to farm the land. So what kind of bids should I take, and would it be enough to pay the taxes? Portion of the land I would like to take bids on and the other portion to be farmed by farmers who have equipment but can't afford the land use or water. Make sense? I have great water rights to boot!


where is this farm? Wheat Ridge? You own this? What have you been doing with it?


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

NotAFarmer said:


> Land is in Moffat Colorado.


sorry I was posting while you were saying where it is. That's big alfalfa country is t it? SAN Luis valley? I would think lease it out to the best steward of the land that would pay a reasonable rent. Does it have irrigation equipment like pivots? I would say it should cash rent for well north of $9000 a year. If the 1300 is all irrigated and there are farmers around it should cash rent for at least $125/acre. That's probably very low. Another edit. What do your water rights cost you a year? Are they irrigation well or ditch rights?


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

Teslan said:


> where is this farm? Wheat Ridge? You own this? What have you been doing with it?


The farm is outside of Moffat. This has been a very productive farm for alfalfa and small grains. I purchased last year and have a contract with pervious owner for him to work the land for five years, or until others can be found to farm the land. Which ever comes first. All farm equipment has been retained by previous owner. All sprinklers I keep, which have been checked out and are in great condition. And I have super great water rights that dateback to 1890's.


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

Teslan said:


> sorry I was posting while you were saying where it is. That's big alfalfa country is t it? SAN Luis valley? I would think lease it out to the best steward of the land that would pay a reasonable rent. Does it have irrigation equipment like pivots? I would say it should cash rent for well north of $9000 a year. If the 1300 is all irrigated and there are farmers around it should cash rent for at least $125/acre. That's probably very low. Another edit. What do your water rights cost you a year? Are they irrigation well or ditch rights?


I own 2800 continuous acres, 1400 of which is set up with irrigation. 1200 for alfalfa and grain, and 200 for soybean (used for green house fertilizers). The rest of the land has been used for feeder corn, wheat and winter rye. Water source comes from creeks, ditches and wells on the property.


----------



## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Free?I'm wondering why you even mentioned that?The previous owner wants to farm it?For free?Something sounds fishy.

Talk to some locals.Extenion Service here has avg rental prices pd for every county.

If you really want to find out what it's worth as rental ground put a ad in the paper for offers and your ph will be ringing of the wall,well I guess ph' aren't aren't on the wall anymore,lol.

On the other hand the highest bidder a lot of times isn't nessisarily your best option but a fair price to someone that takes care of the land is.

Believe me if word gets out you maybe looking for a renter in no time people will be contacting you with offers.Commodity prices are down from a few yrs ago so rents have gone down but there is always a high demand for rental ground.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I would say your best resource on getting someone else to farm it would be the former owner. But his motivation to help you find someone else depends on the contract you have with him to continue farming. If he is getting a great deal then he might not have as much of a motivation to find his replacement. Also to find someone that wants to take on 1400 acres at once might take some doing. Can different parts of that acreage be rented to different people? Like 160 here and 160 there? Cash rent here in Northern Colorado can be from $175 an acre to $250/acre depending on the property and what will be grown.


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Can't hardly rent anything here for less than $150/acre and that's not irrigated.


----------



## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

$150 per acre here is poor and non-irrigated. $200 to $350 catches most non irrigated row crop land. $300 to the moon for irrigation. Of course, the irrigation has watermelons, cantaloupes, seed corn, asparagus, or any other truck crop on it.


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

Guess I should start from the beginning...
My Uncle owned 1600 acres. He passed away and left it to me (the only family living). The farmer next to my uncles land was in debt with the banks. I came to the rescue by purchasing his 1200 acres for pennies on the dollar ($1.3 mil. It has a value of $3.8 mil.). I had the money from my inheritance for the purchase. I thought at the time it would be cool to own all this land without neighbors. Very nice indeed. Anyway the previous owner was allowed to retain his farming equipment as part of the cash deal I was able to make with the banks. In return the previous owner would continue working the land for five years or until others could be found to work the farm. All proceeds made from the crops he would retain. ( i have plenty $$$ myself). After living here for a year i really didn't want to see this turn into a wasteland. I figured if I leased part of the land then that money could pay for something like taxes. And the rest of the land could be farmed by any farmer who is struggling and needs FREE help (the kind of person I am). My water rights are super great and more than enough water to go around. Thats what Im told by many around here. I have no knowledge in this area. Like I said before I am not a farmer, I fell into this life...various ways water is pumped and used around here and I'm starting to figure something's out. But I'm really here to retire and enjoy life, and maybe help others out along the way. Think I got it all in here!


----------



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

NotAFarmer said:


> Guess I should start from the beginning...
> My Uncle owned 1600 acres. He passed away and left it to me (the only family living). The farmer next to my uncles land was in debt with the banks. I came to the rescue by purchasing his 1200 acres for pennies on the dollar ($1.3 mil. It has a value of $3.8 mil.). I had the money from my inheritance for the purchase. I thought at the time it would be cool to own all this land without neighbors. Very nice indeed. Anyway the previous owner was allowed to retain his farming equipment as part of the cash deal I was able to make with the banks. In return the previous owner would continue working the land for five years or until others could be found to work the farm. All proceeds made from the crops he would retain. ( i have plenty $$$ myself). After living here for a year i really didn't want to see this turn into a wasteland. I figured if I leased part of the land then that money could pay for something like taxes. And the rest of the land could be farmed by any farmer who is struggling and needs FREE help (the kind of person I am). My water rights are super great and more than enough water to go around. Thats what Im told by many around here. I have no knowledge in this area. Like I said before I am not a farmer, I fell into this life...various ways water is pumped and used around here and I'm starting to figure something's out. But I'm really here to retire and enjoy life, and maybe help others out along the way. Think I got it all in here!


I sure wished I lived in Colorado.....well, wheat ridge anyway  
Sounds like a great plan, best of luck


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

somedevildawg said:


> I sure wished I lived in Colorado.....well, wheat ridge anyway
> Sounds like a great plan, best of luck


I'm from Wheat Ridge (still have home there). But living outside of Moffat now.


----------



## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

At a bare minimum I would want to get irrigation and taxes out of it. 
Cash rent would be a great option and I would think that you would want to be relatively careful who you rent to. Stewardship of the land is paramount. 
You are obviously wanting to help someone out and that is great, but I don't know how you would find someone just starting out that could take on that much ground and manage it properly.


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

Lostin55 said:


> At a bare minimum I would want to get irrigation and taxes out of it.
> Cash rent would be a great option and I would think that you would want to be relatively careful who you rent to. Stewardship of the land is paramount.
> You are obviously wanting to help someone out and that is great, but I don't know how you would find someone just starting out that could take on that much ground and manage it properly.


 I will be careful. Good farming practices a must.


----------



## Farmerbrown2 (Sep 25, 2018)

I have a uncle who rents his farm out since he retired when he put it up for rent he did soil tests and does them every year himself . He has it in the lease that the guy farming it has to maintain soil fertility to the standard he kept the farm himself. He also has in the lease that farmer has to maintain water ways ,buffers and conservation practices . I think you are rite on to find the best farmer for the land and not the highest dollar up front and you will make out in the end . Also don't forget about hunting rights but offer them to the farmer first my dad always wanted hunting rights on land he rented.


----------



## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

NotAFarmer said:


> Guess I should start from the beginning...
> My Uncle owned 1600 acres. He passed away and left it to me (the only family living). The farmer next to my uncles land was in debt with the banks. I came to the rescue by purchasing his 1200 acres for pennies on the dollar ($1.3 mil. It has a value of $3.8 mil.). I had the money from my inheritance for the purchase. I thought at the time it would be cool to own all this land without neighbors. Very nice indeed. Anyway the previous owner was allowed to retain his farming equipment as part of the cash deal I was able to make with the banks. In return the previous owner would continue working the land for five years or until others could be found to work the farm. All proceeds made from the crops he would retain. ( i have plenty $$$ myself). After living here for a year i really didn't want to see this turn into a wasteland. I figured if I leased part of the land then that money could pay for something like taxes. And the rest of the land could be farmed by any farmer who is struggling and needs FREE help (the kind of person I am). My water rights are super great and more than enough water to go around. Thats what Im told by many around here. I have no knowledge in this area. Like I said before I am not a farmer, I fell into this life...various ways water is pumped and used around here and I'm starting to figure something's out. But I'm really here to retire and enjoy life, and maybe help others out along the way. Think I got it all in here!


Maybe help out a young farmer get a start. Need more young people farming and ranching, they're our future.


----------



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

IHCman said:


> Maybe help out a young farmer get a start. Need more young people farming and ranching, they're our future.


 That's a great idea. As a young farmer myself my biggest obstacle and hold back to being successful in this business is finding land that I can rent....very difficult.

I would make sure that whoever the land is rented to.....young or not....that they will take good care of the land and maintain fertility of the soil and not mine the soil of nutrients by taking crops off and never putting any nutrients back.


----------



## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

Not trying to tell another man how to run his business, or step on toes... Two different neighboring places have changed hands in the last several years. One guy had a small outfit do hay on shares. They caused some hate and discontent around the area that the land owner had to deal with. Several small farmers do hay in the area and had hay in the field at the same time. Several of my customers got flagged down and told that they were supposed to haul from this field, and pay them. Somebody else had a pitchfork stuck in his foot, thankfully nobody sued the land owner. The other neighbor bought a couple hundred acres and a tractor. He leased the ground to somebody doing hay that did most everything wrong. Broke down, work some one day, some another,etc. Long story short the first guy has his ground leased out to somebody making haylage that has cows and a good reputation. Second guy did some checking around and leased his ground to a grass seed farmer that takes real good care of the land. No more oil patches on the ground, broken bales left in the fields and spray jugs in the fence rows and ditches. You might want to talk with the local fertilizer/ ag chemical suppliers and the neighbors about who they would rent to. Might be a idea to lease to people with a good track record and if you feel like helping somebody else donate to a cause you care about. Oh, the second guy's tractor is now in my shed. 7 years old, 10 hours a year, a/c needed charged, front hub seals leaked, the air ride seat leaked down and the charging system had a broken wire, and he parted with it for 60% what he had in it.


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

IHCman said:


> Maybe help out a young farmer get a start. Need more young people farming and ranching, they're our future.


 I agree fully, but how do you encourage the young to go that way? The world has changed so much in the last 40 years. My son went to college to learn music, despite what we taught him about having a solid foundation to work from in life. Yet each person has to follow their own path in life no matter how we feel, or what have taught them.


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

farmerbrown said:


> I have a uncle who rents his farm out since he retired when he put it up for rent he did soil tests and does them every year himself . He has it in the lease that the guy farming it has to maintain soil fertility to the standard he kept the farm himself. He also has in the lease that farmer has to maintain water ways ,buffers and conservation practices . I think you are rite on to find the best farmer for the land and not the highest dollar up front and you will make out in the end . Also don't forget about hunting rights but offer them to the farmer first my dad always wanted hunting rights on land he rented.


 Sure glad I ran across this website. Some things here I had not thought of. As a small time gardener back in the city I have learned the importance of good gardening practices. 40 years later I have great soil that produces great veggies. I would hate to lose it. This site has given me a lot to chew on!


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

I have developed a good relationship with some of the rangers and farmers. They have already expressed concern over the land and future use. From what I have been hearing, is that people have been buying up plots of land to grow their marijuana on, and in the process they destroy and abandon the land. No respect for the land, water, wildlife, or for those who live here.


----------



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

NotAFarmer said:


> I have developed a good relationship with some of the rangers and farmers. They have already expressed concern over the land and future use. From what I have been hearing, is that people have been buying up plots of land to grow their marijuana on, and in the process they destroy and abandon the land. No respect for the land, water, wildlife, or for those who live here.


I would imagine the weed will grow in poor soils.....that's an even better payout for the producer, hard to believe we actually have people growing it legally here in the states


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I think to help out a younger farmer you would have to be willing to allow several younger guys to farm different parts of the 1300 acres. Being that most younger guys or even older guys aren't equiped to take on 1300 acres at once. We see time and time again on this website guys starting out thinking they can raise hay on 300 acres or more with one small baler a 9 foot mower and a 2 wheel rake. I might be exaggerating on the example, but it sometimes seems like it. The time spent irrigating this would probably almost require a couple employees depending on how the irrigation systems are set up.


----------



## NotAFarmer (Dec 3, 2016)

At this time the land that belonged to my uncle will not have anything done with it next year, and this concerns me. To much for an individual. And I'm unsure what my uncle did. My guess he had help. If I was to take and set up plots for young students, what would be a a reasonable size plot for them? 40 acres? From what I'm learning, my uncle had/has the irrigation in great working order and does probably need a couple people for setup (pumps and sprinklers). And the farm equipment appears to work fine.


----------



## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

NotAFarmer said:


> At this time the land that belonged to my uncle will not have anything done with it next year, and this concerns me. To much for an individual. And I'm unsure what my uncle did. My guess he had help. If I was to take and set up plots for young students, what would be a a reasonable size plot for them? 40 acres? From what I'm learning, my uncle had/has the irrigation in great working order and does probably need a couple people for setup (pumps and sprinklers). And the farm equipment appears to work fine.


By sprinklers, I hope you mean Center pivots?
The idea of helping students is a great one. My concern is the input costs required may be out of the reach of most students.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I would want "students" to meet some reasonable background qualifications. Otherwise you could get some wannabes that have no clue about anything ag and just thought it would be "really cool" to be involved with "the earth". In no time you will have a nice weed patch.....and you may have that anyway if some serious forethought does not go into what direction you are going very soon. I would talk with the folks at the NRCS office and feel out their thoughts. Get as much "local" information as you can on what the most profitable crops currently are grown in your area and what type of grass hays are currently profitable. The thing about grass hays is that they will help you in maintaining a long term ground cover.....alfalfa too to some degree, but require more management than grass. Grass is more forgiving.

Regards, Mike


----------



## dubltrubl (Jul 19, 2010)

No idea what's in your neck of the woods, but I would think an Ag school/University would be what I would want working my unused land. Might be able to work something out with them. In the process, you'd be "teaching" new to be farmers.

Regards,

Steve


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

dubltrubl said:


> No idea what's in your neck of the woods, but I would think an Ag school/University would be what I would want working my unused land. Might be able to work something out with them. In the process, you'd be "teaching" new to be farmers.
> Regards,
> Steve


He is quite a ways from the nearest ag school which is Colorado State University.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

NotAFarmer said:


> At this time the land that belonged to my uncle will not have anything done with it next year, and this concerns me. To much for an individual. And I'm unsure what my uncle did. My guess he had help. If I was to take and set up plots for young students, what would be a a reasonable size plot for them? 40 acres? From what I'm learning, my uncle had/has the irrigation in great working order and does probably need a couple people for setup (pumps and sprinklers). And the farm equipment appears to work fi


The kind of younger farmer I was thinking of wouldn't really be a student. But someone that already farms and just needs more land. I know little about the San Luis valley, but from what I've heard there are large farms there. Much like yours. And most contract hay and such to dairies in AZ or CA. I have had several hay customers from Buena Vista Colorado come to me to buy hay because there just isn't any for sale to the little guy in the San Luis Valley. So my point is that maybe there is a younger farmer wanting more land, but competes against the established farms and just needs a toe hold. I guess I shouldn't say younger, but beginning.

As for the size of plots. That would be based on what kind of irrigation it has. If the sprinklers you refer to are sprinkler pivots then each field each pivot covers would be a plot to rent out. Like for example if you have a pivot that covers 145 acres that would be the plot. 145 acres. It also depends on how your water sources feed the irrigation equipment. If you have one source to feed two or three different pivots then it might be better to lease out those two or three pivots together because if not at some point farmers are going to fight over water. If you have flood irrigation land and gated pipe irrigated land that land will not be as valuable to least out as pivot sprinkler land. Even if all the 1300 acres is under center pivot sprinkler that is still a lot of work to manage those. You can update them to be controlled by a smart phone or computer from a central place, but that's pretty big money to do that if they haven't been.

I think it's a blessing you've been given this opportunity to have this much land and the resources. But I don't envy the responsibility you now have to manage it and learn at the same time. Most people get to learn on 50 acres. You've been thrown into the fire. I think it's also great that you don't plan on just selling it for the most you can get and run. I'm sure you have had inquiries already. I don't know what I would do if I got given that much property and I like to think that I sort of know what I'm doing.

Who knows maybe someone here on haytalk wants to come out and try farming in Colorado.


----------



## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

Sure wish I didn't live on the other side of the state! I have just the opposite situation over here. We are land locked and zero opportunity unless it was in your family for generations. I have hay equipment and zero dedicated acres to operate and have had to diversify because of the situation. I would think that you could easily find a few younger producers and give them an opportunity.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

HALLSHAY said:


> Sure wish I didn't live on the other side of the state! I have just the opposite situation over here. We are land locked and zero opportunity unless it was in your family for generations. I have hay equipment and zero dedicated acres to operate and have had to diversify because of the situation. I would think that you could easily find a few younger producers and give them an opportunity.


i kinda suspect it's the same there, here, everywhere.


----------



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

To help out a young farmer I wasn't necessarily thinking of "student" or want to be farmers that aren't currently farming. I was thinking more of a farmer that already has an operation and equipment but is having trouble finding more land to expand on.....this would likely be a younger farmer but not necessarily. I would rather see the land go to someone like that than a mega farm which covers thousands of acres. The trouble with a student farmer is that it is very expensive to get started in farming with all the equipment purchases and a student or want to be farmer may not have the funds to purchase the equipment needed to actually farm and then there is the recurring cost of fertilize every year as well. Also you might consider splitting up the land and renting it to a couple different farmers. A smaller farmer that is trying to expand may not be able to take on quite as much as 1300 acres at once but might be able to handle half of that...... so you might be able to help out a couple smaller farmers than just one big time operator. Sure wish I lived near by......an oportunity like that is just what I need.


----------



## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

FarmerCline said:


> To help out a young farmer I wasn't necessarily thinking of "student" or want to be farmers that aren't currently farming. I was thinking more of a farmer that already has an operation and equipment but is having trouble finding more land to expand on.....this would likely be a younger farmer but not necessarily. I would rather see the land go to someone like that than a mega farm which covers thousands of acres. The trouble with a student farmer is that it is very expensive to get started in farming with all the equipment purchases and a student or want to be farmer may not have the funds to purchase the equipment needed to actually farm and then there is the recurring cost of fertilize every year as well. Also you might consider splitting up the land and renting it to a couple different farmers. A smaller farmer that is trying to expand may not be able to take on quite as much as 1300 acres at once but might be able to handle half of that...... so you might be able to help out a couple smaller farmers than just one big time operator. Sure wish I lived near by......an oportunity like that is just what I need.


A younger farmer just starting out could be working with his parents but just don't have enough land base to support another family.The parents would have some equipment and work with the son in exchange for some labor.The parents may co-sign a note for him to get credit at the bank for inputs.Or there is some young farmer programs threw FSA for operating notes.

You may want to talk with a FFA instructer and he would more then likely know of young guys wanting to start out but just can't find land.

An Ag lender would be another person you could talk to but quite often they would steer you to a friend of theirs or family member


----------



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

swmnhay said:


> A younger farmer just starting out could be working with his parents but just don't have enough land base to support another family.The parents would have some equipment and work with the son in exchange for some labor.The parents may co-sign a note for him to get credit at the bank for inputs.Or there is some young farmer programs threw FSA for operating notes.
> :


 That would be a good idea......never thought about that since my family wasn't involved in farming. I was just thinking how costly it would be for a student that's not currently involved in farming to get started from scratch.......I used my college fund to purchase the equipment to get started in farming.


----------



## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

I am thinking I might find a reason to move to CO haha!


----------



## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

slvr98svt said:


> I am thinking I might find a reason to move to CO haha!


Was thinking the same thing!


----------



## Circle MC Farms LLC (Jul 22, 2011)

I'm a young farmer from North Texas, tempted to move my operation to Colorado as well. What you're offering is unheard of here.


----------



## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

Go where to opportunity is. If you're landlocked now, doubtful you will be able to afford to outbid others in the future. I hope some of you have contacted the OP by now. Sounds like a there is enough land right there to make a go of it.


----------



## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

McDonald Family Farms said:


> I'm a young farmer from North Texas, tempted to move my operation to Colorado as well. What you're offering is unheard of here.


I'll load my wagon you load yours and let's head north.


----------



## Circle MC Farms LLC (Jul 22, 2011)

Lewis Ranch said:


> I'll load my wagon you load yours and let's head north.


I'm down man, I'd kill for that kind of opportunity around here beats the hell out of baling cow pastures for sure.


----------

