Sue, thanks for your info
I do not believe there is such a thing as a "professional sharefarmer"
The life of many sharefarmers is hindered by the fact that they live in
someone elses house, on someone elses land milking someone elses cows and
get very little renumeration or recognition for their work
The way many of them are treated and the conditions they are expected to
live & work in are deplorable, and that is why I believe sharefarming is a
very long way from being a profession.
Many farm owners look at what % the S/F get and think it is a good living,
but if 2 labour units are required $30,000 each is not so special.
We have considered all the options you have suggested and leasing is the
preferred, but is near impossible to find.
Sharefarming is just like renting a house and I'm afraid I.ve never thought
of that as moving forward.
As sharefarmers and lessees you are very restricted in what you can do, you
cant do house renovations, gardening, childrens changing needs as you will
leave it all behind at your own expense.
We may be old fashioned but we want our own piece of dirt to do what we like
with, even in very good S/F situations the farm owner has the upper hand.
To those who said the banks are doing us a favor, they may be right. We know
it will be tough, but if everyone had the sit back & let someone else do it
attitude then there would be little progress.
The most frustrating thing for us is that the amount of money we are looking
at borrowing means we will be repaying about $500 per month more than what
we are currently paying and have been paying for the past 5 years!
The other frustration is that if we had the money/equity/security but no
skills, experience, training we would still be able to get a loan even
though we would'nt know one end of a cow from the other.( We know of
situations such as this)
All the banks tell us that our experience and production are excellent and
that our presentation is very impressive and they tell us we are very close
to meeting the criteria, but none of them will stick their neck out for us
although we are really taking the risk, not them as they will get the shirt
from our backs if we default.
We are still trying but time is against us and there is a world beyond
dairyfarming, we've been there and its not too bad!
Regards, Sonya Hanratty
-----Original Message-----
From: Sue McGorlick <suemcg@cnl.com.au>
To: Sonya Hanratty <hangsj@nex.net.au>
Date: Sunday, 28 March 1999 10:39
Subject: More on farm purchase
>Sonya,
> I have talked to several people about your situation (no names of
>course) and have several reactions that I thought you may be interested
>in.
> The first group of established farmers said "the banks are doing
>them a favour" They felt that you would be in too deep. Mind you, they
>have forgotten how they acquired their own farms I believe.
> The next ones (mainly large herd owners who employ lots of people)
>said "why do they want to go into so much debt, why not become
>professional sharefarmers. There is such a shortage of good
>sharefarmers. That is the single most pressing problem for large herd
>owners. They could make a very good income, invest it off farm to grow,
>then review things later" Some in that group suggested leasing as a more
>attractive proposition as then the management is totally up to you.
> The third group sounded more like me - "keep looking for finance,
>perhaps vendor finance - if you really want to buy your own farm you
>will find a way".
>
> If leasing or professional sharefarming sounds a possibility, then
>maybe you need to investigate other avenues than advertising. Networks
>can work well here. There is a discussion group in the north of large
>herd owners - many will be at the large herds conference - could you try
>there? You could try the factories, the UDV, even just contact large
>progressive farmers who may know others who are looking.
>
> I hope this gives you some food for thought.
> Cheers
> Sue McG (Vic)
>
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