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| That thought of when to give it up is on my mind at times, too. My great-grandfather died relatively young of a heart attack while working with livestock, and grandpa drove tractors until he physically couldn't climb up the steps any more. Dad had a part time job managing the rural water district and continued to farm with me as long as he was able, but handed most of the management over to me in my 20's when I came back after a short stint away following college. Now my parents have passed and all the estates are settled with my siblings living out of state. My boys don't show much interest in taking over the farm, but they are still college age so that could change. My wife and I do 95% of the farm labor, with some help from the boys and their friends at cattle working/moving time. I'm 57, in good health, and generally love farming, but it is hard to get away much and I don't really want to keep going forever if the operation is not going to continue on. We own a large enough base to earn pretty good income if we just rented it out and would be much more able to travel or do other things.
At some point that time will come. I've got several farming neighbors in similar places in life if not a few years older. For now we just continue on, but for how long? Good question. | |
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Retirement
