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Farmington IL | I think its a combination of things here. I bet the average farmer in the county is in excess of 60 maybe more. These guys are seeing an opportunity to liquidate their cow herds at record prices and reduce their work load and that will let them farm another decade or so without so many headaches. They will turn some of this land into rowcrops, make some into a cash hay crop since they have the equipment and there are less acres of pasture. Some pasture land has been bought up in the last decade and is soley used for recreation now and it brings a premium when it sells. There is pasture with no fence that is just sitting idle as well.
There are very few young people returning to farm. Not alot of middle aged guys looking to take over a operation and add cattle to their workload when they are pretty well established. Can you blame a guy for wanting to make a living and have a life instead of chasing cows all the time? Maybe lazy or maybe they just have different priorities I dont know. I enjoy raising cattle myself but I dont have any free time because of the cattle.
Just read this week that the cow herd in Illinois is down almost 10% from last year. It will continue to drop because of all the above reasons. | |
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Young Cattlemen
