Jared,

Thanks for furthering my point.

Unfortunately the American Dream is only held by a few now days. Far to many are looking for subsidies which is corporate welfare; which is paid by taxation and the accumulation of National Debt.

The question was one of fiscal responsibility. I have seen countless farms go under due to imprudent borrowing. They went to a loan officer that looked at the numbers of the past and mistakenly thought that those numbers can be replicated in the future. Unfortunately that is not necessarily the case...weather patterns cycle, economies cycle, customers cycle, etc.

If this were not the case every producer of the past would have kept on producing, with the business either being passed on to a heir or bought by a neighbor or investor.

Example...Did you know that Southestern Vt was the birth place of the cotton gin? So with thousands of acres of cotton in the area why is it that there is no cotton grown here any more? Where many of the sugar bushes of Vt and my area of NY were fields of cotton and pastures for sheep. Our old hay barn was originally built for a sheep barn in the late 1700's, Converted to Dairy in the mid 1800's and my grand father stopped milk cows in 1969. When the beef cycle of the farm started.

Gospel is a great word...one's beliefs but another's fiction. I for one believe in God and the Bible is Gospel; but I can see how a Creationist that looks at strictly the science and the formation of the earth in 6 days....

IMO...In My Opinion...I am of Scottish descent, maybe that is why I want to retain the money that another would have made by investing in me and retain as much of future profits as possible too
.
In know way am I impugning the use of loans for all cases. I borrow money from banks all the time for investment in our operation. Rarely do I by new but that is due to my mechanical abilities and what I have been taught and have learned over my life. I get a great deal of satisfaction from building equipment and repurposing equipment. This is an art in many peoples eyes and a great investment in the future of farming...which in itself is based in art.

Short Story: My future daughter in law had the opportunity to buy a car for college. She went and bought a new car. She could not understand why I was not pleased with the decision. My son had his $2500 Ranger that was bought with cash. She has a $750 monthly payment and large insurance bill, on a vehical that sits 6 days a week or more. This semester she didn't drive it until last weekend. Yes hers is 4wd and is very nice but it is a poor investment IMO. After 2 years she finally said:" ya know what I learned today...I should have got a used 4wd like you said and I would have over $35K toward my equipment I will need after I graduate." Lesson well learned; but at an awful cost.

Trust me I know risk, by age 19 I had bought a Ford F350 diesel, a 30' flatbed, and a 24' Aluminum Stock trailer and was hauling Horses, cows and hay all over the east coast. I started this in 1983 and still have those trailers and use them all the time. T.hey were all great investments and made me plenty of $$$. The Day after I graduated High School is was hauling horses to Maine.

So yes I get the American Dream and so far it is working for me...but I hate to see people Dream to big and lose their shirt off their back; because they Failed to Plan.

Ben