Farmers || Future

Craig Bolte
  • Male
  • Columbus, IN
  • United States
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Craig Bolte

A Little About Me

I'm a 29 year old part time farmer from Southern Indiana (the Columbus/Seymour Area). I'm a 5th Generation Farmer, and have built my entire operation from scratch - which I'm very proud of. I started out with a Farmall M and a 4 row planter on some ground I bought right out of college, and have grown from there.

While I may never be able to farm full time, I'm building towards it someday. In the meantime, I'm a Senior Systems Engineer with Raytheon Technical Services.

Oh and if you've heard of John Mellencamp - he's from my hometown. I farm next to some of his distant relatives, and the song "Smalltown" really is about my hometown.

If you want sound financial advice on Small time farming, and starting from scratch - I can give it to you. :)

Latest Activity

Craig Bolte replied to bill reinhardt's discussion How dry is it were u r
"Southern Indiana - patchy rains here and there - but at my home place, we have gotten 0.8 " of rain since May 16th.  We were very dry before then.  I haven't mowed my grass since May 17th. The corn is dead.  It doesn't…"
Aug 3, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to James Kelly's discussion planting soybeans with planter end up a mess.
"Same here - we target 1 inch deep for beans.  remember - the root of the bean must push the whole bean out of the ground to get started......  I have a similar setup to yours James.  Mine is a 12 row 7000 with a 11 row 7100…"
Jun 7, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Jeff Caldwell's discussion "Toughest farmer" competition
"  I'd clean house at the finance and balance sheet competition......   The feats of phyisical strength (or in my case lack there of) would kill my overall score though.  :)"
Apr 5, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Ross Collins's discussion Is Part-Time Farming an Option???
"  If you want to farm - I suggest going to school and getting a "good" job.  This may or may not be in ag.  The reason for that last sentence is this - consider when your busiest times will be at work if you work in the ag…"
Mar 30, 2012
Craig Bolte commented on Josh Schwartz's blog post how do I pick up rental ground without stepping on toes?
"I agree with K2 on the sealed bid idea though for rental ground.  everyone gets a shot, and its not the "heat of the moment" that will drive up prices...... "
Feb 27, 2012
Craig Bolte commented on Josh Schwartz's blog post how do I pick up rental ground without stepping on toes?
"Buying land - if you are correctly scaled and have your finances in order - always works.   You are then in complete control, and you don't have to worry about anyone attempting to rent it out from under you.   Your best long term…"
Feb 27, 2012
Craig Bolte commented on Josh Schwartz's blog post how do I pick up rental ground without stepping on toes?
"  I've seen people tell stories of taking out an ad in a local paper and saying young begining farmer ....  etc....   I ran into the same problems - as we have a lot of what I call BTR's in my area (Big Time Renters). …"
Feb 24, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Jeff Caldwell's discussion Will the 'Boom' be busting soon?
"I'm going to have to side with Morgan here.  I don't see it either.  There may/will be a correction - but I don't see a bust.  Things like Crop insurance, locked interest rates on farm loans, and less leveraging by…"
Feb 22, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Jeff Caldwell's discussion Land rent auctions
"  So I did a quick figure last night.....  a $500/acre cash rent is the equivalent of paying a loan (current 15 yr fixed interest rate at Farm Credit Services of Mid America of 4.15%) of $500 per acre on $5,583.33/acre…"
Feb 10, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Jeff Caldwell's discussion Land rent auctions
"  So first thing - let me be clear.  I HATE renting ground.  I refuse to do it for the most part - because renting ground is too much like "the real world." -  When I say real world, I mean the exact thing that is…"
Feb 9, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Ross Collins's discussion Worth Buying More Iowa Farm Ground??
"Dan, I agree - and one other point I wanted to make (but didn't because I got kicked off mid-way through the post, and forgot to re-add it) was that I also have a good job in town, because I went to college, and worked my tail…"
Jan 13, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Ross Collins's discussion Worth Buying More Iowa Farm Ground??
"  I'll give you the phrase I use:   You only regret the land you do not buy.    As someone who has bought land in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, and Now 2012 (signed the purchase agreement yesterday night) I speak…"
Jan 11, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Kevin Myers's discussion Life Insurance
"Look at it like farm ground is the best thing I can tell you.    Term is like renting ground.  It works for now, its cheaper, you get coverage out of it.  In the future, it will go up in what it costs you each year, and…"
Jan 5, 2012
Craig Bolte replied to Brett Krebs's discussion Anyone interested in beta testing a new web-based farm management system?
"I'll help ya out there if you want.  Please let me know.   Thanks! Craig"
Jan 5, 2012
Craig Bolte commented on Tony Eickman's blog post land prices Ugh!
"Doesn't surprise me any.  Prices are going to go up.  Any time crop price goes up 50% ($6 corn vs $4 corn) the land prices are going to follow.  Its just the way it is.  The way I see it is this - if we think we have…"
Nov 7, 2011
Craig Bolte replied to Scott Strand's discussion How would you describe your corn and soybean crop this year?
"Here in south central indiana things are looking pretty bleak. The early corn is tasseling and rolled up tight at the same time. Its been too hot for too long. Beans quit growing, and late corn is rolled up about knee to waste high. Some sand corn…"
Jul 28, 2011

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At 8:05am on August 24, 2010, John Walter said…
Craig: Thanks for the harvest report. I've included it in the Agriculture.com section, Crop Tech Tour. Good luck with harvest down your way, once you get rolling, -- John Walter, Agriculture.com
 
 
 

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