Story help

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LatexHood
Chair Bound
Posts: 84
Joined: 11 Sep 2011, 17:07
Location: Manchester

RE: Story help

Unread post by LatexHood »

People often say that everyone has a book in them.I have an idea for a book.
It's not necessarily primarily a 'Kink' book. But there are elements of 'kink' used with in the idea.
Without going into too much detail, I'm looking for resources where I might be able to get information.
Information I need are as follows: Farms.How much a small/medium sized ( family ) farm might turn over ££'s wise a year.?
Do Farmers often mix agreculture with livestock on the one farm site?
How many hands/workers might an above farm employ?
What sort of acreage consists a small/medium sized farm? Money.How could an accountant steal a large sum of money from a business?How much does a business accountant charge a year? There will probably be other related questions too as I get more into the book, but I need this information to start with to make the book believable and based on 'some' fact. I'd normaly not ask questions like these and just use Google. But I'm either not looking in the right places or asking the wrong questions. Any help would be appreciated. J.

Trystl
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Posts: 8
Joined: 24 Jan 2013, 18:44

Re: RE: Story help

Unread post by Trystl »

Fist, there aren't all that many small farms any more--as farming tends to be a difficult and competitive business, last I heard.

Probably 35 or 40 years ago, I lived on a farm--although it wasn't a producing farm. We had about 20 acres, but only grew crops on about one or two. We also had cows that we milked (and butchered) and chickens that we got eggs from. We even had some goats and some bees. My father worked in the city, and made good money so this was only a life-style choice.

Other people I knew also did farming on the side--some much more extensively than what we did--but most had other forms of income in addition to the farming. Other people owned land and 'rented it out' to people who had the equipment and did the work... then they split the profits, although I'm not sure what the divide was. My guess is that if 20 acres were under cultivation, that would be considered a pretty small farm for almost any crop (except maybe tobacco). A medium sized "family farm" is probably closer to 100 acres or more.

One thing to keep in mind is that there's a lot of leeway in "what farms do". A lot of this will also depend where the farm is, as I'm pretty sure different areas have different standards for what is typical. In addition, the type of crop being grown can make a big difference too. A tobacco farmer may need considerably less land than a corn farmer, in order to make a profit--although, you can't plant tobacco every year or you'll exhaust the land. So farmers generally rotate a nubmer of different crops or leave some of the land fallow, (i.e. no crop). If tobacco is your main crop, the other crops that are rotated in and out are probably not a main source of income--or the farm is very large but only a small portion is put into tobacco. Also, certain crops complement each other as alternate year plantings, since they deplete (and replenish) different nutrients.

My point is, this is a fairly complex topic. People go to college for years to learn about this stuff. So I'd say don't worr about being too fanatical about "getting it right". Without actually knowing the story-line, my guess is that you don't want to get too deeply into the logistical aspects of running a farm anyway--as that stuff is likely to be a bit boring to the average reader. I'd suggest that instead you convey this information in a way that leaves it a little vague. For example, you may bring up what is happening in 2nd hand conversations--with people who aren't the accountant types. This will let you discuss what is happening, without ODing on the obscure details.

That being said, I suspect that most smaller farms incorporate both livestock and crops--espeically if they are in colder climates where the crops can't grow all year long. Although it is likely that one or the other is a minor side, used almost as much family's own use as for sell to others.

Keep in mind that farming can be a tough business--particularly for smaller farms who have no other source of income. That's why so many have gone bankrupt. They keep getting loans but they're rarely more than one or two bad years away from disaster. The bigger farms can buy bigger and better equipment, hire more part-time helpers for the busy season--so they're not paying workers for the cropless winters, and so forth. My guess, (and it is a guess) is that farms like this may well run to 1,000 acres or more.

In addition, there's a big difference between a farm in Ohio and a farm in California's crop capital of the world. The California farmer will grow bigger and better crops and can demand a lot more money. And they can grow all year round. They do, however, have to worry about the government comming along and turning off their water because a microscopic fish might go extinct. lol

In fact, instead of having the accountant steal the land, it might be easier and more believable to have the government steal the land--or at least be responsible for putting the farmer out of business. With all the regulations and EPA harrassments that go on constantly this would not be all that difficult to work out. For example, the EPA DID shut of the water to the California farmers and many HAVE gone out of business... despite the fact that they used to produce a ridiculously high percentage of the world's produce... this is one of the big reasons why food prices have gone up so much in recent years.

In another instance, the EPA knowingly tried to convict over a "water line" that caught on fire... despite knowing that the line wasn't a water line at all. Right now, the level of corruption in the EPA is so high that you could have them do just about any vile and dispicable (and unscientific) thing and it would be believable. After all, they've already deemed CO2 (i.e. plant food) to be a pollutant. You can't get much more "off-your-rocker" than that.
LatexHood wrote:How many hands/workers might an above farm employ?
Again, this depends on the crop and so forth. Most small farms were originally run by a single family--but that's (in part) why they failed. A typical, successful "family" farm (in a winter climate) would probably need to hire a few workers during spring and fall, because they have only a weeks to a few months to get a very large portion of the years work done. lol. This, however, is complicated by the fact that in these climates there are rainy spells when it's too wet to get out into the fields... or droughts... Again, this is why farming is so hard to make your sole income--so you could also just have some sort of natural calamity be the source of loosing the farm.

If you HAVE to have the banker/accountant be the one who steals the land, you could easily make it a less nefarious sort of thing, where the accountanat is simply taking advantage of the farmers misfortune. That way, you wouldn't have to figure out the legal "trick" used by the banker. He simply made a loan and now he's forclosing because the farmer can't pay. Farm equipment can be very expensive. A small/cheap tractor is proably pretty comparable to a normal car. New for new ($30-50,000); used for used ($5-20,00)--again that's just a guess. However, one of those larger combine-lime peices of equipment is probably closer to the cost of a semi-truck, so closer to $75-150,000 or so; A small farm will probably only have one (or maybe two--espeically if they're used, because one might break down) small tractors, but they'll also need several different types of attachments, each one costing another few thousand. And don't forget the cost of seed. Some farmers can produce their own seed from the previous years crops, but this is far less common than it once was. For one thing, that requires some of the crop to go fully to seed, etc. And for another, many of today's crops are sterile--meaning they can't produce viable seed. So you have to buy the seed every year, even if you want to produce your own.
LatexHood wrote: How much does a business accountant charge a year? How could an accountant steal a large sum of money from a business?
Again, this will depend on the size and type of the business and how small the farm is. I suspect a lot of small farmers--if that's all they do--are likely to do their own taxes. For instance, the wife might do that, while the husband works the fields.

Also, keep in mind that (in America) many farmers are paid to let their fields lay vacant. Often, the farmers will actually make more money from that than they do from planting--which is why they're willing not to plant. So one way the accountant could steal the farm is to mess up the paperwork on the fallow fields, so that the farmer doesn't get paid for those acres for some reason. Another strategy might be to find a way to have the farmer's land declared as a WET LAND, which could prevent the farmer from farming it (although that's really more EPA). Identity fraud is another option--although, again, he'd probably need to work with a 3rd party to avoid being caught and sent to jail. Another option would be to have him suggest a loan from an unscrupulous banker friend at an unusually high interest rate--although that might be hard to pull off, since I suspect most farmers who aren't already bankrupt are pretty familiar with the RED TAPE of getting a loan. lol.

I have no idea how much an accountant would charge... but you might try calling your local IRS for the answer (or pick an accountant out of the phone book and call them). But again, so much depends on the specifics that I suspect they'll find it hard to give you a good answer--even as a rough estimate.

So again, I'd recommend keeping all the specific very vague, and painting whatever strategy you decide on (and the associated dollar amounts) in very broad brush strokes. For instance: [Farmer jones needed that new tractor, but that would cost a lot of money. Far more than he had in the bank; more than he though the bank would even be willing to loan him, after last year's failed crops.] You know what his problem is, but you don't know anything specific about the details of those problems.

Trystl
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Posts: 8
Joined: 24 Jan 2013, 18:44

Re: RE: Story help

Unread post by Trystl »

LatexHood wrote:How could an accountant steal a large sum of money from a business?
Another way I think I might have missed... is for the accountant to misrepresent the business' taxes to the IRS. Then (especially if the accountant has an accomplice at the IRS) the IRS may very well freeze the person's assetts, including their bank account and their ability to get a loan. This would leave them without ANY significant cash flow, which could make eating difficult, and get them behind in mortgage, etc.

The accountant could then offer to buy the business at a sharply discounted price--in exchange for CASH to live on.

Also, without ready cash, the farmer would not be able to plant a crop, so even when their funds were unfrozen they would find it very difficult to to catch back up.

Another strategy would be to have the farmer get behind in their taxes... and the accountant gets the farm by paying the taxes.

Another strategy--probably better for a somewhat larger farm, because it would have to be large enough to be on the stock market (although it could possibly be penny stocks)--would be for the accountant to buy up a majority of the stocks... i.e. a "hostile takeover"...

LatexHood
Chair Bound
Posts: 84
Joined: 11 Sep 2011, 17:07
Location: Manchester

Re: Story help

Unread post by LatexHood »

I just wanted to say a big thank you for all of that.
It did not fall on dead ears, believe me.

I will write a better response when I an back on a computer.

J.

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