Farm Choice A Corny Problem

An investment banker yearning for a more relaxed atmosphere than the bustling and densely populated cities of New York and Hong Kong might very well be advised to move to the country, especially with the handsome sum of $800,000 at her disposal (and $800,000 has much greater purchasing power in the American Midwest than in either of these cities, too). Whether or not it is actually advisable to spend all of that money on the purchase of eight cares of farmland in order to pursue brand new career as a corn farmer, a field (literally) in which she has no experience or education, with the idea of becoming rich from the ethanol boom, is a different question altogether. The advice of colleagues is encouraging, citing many reasons why this is an immensely profitable and otherwise enjoyable decision, yet as the following...

Though the demand for corn is expected to increase with the new government-mandated increase in ethanol production and use, there is no guarantee that this new venture will even be able to bring anything to market for the first year or tow of operation, or that the market demand will actually be enough to make whatever can be produced truly worthwhile in terms of profitability. Various fixed (equipment, property taxes) and variable (labor, water) costs will be significant, and eighty acres…