Hamish Macbeth wrote in message
...

"Jim Webster" wrote in message
...

we would basically take the capital as the money we would get if we
cashed everything in. Value of house, land, livestock, machinery,
quota,
feed and fertiliser in hand.



Fair enough, but I think you need to add to the cash return of the
bussiness
the lifestyle value of living on a farm.

what cash value to you place on being on call 24hrs a day, living within
200yds of a slurry pit and silage pit.


Also care has to be made not to double count the investment return.

If you had bought your farm on a loan and a capitol deposit then
repaid the
loan out of the business returns then
you either have to compare the return on capitol on the original
deposit or
count the growth in value and the loan paid off as part of the return
on
capitol.

Also from the lifestyle aspects. Possibly not so significant in
cumbria, but
what would it cost to rent a property like your farmhouse if it was
freestanding and not part of farm?

Actually all you have to do is look at the council tax band which does
contain an element of deduction for being part of a farm, but this is
often not enough to drop it a band.


If you start comparing different jobs I think you need to standback
and look
at the lifestyle that an activity supports rather than a single metric
such
as income as defined by the inland revenue.

which part of the life style to you crave. Working outdoors whatever the
weather, the 24 hrs on call, no weekends off, no paid holidays, no sick
leave. No street lighting, roads poorly maintained, poor electricity
supply, poor telephone connection, the fact that if you want to go
anywhere at all there is no viable public transport and you have to have
a car.


--
Jim Webster

"The pasture of stupidity is unwholesome to mankind"

'Abd-ar-Rahman b. Muhammad b. Khaldun al-Hadrami'