sounds like a wish list to me, maybe he's visited a farm machinery dealer!

nothing wrong with a wish list as long as you don't take yourself seriously & go broke...

If you have a Landrover, you don't need a 2nd car, & if you have a "tipping trailer", why would you need a "trailer"?

& if a horse box is the same as a horse trailer, I my own self would use the horse box as the only trailer:
unless there's a health or strength problem, you can get by without a tipping trailer, especially on 20 acres.
I've seen people use horse trailers for everything, including moving their children's furniture into dorms.

The only time I see combines & balers here is during harvest, & they're operated by people who contract with many farmers to do their harvests.

Lots of people have tractors, & the plows & harrows are attachments that hook on the back of the tractor.

I'd say:
Stay calm.
Don't shriek.
Discuss in a reasonable, logical, fiscally responsible manner.
Don't act like you find the list alarming-he may have slept on it & realized that he was fantasizing, & confronting him on it would embarrass him & put him in the position of having to defend himself.

Buy your stuff *second-hand*.

*Nobody* buys it new...unless they've been farming for generations & they have money in the bank that they *know* they'll never need.

Hide the checkbook.

Best luck:
I bet you'll love living on a big parcel of land.

...that you might also post on the Farm Life Forum & maybe the Permaculture Forum.

Hi Boristfrog,

Before I'd buy machinery, I'd buy books or do considerable reading on the web. How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons is where I had the opportunity to begin, and I recommend that particular path.

http://www.growbiointensive.org/

http://www.bountifulgardens.org/products.asp?dept=113

http://www.growbiointensive.org/publications_main.html

http://www.growbiointensive.org/grow_test.html

Terran

A combine would be needed for harvesting wheat, soybeans, corn. For hay, you would need a large mower that cuts it, a rake and tetter to roll it over to dry and then a baler to bale it. A combine is not needed for hay if planting alfalfa. hth:)
Heather