This post is conjecture without facts. There are facts. Three million people live in Iowa. 325 million live in the USA. For Iowa to be noteworthy it would need (3/325 x 7.1) 72,000 millionaires to be better than average. It has 71,000, putting it squarely in the middle. Statistically, there are millionaires in Iowa. There are not millionaires in Iowa because they've cracked the code or some shit. They’d go to farms, charge some nominal fee (like $2.50 per sheep), and then keep all the wool. Why? Because wool is worth about $2 – $4 per pound, and the average sheep carries 20 – 40 pounds of wool. So you’re gaining $40 – $160 in goods for 10 minutes worth of work. Both those guys became multi-millionaires before age 40. "Shearing sheep and giving away the wool" is an aphorism from my childhood. It was used to describe a poor business decision. No, it grosses $2343.90. What do you think your insurance costs on something like that? I'll bet it's non-zero. Simply googling controlled burn cost per acre Iowa blows this out of the water. I'm sure people in Iowa make money by spending less than they earn.Years ago I met two brothers who started a sheep shearing business while in high school.
Not the most prestigious job (it’s hot, uncomfortable, and you have to wear a mask), but Google tells me you earn an average of $78.13 per acre burned. So burning 30 acres a day nets $2,343.90.
Wait wait, California for sure doesn’t have 325 million people... 32.5 mil? Brb Back. 39 million. Plus the three million that voted against Trump, of course (sarchasm). Edit: yeah, your point still stands.
Well, my friend - known as Cornfed, to all of us - owns land in Iowa and rents it to farmers. Then he spends the growing season living in a trailer that he tows around to his different properties, keeping an eye on the farmers, and making sure they don't fuck it up. (Distance between the plants is correct, watering is correct for conditions, harvesting happens on schedule, etc...) He used to be a pro wrestler. Then took over his dad's farm property, and - while I don't have exact numbers - he's clearing close to a million dollars a year. His farmers? Notsomuch.