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Friday, September 4, 2015

Let me tell you about modern farming/farmers/landlords, hint.. Craigslist hookers are probably more honest

So I have known this neighboring farmer for the past 20 plus years, perhaps 30 years. I have stacked his straw, his hay, loaned him my stacker, and had him practically beg me to farm his place for the past six or eight years.

I did not farm his place because a friend of mine was renting it. I told him I would farm it but not unless the guy who was farming it gave it to me.
This year my friend who was doing the farming had a lot of things go wrong and he asked me to farm it. At the same time the fellow who owns the farm contacted me to farm the place.
Of course I had no official contract...
The farm was planted to cereal rye which had not been fertilized. By the time I got it most of the rye was too high to fertilize so the yield was not that great. I ended up having to hire someone to combine it. I've already got the cleaning bill but haven't got paid for the rye.
The owner told me just before the rain he was in a hurry to get the straw off because he wanted to fill in a lowspot with dirt from his housing development and the city had to fix a blown out tile line.
So I got it all baled and hauled of before the rain.
My helper said he saw someone taking soil samples and the owner acted kind of funny but he kept talking about what I was going to plant this fall. He said he didn't see anyone taking soil samples.
Today my helper went by to see if the volunteer clover was growing and saw that someone had moved by baler tractor and disked the field.
So I called the owner and he doesn't answer.
Then I get this text that the big farmer that farms all his good ground has disked it and they may put in filberts on 30 acres. (I guess this implies that I get the remaining five...seriously) and he will call me this evening or tomorrow as he is in a meeting. I texted him back get him to tell me that I am not farming it and didn't get a reply.
Of course tomorrow I'll get some BS about how his family made him do it or the Big Farmer had an option or something that is a bunch of crap.
I called the landlord that owns the other 30 acres but I didn't get him. I suppose I'm screwed.
I really hate Big Farmers and the chickenpoop landowners that screw you for a few bucks but don't have the balls to tell you they are screwing you.
The thing is...
I didn't even really want to farm the place. I have to drive through town, it is in a housing subdivision and it is kind of crappy ground. I really expected to only have it for a year but he kept talking about a multi-year contract and about this coming fall.
And they didn't even have the balls to ask me to move my tractor, they moved it themselves.
I think I will send him a bill for the combining, the straw baling, and the trucking... That should hit around $10,000.
You see, I have no written contract and why shouldn't it go both ways...
I am so absolutely pissed you cannot possibly imagine...

14 comments:

  1. Uh, yes, I can imagine. Trusting a gentleman's agreement is a sure way to measure the scarcity of gentlemen.

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    Replies
    1. I really hate modern farming and farmers...

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    2. It wasn't really an agreement even. It was me saying I'd help him out and him saying repeatedly that I'd get the field for at least one more year. As in wchagonna plant this fall? And, I'll get the tile blowout fixed..

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  2. That is truly disgusting behaviour, and a little depressing. I have had pretty good luck with gentlemen's agreements (so far) but in some cases I have had to be "patient". By all means I'd submit a bill for any work you did on that piece of ground. Seems like the guy was just taking advantage of your good nature and needed the field cleaned up.

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    Replies
    1. Don't worry it is coming to your neighborhood as well. Wait for the clever young farmers to take over. Of course if you don't have rental ground you might not notice as fast...

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    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, posting your spam here will really get you some business! Everyone here has a friend that works from home and makes millions per day...

      Delete
    2. The same ad spammer stopped by my blog. Ads are spoiling the internet.

      Delete
  4. I've been trying to collect rent and retrieve my field from a neighboring farmer for a while. He also drives truck and each time I call re rent he says he's crossing the Continental Divide. I think I'll just go take a couple of his Black Angus. One of my neighbors says he's done this for thirty years.

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  5. Some of the stories I hear coming from your neighborhood really make me shudder, as I know it is moving south. Hate to wish ill on people, but would really get a kick out of seeing auction announcements of some of the really agressive guys when they stretch just a little too far.

    Wish I would have thought of posting ads on my comments on here! Think of all the annual ryegrass I could have sold by now......

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    Replies
    1. Well, I'm a harsh critic. I deleted poor Shiya's advertisment.

      Delete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. It's a sad story. The history of farming is much respected, and growing food is so important. However we have moved so far away from the small, responsible farmer. It's depressing to think of our food being produced on mega-farms. Hopefully we can move back to the days when farming was appreciated, and farmers were people of high character.

    Heidi Sutton @ Ag Source Magazine

    ReplyDelete

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