Where the Farmers Meet

Winter is in the air. It bites at your nose, waters your eyes and paints your cheeks red after just a few moments outside. For many farmers, winter is a time to stay in – in the shop and work on equipment, in the sheds taking care of livestock or in the office catching up on paperwork. But, cold weather also allows farmers to slow down, a little, and gather to catch up on the latest neighborhood news.

This morning’s land auction was the perfect place to come in out of the cold. The crowd poured into the fairgrounds main exhibit building clasping hands and slapping each other on the back in greeting. They stomped their boots to shake off the chill – dusty, dull brown boots, some still layered with the remains of morning chores. They were old, young and in between. Neighbors, family and friends. They represented the smallest and largest farms in the county.

The crowd wore Carhartts or hooded sweatshirts, caps advertising seed corn, implement dealers, or local businesses. They were farmers, bankers, crop insurance specialists, lenders, lawyers, and farm managers and had all come to see who would buy and for how much.

A few farm wives attended, and one young boy. He couldn’t have been more than three or four and sat quietly with his dad for the duration. He is another generation in training.

Conversations moved from harvest recaps to the next scheduled land auction, to the upcoming farm shows and who bought what equipment, seed, land, buildings, etc. But when the sale began the room went silent.

The land for sale equaled approximately 236 acres of flat as a pancake loamy soil out in what we call the swamp. While more than 100 people attended the sale, only four participated in bidding. Most of the crowd stayed in the back of the room, sipping on coffee, munching on donuts and straining to see who was bidding.

And then, “SOLD” for $14,000.00 an acre. I joined in the collective exhale as the auction closed. At least it didn’t go for more. My Farmer thinks that might be the new high for our county.

Now that the sale closed, the speculation began. Who bought it? Who would the investor rent to? The auctioneer had stated the purchaser had rights to complete fall tillage and could enter the property as soon as the initial paperwork was signed.

I think some farmers walked back into the cold and decided to go for lunch and then for a drive.

Read more 30 Day blogs starting with My Generation. And follow more of my 30 Days of the Not So Glamorous Life of this Farm Wife: