The Time Has Come

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I've always heard that you should not make life changing decisions when you're in a life changing situation. Get Mr Gilmore to feeling better, then make the decision to cut a third out. I pray he mends quickly.
 
Gizmom,
We're reaching the same point but none of our kids have an interest in the cattle, and the closest are 3 hrs away.
We're well on our way to cutting cow numbers from 80 to 40...sold off half the Fall-calving herd this spring, didn't keep anything bred to calve in fall, and will sell some good bred cows this fall just to get numbers down some more.
Strongly considering liquidating the whole herd.
Been breeding this group of cows for 30+ years, built the herd up from a small handful of purchased cows...hate to see 'em go, but at some point it's gonna be necessary.
 
It is difficult we have loaded out about 30 in the past couple weeks. Two old pathfinders that I have to confess got me teared up when they went on the trailer. A young guy we helped as a youngster now married with three boys is who got them. We gave the twin boys a heifer when they were born. He will probably only get one calf out of the 409 cow maybe two but she is a never miss kind of cow that will help him get a good foundation to his herd. The other cow also a Pathfinder same kinda deal a never miss no matter how she is bred so should help him get a good start. We're trading out welding work for the two cows so he isn't out cash and we get some help finishing the bull working facility. The others have goes to several different breeders. It sure hurts.

Gizmom
 
I not only feel your pain, but probably hurt more. My 85 year old mother has decided to ignore my fathers dying wishes and sell off the entire 525+ acre farm that I have been either living on or managing since I was 4 years old. Decided she wants to buy a big house in the NWA area and have basically a maid take care of everything. Both my brother and I have been told since we were little that the farm would be ours, regardless if we worked it or not. Well, I decided to stay close to home and run the operation while holding down a full time job. As an engineer, I could have gone several places and made far more money, but decided I wanted to operate a farm when I retired. My brother left the state years ago with a dream to maybe come home and join me when he retires (he's 4 yrs older). Needless to say, I don't have much free time because I run about 250 head (115 cows calved or calving now, and 50 replacement heifers due this fall or next spring) on the 525 acres plus another 200 acres leased land. Now having to painfully see the farm on multiple websites (priced way too low for a quick sell) and waiting for the shoe will drop and everything I have worked for vanish as soon as someone makes an offer, is excruciating. Trying to unload that many cattle will not be easy, as the leased land doesn't have any facilities to catch or load. Unfortunately as well, the only access I have to the leased land is through the current farm on a right-of-way road, so driving through that will be very difficult as well. I told my wife there is no way I can be this close to something I have been on or near for 50 years, so looks like we will be selling out and relocating out of state. No idea what I will do with this much free time as I have never had it before. Wife is nervous because i am only home on weekends if weather is bad, so she is wondering what that is going to be like. Even in college I drove 8 hrs each way, every weekend to work on the farm. Just hard to believe it will be gone so soon and most likely filled with chicken houses (something my father would roll over in his grave over). My brother, her favorite, couldn't even talk her out of it and offered to relocate her and pay her rent wherever she wanted to move. Nope, wants it all so she can burn through it like a coked up rock star (made over $650,000 in a 3 year period on gas well royalties, all gone in about 5 years).
 
T-Wacker said:
I not only feel your pain, but probably hurt more. My 85 year old mother has decided to ignore my fathers dying wishes and sell off the entire 525+ acre farm that I have been either living on or managing since I was 4 years old. Decided she wants to buy a big house in the NWA area and have basically a maid take care of everything. Both my brother and I have been told since we were little that the farm would be ours, regardless if we worked it or not. Well, I decided to stay close to home and run the operation while holding down a full time job. As an engineer, I could have gone several places and made far more money, but decided I wanted to operate a farm when I retired. My brother left the state years ago with a dream to maybe come home and join me when he retires (he's 4 yrs older). Needless to say, I don't have much free time because I run about 250 head (115 cows calved or calving now, and 50 replacement heifers due this fall or next spring) on the 525 acres plus another 200 acres leased land. Now having to painfully see the farm on multiple websites (priced way too low for a quick sell) and waiting for the shoe will drop and everything I have worked for vanish as soon as someone makes an offer, is excruciating. Trying to unload that many cattle will not be easy, as the leased land doesn't have any facilities to catch or load. Unfortunately as well, the only access I have to the leased land is through the current farm on a right-of-way road, so driving through that will be very difficult as well. I told my wife there is no way I can be this close to something I have been on or near for 50 years, so looks like we will be selling out and relocating out of state. No idea what I will do with this much free time as I have never had it before. Wife is nervous because i am only home on weekends if weather is bad, so she is wondering what that is going to be like. Even in college I drove 8 hrs each way, every weekend to work on the farm. Just hard to believe it will be gone so soon and most likely filled with chicken houses (something my father would roll over in his grave over). My brother, her favorite, couldn't even talk her out of it and offered to relocate her and pay her rent wherever she wanted to move. Nope, wants it all so she can burn through it like a coked up rock star (made over $650,000 in a 3 year period on gas well royalties, all gone in about 5 years).

Can you and your brother pool your resources and buy it from her?
 
T-Wacker said:
I not only feel your pain, but probably hurt more. My 85 year old mother has decided to ignore my fathers dying wishes and sell off the entire 525+ acre farm that I have been either living on or managing since I was 4 years old. Decided she wants to buy a big house in the NWA area and have basically a maid take care of everything. Both my brother and I have been told since we were little that the farm would be ours, regardless if we worked it or not. Well, I decided to stay close to home and run the operation while holding down a full time job. As an engineer, I could have gone several places and made far more money, but decided I wanted to operate a farm when I retired. My brother left the state years ago with a dream to maybe come home and join me when he retires (he's 4 yrs older). Needless to say, I don't have much free time because I run about 250 head (115 cows calved or calving now, and 50 replacement heifers due this fall or next spring) on the 525 acres plus another 200 acres leased land. Now having to painfully see the farm on multiple websites (priced way too low for a quick sell) and waiting for the shoe will drop and everything I have worked for vanish as soon as someone makes an offer, is excruciating. Trying to unload that many cattle will not be easy, as the leased land doesn't have any facilities to catch or load. Unfortunately as well, the only access I have to the leased land is through the current farm on a right-of-way road, so driving through that will be very difficult as well. I told my wife there is no way I can be this close to something I have been on or near for 50 years, so looks like we will be selling out and relocating out of state. No idea what I will do with this much free time as I have never had it before. Wife is nervous because i am only home on weekends if weather is bad, so she is wondering what that is going to be like. Even in college I drove 8 hrs each way, every weekend to work on the farm. Just hard to believe it will be gone so soon and most likely filled with chicken houses (something my father would roll over in his grave over). My brother, her favorite, couldn't even talk her out of it and offered to relocate her and pay her rent wherever she wanted to move. Nope, wants it all so she can burn through it like a coked up rock star (made over $650,000 in a 3 year period on gas well royalties, all gone in about 5 years).

Have you talked to a lawyer? That's fricken awful :(
 
TennesseeTuxedo said:
T-Wacker said:
I not only feel your pain, but probably hurt more. My 85 year old mother has decided to ignore my fathers dying wishes and sell off the entire 525+ acre farm that I have been either living on or managing since I was 4 years old. Decided she wants to buy a big house in the NWA area and have basically a maid take care of everything. Both my brother and I have been told since we were little that the farm would be ours, regardless if we worked it or not. Well, I decided to stay close to home and run the operation while holding down a full time job. As an engineer, I could have gone several places and made far more money, but decided I wanted to operate a farm when I retired. My brother left the state years ago with a dream to maybe come home and join me when he retires (he's 4 yrs older). Needless to say, I don't have much free time because I run about 250 head (115 cows calved or calving now, and 50 replacement heifers due this fall or next spring) on the 525 acres plus another 200 acres leased land. Now having to painfully see the farm on multiple websites (priced way too low for a quick sell) and waiting for the shoe will drop and everything I have worked for vanish as soon as someone makes an offer, is excruciating. Trying to unload that many cattle will not be easy, as the leased land doesn't have any facilities to catch or load. Unfortunately as well, the only access I have to the leased land is through the current farm on a right-of-way road, so driving through that will be very difficult as well. I told my wife there is no way I can be this close to something I have been on or near for 50 years, so looks like we will be selling out and relocating out of state. No idea what I will do with this much free time as I have never had it before. Wife is nervous because i am only home on weekends if weather is bad, so she is wondering what that is going to be like. Even in college I drove 8 hrs each way, every weekend to work on the farm. Just hard to believe it will be gone so soon and most likely filled with chicken houses (something my father would roll over in his grave over). My brother, her favorite, couldn't even talk her out of it and offered to relocate her and pay her rent wherever she wanted to move. Nope, wants it all so she can burn through it like a coked up rock star (made over $650,000 in a 3 year period on gas well royalties, all gone in about 5 years).

Can you and your brother pool your resources and buy it from her?

I doubt my brother would, he is only interested in having the area to fish and shoot his guns, not really a cattle guy anymore. He would be glad to join in with me because I know the cattle business and he is pretty well off (Chemical Engineer with his own business). I also have a hard time paying that much money ($875,000+) for something that was suppose to be mine in the first place. I am too old to start over with a huge mortgage, as I just paid off my house last December and was preparing to build on the farm to retire in about 5 years. My kids aren't interested and his daughter lives in NWA and isn't interested, so I don't want a 30 year mortgage at 58 with no one waiting in the wings. No idea if the grandkids would ever be interested (6,5 and two toddlers), I was hoping to move to the farm and kind of raise them in the environment and see what happened.
 
Nesikep said:
T-Wacker said:
I not only feel your pain, but probably hurt more. My 85 year old mother has decided to ignore my fathers dying wishes and sell off the entire 525+ acre farm that I have been either living on or managing since I was 4 years old. Decided she wants to buy a big house in the NWA area and have basically a maid take care of everything. Both my brother and I have been told since we were little that the farm would be ours, regardless if we worked it or not. Well, I decided to stay close to home and run the operation while holding down a full time job. As an engineer, I could have gone several places and made far more money, but decided I wanted to operate a farm when I retired. My brother left the state years ago with a dream to maybe come home and join me when he retires (he's 4 yrs older). Needless to say, I don't have much free time because I run about 250 head (115 cows calved or calving now, and 50 replacement heifers due this fall or next spring) on the 525 acres plus another 200 acres leased land. Now having to painfully see the farm on multiple websites (priced way too low for a quick sell) and waiting for the shoe will drop and everything I have worked for vanish as soon as someone makes an offer, is excruciating. Trying to unload that many cattle will not be easy, as the leased land doesn't have any facilities to catch or load. Unfortunately as well, the only access I have to the leased land is through the current farm on a right-of-way road, so driving through that will be very difficult as well. I told my wife there is no way I can be this close to something I have been on or near for 50 years, so looks like we will be selling out and relocating out of state. No idea what I will do with this much free time as I have never had it before. Wife is nervous because i am only home on weekends if weather is bad, so she is wondering what that is going to be like. Even in college I drove 8 hrs each way, every weekend to work on the farm. Just hard to believe it will be gone so soon and most likely filled with chicken houses (something my father would roll over in his grave over). My brother, her favorite, couldn't even talk her out of it and offered to relocate her and pay her rent wherever she wanted to move. Nope, wants it all so she can burn through it like a coked up rock star (made over $650,000 in a 3 year period on gas well royalties, all gone in about 5 years).

Have you talked to a lawyer? That's fricken awful :(

I have. Learned that in Arkansas, once a spouse dies, their will becomes material for a trash can. My mother basically threw it away, formed a trust with her as sole owner. She never liked the farm, still mad that my father moved from Southern California in the mid sixties to Arkansas, even though she is also from Arkansas. My Father had his own business back in the 50's and 60's that allowed him to pay cash for a new house built on 260 acres in 1965. To give reference, he made $35,000 the year I was born, 1961. For an old sharecropper from central Arkansas, he said he had more money than he knew what to do with, so he started saving and paid cash for the land and house. Before the move, we used to travel to a cabin on the Colorado river and had two boats, one for the river and the other about a 30 cabin cruiser he took to Catalina Island. My mother liked that lifestyle and always fought the rural life. I guess this is her revenge, even though our life would have been miserable had we stayed, the way that state has changed. I was only 4 at the time, so I only remember the rural life, which I love.
 
True Grit Farms said:
Very sad, it's good lesson for everyone to have their ducks in row before they die.

Yes it is. I tried to get my Father to sign it over to my brother and me before he died, but he was convinced his will would take care of the situation. Lesson learned, late, but learned none the less. If by some miracle it doesn't get sold, I will find a way to put it in the grandkids possession and not allow them to take control until a certain age. At least bypass one generation.
 
T-Wacker said:
True Grit Farms said:
Very sad, it's good lesson for everyone to have their ducks in row before they die.

Yes it is. I tried to get my Father to sign it over to my brother and me before he died, but he was convinced his will would take care of the situation. Lesson learned, late, but learned none the less. If by some miracle it doesn't get sold, I will find a way to put it in the grandkids possession and not allow them to take control until a certain age. At least bypass one generation.

T-Wacker: my Grandparents bought a farm in 1969 and operated it until 1991 when my Grandfather passed, my Dad sold off his birth right to my Uncle who kept it until he passed this last January. My Aunt has no intention of passing it down, I'm the only Grandchild who farms or would keep the place. She is going to sell the place and hasn't even allowed me the first option. And I thought I was pretty close to my Aunt and Uncle. I grew up on that farm, worked for my Grandparents and helped my Uncle. In a few days I will go get some of my equipment off of the place, drive down the 1/4 mile drive way for one last time. There will be no sorrow, because what should break my heart I rejoice over. That farm was a blessing in my life, it was my refuge, where I learned to work, learned to drive, learned about cattle and how to make hay. Thousands of great memories and I thank the Lord my God, I have a reason for sorrow. You and I got something a lot of people never get to experience and it's better than good.
 
T-Wacker said:
I not only feel your pain, but probably hurt more. My 85 year old mother has decided to ignore my fathers dying wishes and sell off the entire 525+ acre farm that I have been either living on or managing since I was 4 years old.

oh man, that is awful. I can (sort of) see her wanting out and to have some fun, carefree times. but to not even try to work some kind of deal to let or help family, especially a son or daughter who WANTS to keep the place do so in some way is pretty selfish.
 
T-Wacker, I can't imagine how bad that must suck. Here's an idea. If your brother doesn't want in, and you can't, or choose not to, buy it on your own..... You say it's underpriced. Buy the whole thing and then turn around a sell part of it. You could be left owing very little or at least have a manageable mortgage. While it's not the best case scenario at least you wouldn't lose the whole thing.
 
JMJ Farms said:
T-Wacker, I can't imagine how bad that must suck. Here's an idea. If your brother doesn't want in, and you can't, or choose not to, buy it on your own..... You say it's underpriced. Buy the whole thing and then turn around a sell part of it. You could be left owing very little or at least have a manageable mortgage. While it's not the best case scenario at least you wouldn't lose the whole thing.

That has entered my mind, but now I am hearing conflicting stories. Understand, this was all done while I was out of town and she has never talked to me about any of it even though I see her basically every day. I had to send my brother a text informing him that it was being sold, so he didn't have much time to figure out what he could do. I did hear through my son, whom she had lunch with, that my brother apparently purchased the farm after I gave him my blessing last weekend. Now, she has told both my daughters different stories, so who knows, waiting on a message from my brother what the heck is really going on. Daughter told me that my brother bought the original 260 acres and the rest is being sold. Better than all of the farm but will cut my hay production in half and require me to reduce herd size by at least 50%.

I even considered buying the whole thing and put it all back on the market for what its worth and make about $350,000. I figure I would have to wait a year or two, but it would be a great investment. Already two guys have traveled from Texas to view the property, so I am guessing they have the same idea.
 
All I can say is I feel your pain.
Did your father leave a will
Not a lawyer but you may have some recourse, unless your father left it entirely to your mother
It would involve you and your brother taking on mother to court
 
I understand, gizmom! I turned 68 this year. I separated ribs working cattle 2 years ago, then did it again earlier this year. And I went through radiation treatment for prostrate cancer last year. Basically, it's been 3 years of one thing after another, healthwise. The latest was an auto accident(not my fault)back in April.

I still hated to cut back, but fate stepped in and made the decision for me as the 1200 acres that I have leased for over a decade has sold to new owners. I had to vacate it last month. I guess I knew the time had come, for me, because I did not even attempt to find another lease place to replace it.

My goal when I started back into cattle 17 years ago was to get to 200 mother cows. With droughts and other circumstances, I only made it to just short of 100 at the peak. I am down to 30 now and I am faced with selling a dozen more to get to where I need to be for the land that I own. It is going to be really hard to choose which ones that I let go.
 

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