The vultures are circling already!!! I am PO at some people.

I just got a call from my DIL Susie a little while ago. Carol( Steve's wife) just got a call from one of their landlords. It seems he was called this morning by one of the local BTO. The BTO told him Steve was all laid up and would never farm again. He would not be able to pay his spring rents and a bunch of other BS. An the BTO would be glad to rent the farm and he could pay the rent right now. What an A-hole.

So I just called all of his landlords and told them what was going on. I told them he was just hurt yesterday morning. He was doing better. I also told them all he would be able to farm their ground. I also pointed out that none of the rents where passed due and the next rent payments where not due until April 1st.

One old BA$TARD told me he would have the farm rented to someone able bodied before the day was out. I told him two things: 1) If he did not follow the exact wording of the contract I would personally pay for the herd of lawyers to sue him. 2) I would also make darn sure everyone in this community KNEW exactly what he was trying to pull. I even played a recording of our conversation. ( I told each one of them I was recording what we said before we started) He then back tracked real fast. He has a BTO that has offered him more money that his current contract. They both are scum!!! I told him if he is so worried about getting his money to come over this afternoon and I will personally pay the darn rent. The old fool is coming over. What a piece of work.

I swear that if I find out which BTOs are making these calls I will personally make them hurt as much as Steve is right now.

I am not feeling much better about some of his landlords at the moment. I am personally sickened by the GREED that these people have. I hope they have the same type of Carma that they are asking for by these actions.

PS. I was so PO at the old fool that I told him the next time I hear he is in poor health I am going to call all his kids and make them a real big offer on his farm. I told him to think of how long it would be before they had control of his farm. That real straighten him up. LOL I know I should not have told him something like that but I was really PO.

Breaking a contract can be costly. Know a man down here that found that out.

I know about the vultures. My mom died Christmas Eve. On the 27th the vultures started calling.Between them and my two sisters fighting over things. My brother and I are about ready to tell them all to kiss our butts.

JD..Id be honored to have a neighbor like you. When my neighbors bring a christmas gift over, I wonder what they want from me..I wish more people had the nerve to put others in their place. Good luck to both you and your friend.

Way to go JD Seller. If everyone had a neighbor like you the world would be a far better place.

Atta boy JD Seller.
Heart warming to see somebody go above and beyond in the name of decency.
I wish there was something we could do to help.

JD you have a community of neighbors and family right here on this web site. Just ask it and myself and others will step up and do what is needed.

JD, I hope you find the guy. We have a couple of BTO's in this area that pull that stuff. One has been known to go to a farmer's funeral just so he can make an offer to the widow to farm the land.

Both of these BTO's can be found in church every sunday morning acting like perfect god-fearing christians. Jim

Billy I know all about what happens when someone dies. My Grand Dad died and one of my Uncles was pacing the house off at the funeral dinner. I asked him what he was doing. He said he wanted to know how many square feet the house was so he could get it listed quick. AT the funeral Dinner!!!

Luckily my Grand Dad had an air tight will. It really helped that he was good friends with a retired Federal court Judge. That Judge wrote his will. As soon as some of the family's lawyers found out who had written it they refused to take it to court. The one that did got chewed out in Court and the case dismissed at the first appearance.

I think there is a special place in the hot place for these type when they die.

Something about like that happened about 10 yrs ago in our neiborhood. A local farmer was killed in a traffic accident right on main street. One of the first people to see this was a local BTO. He called his boys and they went to all of this guys rented farms and tried to rent them. This was before the accident was even cleaned off the street! They had a little trouble finding the guys wife cause she was in another town doing farm business, She had to hear of her husbands death from one of the landlords that had her cell number and called to tell her what the BTO was up to. What these BTO guys think about is acres only! They dont give a crap about anyone else....only get the land!I'll be happy to be at this guys auction when HE goes belly up! LOL Doug

My internet laundry washing machine is broke at then moment so your on your own.

When farmers were farmers this type of stuff was looked down on but now some farmers want to be
"Agribusinessmen" and business is brutal where the Dollar is the only objective.Might as well get used to it farmers have been cannabalizing each other since the 1950's and it won't stop.
In a World where everyone is fighting for every Dollar you can't really blame the landowners either if someone offers them more $$$.Why should they settle for Pennies when the renters are getting Dollars?When there is blood in the water the Sharks are gonna move it in just the way it is.

Wow. Take care and good luck to Steve.I'm 2500 miles away,if I was there I'd sure help you.

Traditional Farmer I agree to a point. Several covenants. 1) You have to live up to a contract you signed. 2) I have never heard of a landlord giving rent back if the tenant lost money.

Plus around here getting that big money from the BTO is not always guaranteed either. One trick one of them is using is to show his fancy new Mapping program says you have fewer acres than the deed/ASCS/and the planter and drills always show in the past. So he tells them he will give them x per acre but then reduces the payment acres. He is getting away with it for now.

Yea JD they can be disgusting. My one sister that wants everything. Lives on a sail boat has no place for anything. Found the other sister out in the flower bed with a shovel. She is convinced my parents had money buried in the yard. Vultures are strange.

I put my place in trust so that no one can come in and just take over. My best friend and buddy is the recipient he is out in the cold right now working on the place and bringing me some pellets for the stove. Took my wife into the doctor yesterday and his wife cleaned my house. Now that's what I call a god friend.
He has a farm rented and the owners ex wife is alwys giving us trouble I thing we will dump it this year and try to find a better place.
Walt
PS Good luck on your problem a I hope the kid is OK in a very short time, I what it is to not be able to farm your own land.

JD, first Thank You for all you're doing for these friends. Very admirable. We set up revocable trusts to pass the farm to our six kids. The wills state that any kids wants to dispute the will, that kid is automatically out of the will. We didn't expect any situation like that to arise, but it's handled anyway.

Thats sort of like two sawmills in my area one pays more per board foot for logs but if you take a load of logs there you get less money because because of the way they scale the logs.

My Grandad had that clause in his will too "that if anyone contested the will, they were out of it" I do not remmeber the correct verbage,(will was written by an attorney) but I can tell you that the clause did not hold water in court and after all the fighting was done, and the lawyers all got there share, their was nothing left to fight over, think four kids ended up with 6,000 each. They even fought over 30 bales of hay, it is awful what happends when someone dies or is close to death.

DO you have an open line or shop-and-swap program on the radio? I'd make a call and get on the radio right now and tell the people what happened, then call again once you find out his name.

JD I also appreciate your efforts! Was one of the reasons I quit farming in the mid 70's.
I ran around 400 acres and worked construction. My best farm at the time, I was paying $40/acre + 50% on anything over 100 bu. corn or 30 bu beans.
Fella came in from 3 towns south of me and offered $100.00/acre + same incentives. That winter the bottom fell out of grain andthat fell had over 3000 acres rented. Me and a bunch of others were happy to go to his FORCED sale the next win ter!!

You are doing what must be done in a way that makes us all proud. It is beyond ethics and into the best of what humanity can be. Thank you for restoring the basis for our belief in neighbors.
Jim

What a bunch of turncoats, I assume Steve's family were the only ones who knew of his accident, and in times of crisis, word somehow gets out in the heat of the situation and its really sad that one of these large operators would exploit and take advantage of it like you describe.

When misfortune befalls farmers around here and they are competitive for rented land among themselves as I have seen working rented ground with a long time dairyman/farmer, even then, they always help each other, even if they do not trust or like one another, make that phone call, its more than likely, help or machinery will arrive. I've seen this several times and it is something I have always admired. NO situation or scenario is perfect when it does happen, but they all help each other regardless, great to see differences put aside and sleeves rolled up in place of that. Same dairyman/farmer I helped the entire time he was laid up. Heck, I got a deep tear/laceration on my leg at the day job when re-framing our snow collapsed barn, made sure I went over and had his truck loaded and ready to ship the next day before I even went home or hospital, to keep money flowing, nothing special about it either, as this is what we do.

I sincerely hope your friend/extended family gets some relief and his pain is managed and things are bearable, that is a real traumatic injury with a long recovery with so many smaller resounding effects like the main topic of your post. I'm sure he was trying to do the right thing, but you just have to realize how valuable you are to your own family, operation, etc. and not take chances. Certainly not an appropriate time for safety lectures, but working in situations where it may not provide a means for fall protection, a person should step back and think, get some help or find an alternative to the potential outcome like what occurred, its a lesson to all of us, he's got a hard path to travel for recovery, and its people like yourself who don't hesitate to act when necessary, his family has a genuine good friend in you !

Same kind of thing happened here a couple of years ago. Ivan used to head for the fertilizer plant most every morning. Got to where Jerry,the guy who owned the plant got to planting and combining his corn for him every year. Ivan left one morning,said he was going home to disc that ground so they could plant it in the morning. He died in the night. Jerry called in the morning to see if he was ready,Ivans wife told him that he had passed away. Stunned,Jerry asked her if she wanted them to come up and plant it,she said no,she had already rented it to somebody else. Jerry said he had already spread fertilizer on it that wasn't even paid for and somebody else was already in there planting it before he even got a chance to try to rent it after they'd been there helping Ivan for several years.

Same kind of thing happened here a couple of years ago. Ivan used to head for the fertilizer plant most every morning. Got to where Jerry,the guy who owned the plant got to planting and combining his corn for him every year. Ivan left one morning,said he was going home to disc that ground so they could plant it in the morning. He died in the night. Jerry called in the morning to see if he was ready,Ivans wife told him that he had passed away. Stunned,Jerry asked her if she wanted them to come up and plant it,she said no,she had already rented it to somebody else. Jerry said he had already spread fertilizer on it that wasn't even paid for and somebody else was already in there planting it before he even got a chance to try to rent it after they'd been there helping Ivan for several years.

I don't know about where you are, but around here when the life squad runs lots of people know (running with sirens on, volunteer EMTs, radio traffic), and it will be on the local radio station too. I don't think you can blame the family for the BTOs hearing about it.

JD Seller,
Awesome of you to be helping these friends of yours in any way that you can. Real neat.

I hope your friend recovers well from his injury.

Keep us posted if you need help, I am only an hour away from you.

What does BTO stand for???Thanks

Big Time Operator

You are a good man doing a great deed. I wish I
was closer. I would really like to help. I don't
have money, but I have time and experience.

I doubt the truthfullness of much of this story. With that being said if you perform all the good deeds you claim to on this forum when do you have time to farm?

You post here only to for the pats on the back and the ego stroking.

Anyone performing these deeds from the heart would have no need to brag on here day in and day out.

ARE YOU THE BTO ? I don't know JD personally but I'm going to hazard a guess he has his SH$T down to a science. If you have that it doesn't matter the size of the operation, it just get's done. He has a good group to provide the help needed. To me you may not be a person not many would help in the same situation.

I can't believe you would actually have the nerve to say something like this, much less post it. SOME people actually do take time out of their busy lives to actually help someone in need.

Well I can tell you a true story. The very day we buried our grandmother a BTO called my cousin's house and wanted to know how much we were asking for her farm. The forum rules prevent me from stating my cousin's response to the inquiry.

agribusinessmen. good description!

JD, I have been the victim of this very behavior. Not only did it cost me ground but lost me a friend I considered as a brother. The "friend" believed the lies told about me (when he should have known better). It used to be that farmers were the best, most honorable people in the country. I no longer believe that. They seem to be like everyone else now. And that makes me very sad. I choose not to participate in that kind of behavior. My good name and my standing before my Lord are much more important than obtaining "more". Mike

Tusky: If your where my neighbor you could judge me. This is not just me doing something. It is my family as a unit. I have four sons/and there wives and three brothers. They all have helped make these things happen.

As for when I have time to farm. I am semi-retired. I am sixty-two years old. I actually only farm my own ground. My sons farm the other ground. So really other than livestock chores I have most days to do whatever I want to do. So I do have time now to do things. Even if I was not retired, then I would take the time to help my friends and neighbors. They have helped me in the past as well.

I had received plenty of help when my first wife was sick. So anything I can do is just me passing things along.

In this case Steve's father and I where in school at the same time. Not in the same class but about the same age. He was a real class act. He many times helped those in the community.

As for posting things like this here:

I want people to know that there are still people that care about each other. It has been amazing the out pouring of help that has happened today.

Yes there are a few bad apples in every barrel but most are pretty good people.

We have worked out a schedule that will get his work taken care of with several families taking part not just mine.

We where there first yesterday as my son and daughter-in-law where called first. By evening there where many there to help. Some one had to keep things in order. Actually by then it was my son John doing it. I was just a worker bee by then.

I only got involve today because I knew everyone of Steve's landlords. I have lived here my whole life. I know who is who. I thought I maybe could handle this better than just about anyone else. Some of them would have ran over Steve's wife. Several of them are old stubborn German men, They are kind of a bully personality. So you have to be willing to go head to head with them. They all are settled down now. Even the old one that was all worried about his rent money. He and I talked for a while. He actually just needed reassured he was still going to get paid as the rent is the largest part of what he lives on. He only has seventy acres to rent.

Most of this post was caused by a BTO trying to poach Steve's ground. That really PO me. I know many on here share my dislike for most of them. This business is not just dollars and cents to many of us.

I admit I have a full life. I get out in the world. I have a larger family that gets around too. I have done a lot of things in my life. I have been blessed in that most of them worked out well. I rarely set still just watching the world go by. I also like to write about things that happen in my life. I am not going to ever write a book so I just post here. Most seem to like hearing positive things so I think I will keep doing it.

So good luck to you. and Have a Good New Year.

JD you are one class act and your family too. Our family has helped in crisis like these and we were helped in 1974 when uncle lost his hand in the combine, and again in 2008 when cousin broke his foot during harvest. Keep going and may God bless.

Tusky,since you really dont have anything good to say I figured let the moderators decide if you are out of line. Bill

Jd seller you are a good friend and person to help somebody in need. It is what is needed more now . I to have been able to rely on an old farmer for help when I did not think I needed it. My farmer friends know that if help is needed my family will be there to do whatever is needed.

People like tusky are at the root of alot of this countrys problems. They can't seem to grasp the age old concept of actually helping someone in need. Can't draft legislation, or pass laws, or throw money at a problem like this. It needs to be handled exactly how JD's family and neighbors are doing it, by hard work and determination that this young family will survive to keep farming. Carry on, JD! I would be proud to stand with you and yours anytime.

My father-in-law had a neighbor who, with his two sons, farmed close to 3,000 acres.

My FIL died at 7:00 one evening. At 9:00 the next morning this neighbor called and told my mother-in-law to name her price on the farm and he'd write her a check right then. Obviously, my MIL was too distraught to make any decisions right then, and he was probably hoping for a lowball price. He didn't know it, but my FIL had leased the farm to a different neighbor.

Coupla years later, the bottom fell out of this neighbor's operation. His sons went to work at off farm jobs and all the neighbor salvaged was his 240 acre home place. After 30 years, he was back precisely where he started.

(quoted from post at 15:08:14 01/01/13) I doubt the truthfullness of much of this story. With that being said if you perform all the good deeds you claim to on this forum when do you have time to farm?

You post here only to for the pats on the back and the ego stroking.

Anyone performing these deeds from the heart would have no need to brag on here day in and day out.

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Why don't you shut the hell up and go away.

JD could not make this story up if he wanted to.

What is so hard to believe. Man down here works his farm and will show up anytime. To help anyone that needs it.

Congratulations,this post made all the over to another farm website. agtalk

JD, there's no necessity for you to try to explain anything to that tool---and certainly not to the rest of us. As for the book, I think you should consider it.

yea i know the pos people like that.
when my former m-i-l was still alive the man( butch) farming her farm was having serious money trouble.
well some slick willie called her and said i'm joe blows s-i-l and i hear the man on your farm is going to be sold out this spring and i want to rent your farm.
so former m-i-l ask my late wife who is joe blows s-i-l i want to rent him my farm as butch is going broke this spring.
she never talked to butch at all about what was going on.
well former m-i-l got hers in the end slick willie put the screws to her BIG TIME.

The day my Mother passed away my sister who was being paid to care for her went and cashed a check on her then came back and called 911.

Thats entirely true, people have scanners, app on the phone now etc.

I understand where your coming from believe me, but if your boy has the rent paid he doesnt have anything to worry about i wouldnt think. As for the fellow renting to someone else,that happens all the time. Thats the major pit falls of renting,you simply cannot plan too far ahead. Its sad that it happens now, but it can happen anytime. Unless you had a contract saying the owner would rent to you exclusively, under all cicumstances, there is not much you could do quite honestly. To be truthful,and i dont want to be hard here, but if you called me up on the phone, told me you were going to sue me "FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER" if i didnt rent to you next year, i would burn the place down before you used it again!!! it sounds like the contract is up in april, wait till then before you get all worked up. Most folks will do the right thing if you let them. Personally ,if "I" were renting and the landlord called me up in this same situation i would thank him. he didnt have to let her know someone else was interested, was under no obligation to, and certainly is under no legal/moral obligation to rent to you after your contract expires. My opinion of course, but your likely making things worse, I KNOW FOR A FACT that if you pulled the same deal on any old landowner around here he would be coming over all right, but not to pick up the rent! at the very least it would be with a notice to vacate! if he DIDNT he would lose more face in the community than anything a disgruntled renter could do! let me give you a piece of advice, honestly as a freind, keep your personal feelings out of your buisness, they have no place with each other. if you DONT, your going to come up on the short end of the stick 99.9% of the time. take a deep breath ,kick something, throw something, then think about this, would you like me calling you and telling you i am going to sue you if you dont rent me the house you own? same exact difference. if your upset about the TIMING of these calls, think of it this way, the land lord didnt have to call, sounds to me like he just wanted to inform you of what was happening. As a landlord myself,i get a call most every week from someone wanting to rent a place. you would be surprised to find its often a fellows best friend whos wanting to rent it out from under him. ive even had dads call trying to get their sons lease. i didnt call them and tell them so, thats buisness between their dad and myself.

(quoted from post at 18:17:42 01/02/13) I understand where your coming from believe me, but if your boy has the rent paid he doesnt have anything to worry about i wouldnt think. As for the fellow renting to someone else,that happens all the time. Thats the major pit falls of renting,you simply cannot plan too far ahead. Its sad that it happens now, but it can happen anytime. Unless you had a contract saying the owner would rent to you exclusively, under all cicumstances, there is not much you could do quite honestly. To be truthful,and i dont want to be hard here, but if you called me up on the phone, told me you were going to sue me "FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER" if i didnt rent to you next year, i would burn the place down before you used it again!!! it sounds like the contract is up in april, wait till then before you get all worked up. Most folks will do the right thing if you let them. Personally ,if "I" were renting and the landlord called me up in this same situation i would thank him. he didnt have to let her know someone else was interested, was under no obligation to, and certainly is under no legal/moral obligation to rent to you after your contract expires. My opinion of course, but your likely making things worse, I KNOW FOR A FACT that if you pulled the same deal on any old landowner around here he would be coming over all right, but not to pick up the rent! at the very least it would be with a notice to vacate! if he DIDNT he would lose more face in the community than anything a disgruntled renter could do! let me give you a piece of advice, honestly as a freind, keep your personal feelings out of your buisness, they have no place with each other. if you DONT, your going to come up on the short end of the stick 99.9% of the time. take a deep breath ,kick something, throw something, then think about this, would you like me calling you and telling you i am going to sue you if you dont rent me the house you own? same exact difference. if your upset about the TIMING of these calls, think of it this way, the land lord didnt have to call, sounds to me like he just wanted to inform you of what was happening. As a landlord myself,i get a call most every week from someone wanting to rent a place. you would be surprised to find its often a fellows best friend whos wanting to rent it out from under him. ive even had dads call trying to get their sons lease. i didnt call them and tell them so, thats buisness between their dad and myself.

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Jack: Here are several things to clear up on your interpretation of my earlier posting:

1) Here in Iowa there are pretty strict laws we have to follow when renting ground. These apply to both sides of the deal. Here is the how they work. If there is going to be a change in the lease agreement, from either side, the other party has to be notified by certified mail before Sept. 1 st. of the year before the next leasing year. So if I want to quit renting a farm I have to do this or if the land owner wants me off the farm he has to do it. If no notices are sent then the current lease agreement is legally bidding for the next crop year, on both parties. There is ZERO wiggly room in how the courts here act on these. So in this case the 2012 rental was all paid. The next rental payment is due on April 1st. That would be 1/2 of the 2013 rent. So there is a current agreement.

2) I did not call the older landlord and threaten to sue him. I called him and notified him that Steve ( who is not my son but a friend of my son) had been injured but he would be still farming the ground as per their current agreement. The old landlord then told me he was going to rent the ground that day to some one "able bodied". I then politely told him that he could not legally do that As no notices had been sent and that Steve was current on all lease payments. So the current lease was still in effect. He then blew up at me and started cussing me out and threatening me with what he was going to do. That is when I told him what I would do if he did rent to some one else while Steve was in the hospital.

3) What made this one fellow all upset was two different things done by a BTO that had contacted him several times on his ground. First the BTO called him just after harvest and offered him a high rent. The BTO was just stirring the pot because he called well after Sept. 1st. Second the BTO had call all but one of Steve's landlords and told all of them that Steve was hurt so bad that he would never be able to farm again or make the spring rental payments. This on the very next morning after Steve was injured. Even better New Years Day as well. So the old fellow is all upset and worried about not getting his rent that he needed to live on. Plus this old fellow is really a bad tempered man. Has always been. You have to stand right back up to him and bark back just as loud as he is or he will run right over you. LOL I have delt with him on other things for years. He can be a real piece of work.


After he came over and I paid him the spring rent all was as sweet as rain. I then got him to set down and talk about what the heck was going on. It turns out he was all upset thinking he was not going to get his spring rent. It also kind of gauls him the he could be getting higher rent else where, maybe. So I asked him who plowed his garden each year?? Steve. Who keeps all the water ways mowed and tree/weed free?? Steve. I also asked him who had kept paying the rent years ago when the cash price of corn drop to under loan rate??? Steve and earlier Steve's Dad. I told him to remember that the BTO that had called him DID not pay his rents one year when grain prices fell.

Steve has seven landlords. I was able to contact all of them. They all where glad to know what was actually was going on. Six of them will not be any issue for Steve in the near future. The one older fellow I think is OK now but he was really stirred up when I first called him. Like I stated in another post the only reason I got involved on the rental issue was I personally knew each and every one of the landlords. I did not want them to do something with half the correct information. Then have that cost Steve time, money, and aggravation to fighting it.

Well... I'll reiterate. You are a good man JD!!

(quoted from post at 04:20:01 01/02/13) The day my Mother passed away my sister who was being paid to care for her went and cashed a check on her then came back and called 911.

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Afraid my criminal sister (long story) who is caring for my elderly parents will do the very same thing when they pass. I'm too far away to intervene and she has got Mom to shut out the other brothers and a sister who live much closer. Dad has Alzhimers, he's probably in a better place mentally than having to watch the bickering and fighting going on.