Another farm auction was held out in the Texas panhandle today.
It was the auction of my uncle’s farm equipment. He’s my dad’s suviving sibling and tomorrow is his 82nd birthday. He’s farmed my grandparents’ place since their deaths in the ’80s.
This was his last year to farm and when the family LLC voted to sell the farm, the bid submitted by my brothers and me was 2nd highest.
So the farm has passed out of the family. And my uncle’s equipment was sold today. It was probably very cold and my cousin said her dad was going to be there no matter the weather. That didn’t surprise me. That generation didn’t shirk from hard situations.
Tracing my family back to the 1700s shows no profession (with one exception) other than farming. One of my two brothers would have loved to have farmed but couldn’t make it work. Our other brother and I are not farmers. This creates a little dissonance for me–I’m not willing to try to make a living farming, but it makes me incredibly sad to know that the end of farming has come for this branch of my family. I think it would have been of some comfort if we’d been able to keep the land in the family, but that was not to be either.
I am sorry for the loss of your family farm. You conveyed your feelings perfectly, though, and I completely relate to how you feel.
Comment by Amy Coffin — 10 January 2010 @ 9:58 am
Thanks for stopping by, Amy. It’s been a hard time.
Comment by allmyanc — 10 January 2010 @ 10:26 am
Hi Debra,
It’s sad to hear of property leaving the hands of family. It’s too bad you didn’t get it.
By the way, I’ve given you the Happy 101 Award!
Comment by Becky Wiseman — 10 January 2010 @ 11:44 am
Very sad. As we move to mega-farms it is very hard to hang onto our family farm roots. My father’s farm is how a housing tract.
Comment by Apple — 16 January 2010 @ 7:52 am