Well here they come...

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He comes the farming boom of 2008. For years we have kind of lived a quiet existence here in little old Thorndike Maine, milking our cows and growing feed for them. Last month when a farmer sold out I knew things were going to change and not for the better...

Here come the Amish!!

Yesterday I was out working on my new patio and in drives two vans. I was home alone and kind of thought a mob hit was taking place as 14 oddly dressed people got out and started asking about the farm. The long and short of it is this. There are 7 Amish Family's that want to move in here and they want my farm. I was pretty nice about it, but I am very cold to strangers from away, and even more apprehensive about people that want to buy something that has been in the family since 1757. I told them I was not interested.

The problem is, other farmers are. My own Uncle is thinking about selling out. I went over to his farm right after they stopped here to tell him they were coming, but they beat me to him. He said he has a meeting with them this week and is thinking about selling out. Cows, farm, house everything. He said they are paying 2000 an acre for land that typically gets 383 per acre. Granted his farm is a lot smaller then mine land wise (300 acres roughly), but still I would never think he would sell out. In someways I think he is just playing them. His cows are his pets so I don't see him selling out, but its a lot of money, so he just might.

As I said, I won't sell out, but its funny because just last week at work we were talking about land as collateral and how it can be construed as wealth. I joked that on paper, I would be a millionaire with the land I got, but there was no way I could sell it for that much. Then these people show up. 2000 bucks an acre at 1600 acres now...that is a whole lot of zeros. Still I'm not interested in selling out, and I doubt they would want the forest ground. They kept asking how much was tillable and pasture. I only have 100 acres tillable, and 12 acres in pasture.

Anyway its just kind of funny. Instantly the land rush is on here in Maine, and I don't really relish the thought of it. (Here is a link in case you want to see my fields and what they look like. Definitely not worth 2000 bucks an acre.)

http://www.railroadmachinist.com/Wood-Fields.html

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Certified Welder, Certified Professional Logger, Farmer and Foster Parent

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I have many Amish friends and even though they are like all humans, some are better than others and some keep their word the the nth degree and others are pure horse traders, low lifes is not one of the applicable descriptive phrases I would use to describe them. Okay, they asked, you answered, I assumed they left without any strong arm tactics. Their way of life in my neighborhood would only enhance my way of life.
 
My wife comes from an area that has it's share of Amish. They were great customers for my ILs small Red Wing shoe store. When my FIL died 2 1/2 years ago, a tremendous number of Amish showed up at the visitation. Good, honest, hardworking, humble people has been my experience.Travis....Your uncle is significantly older than you I'll bet. Your stage in life has a lot to do with whether or not you want to continue farming.Where the Amish come from, $2000 / acre might seem a lowball price. Here in Idaho and in Illinois where my wife comes from, $2000 an acre won't get you a photograph of the place. It would have bought the land 30 years ago but not today.
 
I agree with Ken. On the whole, the Amish I've known have been good, hard working people. They tend to keep to themselves which may be good or bad for the community.

As far as woodworking goes, the ones I've known are just average commercial woodworkers. Some non-Amish people (the "English" to the Amish) think Amish woodworking is handcrafted but mostly it's not. If you walk into an Amish workshop, you'd think you were in an English workshop. They use all the same tools but they aren't powered by electricity.

Mike
 
Well I said it on the other forum travis, I'll say it here.....

As the crow flies this is my nearest Amish neighbor. What was once a showplace in our County before bought by this Amish farmer. I remember as a kid this place was meticoulous.

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This not always the case, there are some nice farms as well here, and they are hard working. But I'd be willing to bet that if they took a survey in our area of the people who live here, they would not be as thrilled with our sect of Amish as other areas may be.

I'm sure if you all looked at this everyday you would understand my less than enthusiastic joy.
 
When I lived in south-east Indiana several farms went on the auction block due to family deaths at about the same time. Locals tried to buy them but were greatly outbid by Amish. If they want it, price is no object.
And, remember, real estate, or anything else for that matter, is worth what a buyer is willing to pay.
 
Travis

You might think about renting to them. They would actually pay their rent which seems like it would be an improvement over the locals you rent your farm land to now.

I saw a bunch up in New York looking to buy recently. They were eating in a restaurant in Sidney..

I have a ton of them around me and also grew up where they were. Never had any real bad experance with them.

Garry
 
We don't have many in the is area, get over by my brothers though and theres a lot of them.
What you posted pics of Steve is almost unheard of here. If an Amish farm in my brother's area starts getting headed that way they get a visit from the Elders.

Theres a few things we as the "english" could learn from them. Taking care of your own would be one.
Forgiving your fellow man would be another. If an Amishman makes friends with you, theres nothing they won't do for you. My nephew built a small barn out of hemlock sawn by an Amish mill. Rudy and his family have become good friends of our family.

Calling them low lifes just because they tried buy your farm Travis was uncalled for in my book.
 
Travis, I enjoy almost all of your post. I wouldn't want my kids reading this one...sorry.
Travis, I'm in Darren's camp on this one. My experience with the Amish is limited to my many visits to the SE PA when I lived back east. The LOML and I loved to drive through the countryside and admire the impeccable farms and marveled about how much work it must require to keep them up without the aid of modern machinery. Steve's pictures notwithstanding, my impression of them as a whole is that they are an industrious, honest, and caring group. I could be wrong on this, but my (limited) experience tells me otherwise.

Whether I'm wrong or not, I still believe the "low lifes" comment was a bit over-the-top and not up to the quality and gentlemanliness of your usual posts.
 
looks like its up for reveiw!!!

so we can let the elders take care of it folks,,, but i am sure that they have bad apples in there group just as we do... and this can be considered political and religous both..maybe tommrrow we can banter the spanish or the rednecks. we all have been offered something for service or commodity the offened us.. its just life,
 
In a previous thread, someone said to replace the word "Amish" with "Jewish", "Catholic", or any other religion/race/nationality and see if your comments are appropriate. The ethnicity of the individuals who want to buy your land is irrelevant--or at least if its not to you, then this isn't the place. Steve's pictures don't look a lot different than the place across the street from me (well, at least before they got foreclosed upon and the bank came in and hauled off all the trash.) I'm pretty sure they weren't Amish based on the two satellite dishes and the vehicles--most of which ran.
 
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Just to let you all know, the part of the CoC that comes into play here is the "No Bashing" part, that is what is under review. Travis has been contacted and we await his reply.

Thank you.
 
Even though I "jumped" at his use of the term low lifes, knowing Travis only from his previous posts, I don't think this was a hate crime or a "bashing" of a specific sect of humanity. All of us, well me, have a bad case of foot in mouth disease from time to time and the faster I type, the quicker this is becoming a finger on keyboard/foot in mouth disease. I realize they (the Amish) created a feeling of threat to Travis and his way of life. My farm could be quite neater also, but it isn't. All in all, I have found them to be a genuine group of people to deal with. But like I stated earlier, they are also human and are capable of being human like the rest of us, so regardless, there are good and bad in all groups of humanity.
 
Really? Happens to me all the time. I often forget to put sunscreen on the back on my neck. That's prime burning territory, since I don't have a mane like Vaughn... :rofl::D

That's exactly what I meant. Short hair.....rednecks.....As my hairline is quickly receding ....it'll shortly be red skullcaps?
 
Is there anybody left we can make fun of? :bang:

According to several folks here, there's always Me, but only until I get a roof. :rofl::rofl:

On a serious note, however. I come here to get away from the hubbub of the nightly news etc... and while I empathize with Travis, that I too would not react favorably were a similar offer made with particular emphasis to me, Perhaps there was a better way to phrase it.
 
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