Author Topic: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction  (Read 1716 times)

MechAg94

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Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« on: June 10, 2019, 09:25:15 AM »
https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/3337/Hundreds-Of-Farmers-Stay-Silent-During-Auction-So-Family-Can-Buy-Back-Their-Family-Farm?fbclid=IwAR1r2QnBtCBJyrGFjEIzxiF2Cm0Q_foFT-LXobCOwe_9UlqZdhinxSlg-_A

Hundreds of farmers in Nebraska stood in silence during an auction so that a young man could buy back his family's farm.
Quote
After David and his father placed their bid, not a single person spoke up.

As it turns out, those 200 farmers did not attempt to bid because they wanted the family to get their land back.

After many attempts to solicit another bid, the Auctioneer took a break. Three times they took breaks, and each time everyone remained completely silent. Eventually, the auctioneer had to slam down the gavel and give David and his father the winning bid.

Short article, but interesting.  Sounds like word got around.  I figured there would be at least one person who didn't care. 
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Brad Johnson

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2019, 09:58:05 AM »
Farming communities tend to be very tight knit. They are highly resentful of the slow sell-off (or eminent domain seizure) of land for development and expansion. Any time they can get land back in the hands of locals, or back to a family with a long and respected community history, they usually act on it.

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Pb

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2019, 10:03:37 AM »
Awesome!   =D

I wonder what the winning bid was?

Hawkmoon

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2019, 10:09:51 AM »
It's a nice story, but without any mention of where it happened or the last name of the family that bought back the farm, IMHO it has very little credibility.
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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2019, 10:22:24 AM »
It's a nice story, but without any mention of where it happened or the last name of the family that bought back the farm, IMHO it has very little credibility.

Well, just look at the name of the website..... sunny skyz. I would bet they have hundreds of those uplifting, inspirational stories for you to read and make you feel there is hope for the human race. Frickin' optimists, they are everywhere!! :(

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HankB

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2019, 10:41:15 AM »
Badly written article - for example, they never mention what the bid was.

Back in the 1930s during the Depression when farms were being foreclosed, there were penny auctions - the owners bid pennies on their own farms and equipment, their neighbors stood mute, and the farmers kept their land. Banks weren't happy at all, and termed these penny auctions "illegal." (It was the Depression, and the general public had little sympathy for banks.)

Looks like the same spirit is still alive in rural America.
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Brad Johnson

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2019, 10:47:09 AM »
It's a nice story, but without any mention of where it happened or the last name of the family that bought back the farm, IMHO it has very little credibility.

Good question. A quick google picks up the story on only a few sites, all of which specialize in "inspirational" stories. Outside those few mentions, nothing. Now you have me suspecting it's legitimacy as an actual story versus a feel-good fictional piece.

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dogmush

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #7 on: June 10, 2019, 11:25:01 AM »
I did a little googling, and came to the conclusion that this falls under the "Stuff that never happened" umbrella.  There's a couple variations, but this story popped up and circulated the click-bait, ad revenue sites like a classic viral fiction.

Entertainingly in my 20 min google I found this blog from a guy in the business of farm auctions.  He has a different take and mentions some things I didn't consider in the first reading:
https://blog.dreamdirt.com/farmland-auctions/our-response-to-the-viral-story-farmers-stay-silent-during-auctions-so-young-man-can-win-the-bid-on-his-long-lost-family-farm

excerpts from the above linked blog:

Quote
Has anybody stopped to think that a seller had to be financially harmed in order for this story to made?  What about the person that owned the farm?  Have we come to a point we are willing to take somebodies property from them by mass community decision now and reassign it to another party with no regard for the owners interest?

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Next, how did these farmers know not to bid against them? There were 200 of them right?  Was there collusion? Did they all agree ahead of time not to bid?....My friend Mike Bradley wrote about collusion at auctions and it's certainly an issue with this story and means that if the story were true the farm was bought through an illegal act

Quote
Let's not forget, as "heartwarming" as the story is there is a victim here, the seller of the farm.  An actual person was selling the farm

And that's my time as a wet blanket for the day, please return to cats on roombas and otter memes.

brimic

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #8 on: June 10, 2019, 11:53:23 AM »
Fake story at best, racketeering at worst.
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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #9 on: June 10, 2019, 11:54:41 AM »
That’s the risk you take at an auction, especially without a reserve.
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MechAg94

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #10 on: June 10, 2019, 05:28:52 PM »
That’s the risk you take at an auction, especially without a reserve.
That was my thought about dogmush's link.  If you wanted protection, don't go for an auction.  Perhaps I make the assumption that an auction meant it was a bank selling it or came from a foreclosure.  

Where I grew up, just about any reasonable section of land will sell even if it is just someone looking for a weekend place or a hunting lease.  We had Houston, Austin, and San Antonio within driving distance.  

The truth could also be that this particular plot of land is worthless and no one else wanted it except someone with a family history there.
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charby

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #11 on: June 10, 2019, 05:35:13 PM »
Never happen in Iowa, someone else will bid, if not the local farmers a farm management company or land investor will buy it.

Story is BS, seen it a few times with same picture and other regions of the Midwest mentioned.
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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #12 on: June 10, 2019, 09:17:21 PM »
Seems to have been written at about a 4th grade level.
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Perd Hapley

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2019, 10:32:24 PM »
It's a nice story, but without any mention of where it happened or the last name of the family that bought back the farm, IMHO it has very little credibility.

It was that same county where the preteen sporting clays champion shot that illegal alien home invader right in the junk.

https://www.northwestfirearms.com/threads/11-yr-old-shoots-illegals.124258/
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230RN

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #14 on: June 11, 2019, 12:01:14 AM »
Unsold movie plot?

Disney come-from-behind comeuppance script #371.


Angel Eyes

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #15 on: June 11, 2019, 01:32:46 AM »
I vaguely recall an episode of Little House on the Prairie that had this exact plot.
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charby

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #16 on: June 11, 2019, 09:14:31 AM »
I vaguely recall an episode of Little House on the Prairie that had this exact plot.


Episode 3 of Damnation did too, but it involved firearms.
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230RN

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #17 on: June 11, 2019, 10:24:54 AM »
Well, Disney leases out that plot #371 and lets the lessee develop whatever treatment of it they want.  No extra charge.

« Last Edit: June 11, 2019, 10:53:31 AM by 230RN »

Firethorn

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #18 on: June 11, 2019, 10:26:25 AM »
I did a little googling, and came to the conclusion that this falls under the "Stuff that never happened" umbrella.  There's a couple variations, but this story popped up and circulated the click-bait, ad revenue sites like a classic viral fiction.

Entertainingly in my 20 min google I found this blog from a guy in the business of farm auctions.  He has a different take and mentions some things I didn't consider in the first reading:
https://blog.dreamdirt.com/farmland-auctions/our-response-to-the-viral-story-farmers-stay-silent-during-auctions-so-young-man-can-win-the-bid-on-his-long-lost-family-farm

excerpts from the above linked blog:

And that's my time as a wet blanket for the day, please return to cats on roombas and otter memes.

Collusion to not buy something is called a boycott, and is perfectly legal.

If the bank doesn't want to be soaked, it is their responsibility to set a minimum reserve and properly advertise the auction.

brimic

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #19 on: June 11, 2019, 10:46:51 AM »
Collusion to not buy something is called a boycott, and is perfectly legal.

If the bank doesn't want to be soaked, it is their responsibility to set a minimum reserve and properly advertise the auction.

It isn't legal if people show up to bid and you threaten them into not bidding...
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cordex

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Re: Hundreds Of Farmers Stay Silent During Auction
« Reply #20 on: June 11, 2019, 02:02:31 PM »
If the bank doesn't want to be soaked, it is their responsibility to set a minimum reserve and properly advertise the auction.
Worst case the bank representative would bid to buy it.