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New London, Wisconsin | I saw it and it was hard to watch. I was struggling but not quite as bad as the folks in the movie, and was fortunate to get through it. From this many years on, many of those who got hit hardest and lost, either are not around to tell the story, or won't want to.
I know of some who got sold out for what ever the bank got that day. I was offered a piece of land at $600 an acre by the same lender who unfairly took it from a pretty good farmer. They clarified it was selling and the farmer was losing it whether I bought or didn't. It was $1500 land two years before that sale. I bid but did not get it. I could barely afford it even at that price.
Each lender and regional board had a bit different method or line in the sand of who stayed and who got sold out. We became friends with some other school parents and I learned he was hired to be the hatchet man and arrange sales. He never slept well, and hated his job. He also knew if he quit another guy would do his job and likely with less care than the little bit he was allowed. They of course fired him too when he finished his task. He tried to mitigate and use some compassion.
At that time our PCA must have been rather upside down on the balance sheet itself and they didn't really care if a farms lost a half million in net worth while getting flushed so they could close out the loan on time. No effort in the sales I saw were made to see that any farm customer was treated with any fairness or respect.
Other areas had a far different way of dealing with this. It seemed to have a varied response depending on where you lived. I was a PCA and land bank customer for about 5 years. When markets went south they said I should go too as it would be doing me a favor. The favors they did to others would indicate otherwise. A local bank said they would be glad to have me, and proved it by taking over all the loans and dropping my interest rate 3 full points. I never went back to farm credit and never will. I only have bitter memories of that place. So yes the movie was very real and very hard to watch.
I've heard people tell me "it wasn't bad if you were a good farmer to start" That's not true. It was a paradigm shift in lender practice that caught many of the early adopters by surprise. Those who waited and got in after the crash benefit immensely from the misfortune. Can't blame them for picking up the pieces at bargain prices. Just clarifying is wasn't fairly done. Some made money, and some lost everything, and a lot of those were good people and good farmers.
Jim | |
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Like to hear thoughts on 1984 farm movie "Country"
