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Iowa | If you were not carrying much debt when the bottom fell out of the land market, the 80's farm crisis did not seem like much of an issue. It was pretty much business as usual, except a lot of good friends and neighbors were in a world of hurt. If you had significant land debt at values that suddenly became insolvent, the farm crisis was very real. Some were dropped by their banks even when they were able to make payments, leaving them with few options if they could not find another bank to take them in. There were a lot of farm auctions. I don't remember a lot of land being available on the open market, but equipment was dirt cheap. Up until that time, dealers tended to have a large inventory of new equipment available on their lots. I remember my dad saying the manufactures could stop making new equipment for a couple years and there would still be plenty available to get the farming done. The farm crisis later proved him to be right. Since then, most manufacturers avoid building large inventories of unsold equipment.
What I saw that does not usually get mentioned is what a miserable experience it was to be a young farmer hoping to get married and raise a family. Most of the single women left the countryside and went to the cities in other states where the jobs were. This was long before cell phones and the internet. The single women in the cities were reasonably friendly until they asked what I did for a living. Being a farmer was a good way to get brushed off like a piece of dirt. I always dreaded being asked what I did for a living too soon. The results were all too predictable. Even decades later, seeing a TV reality show with women fighting over a bachelor farmer seemed like something from another world. | |
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Like to hear thoughts on 1984 farm movie "Country"
