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| Long story short, I rent 157 acre field that borders a 320 acre field that I own, live on, and use as my main headquarters. I have been tenant on that land for the last 30 years after the owner ,a good friend, developed some health issues and had to stop farming very early in his career. Since his passing 10 years ago I have rented from his children and we have/had a good relationship although we do not have much contact other than phone calls and letters as they are absentee and live in Colorado and Arizona. The agreement I had with my friend ,their father, was a flat rate per acre due in March and September with a "bonus" equal to 2% of the value of the crop harvested on the field. My friend took his "bonus" in grain as he always fed a steer and a couple hogs for fun as well as food. It was his way of keeping connected to agriculture even with his health problems. The agreement with his children is much the same except their "bonus" is just the cash value of 2% of the crop harvested on that field which I mail to them. This agreement has worked well and I feel that both parties have been treated fair.
Now for the trouble. There is another farmer around here that has the reputation for being a bit of a liar and instigator. I have never shown any hostility toward him as I have always hoped to avoid a run in with him because I know a few people that have. He's the type of person that knows every trick and deceitful tactic to cheat other people. I guess his crosshairs finally fell on me as back in August as he contacted the children by phone and said based on the soil types of the field and the condition of the crops growing there if I'm paying less than $375 an acre I'm basically stealing it from them. He had a long story concocted about how much money my friend lost because I cheated him on rent and other such nonsense. Well shortly after he contacted them I received a termination notice in the mail and a call from their lawyer whom the children hired together.
Here's where it gets interesting. The piece of land in question is about 60% sand with the better soils falling in a flood plain. I don't deny that it can grow some good crops but maybe once every 6-8 years. The sand burns up immediately if July/August are a little bit dry and will flood in May/June at least once. 2020 just happens to be a year that everything worked out well and the corn made it through. Only the extremely sandy soils showed any kind of stress this year. After speaking with the children and explaining my side to them they still wanted me to match the $375 offer. I told them that I couldn't and if they could get that kind of money from him they should. Well surprise surprise he immediately back pedaled and retracted his offer because "he had new information" or some such BS and the new offer he gave was actually much LESS than what I've been paying for the last few years. Coffee shop talk is that the land has been shopped around and no new offers have matched what I was paying so now they want to rent it back to me under the same agreement.
I was always fair to their Dad and paid top dollar because he was a good friend and because I didn't want someone else in my wheelhouse for lack of a better term. What do I do here? Say it's water under the bridge and rent from them again or walk away and let them have a dose of reality for a change? Really irritated that they would think I would take advantage of their father or them.
Edit for spelling.
Edited by mnfarmer213 9/30/2020 14:56
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Why are some people so committed to causing trouble for others? Long Post
