Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello to all and hope my opinions do not offend anyone, that's not my intentions we (our family) are just so let down by the "wolf in sheep's clothing" which is Iowa unfortunately. I'm mainly referring to Iowa farmer's.
We moved here from the beautiful state of Colorado in 09 for my husband's career at the U of I. We built a new home in rural Washington county in 2010 and thing's started to decline rapidly thereafter. Instead of the local farmer's stopping by to introduce themselves or just say hello, the conversations were, "how much land are you buying" and "make sure you know your plot line's", or "what are planning for that 6 acres of grass back there".
There has only been one farm family stop by to welcome us and keep in touch. They too are transplants from Ohio here to Iowa in 1998 and were treated like foreigners by the farm owners. They said when they built their new home in 2000 a schoolmate of their son's said "my dad is building a hog confinement in back of you guys to make you leave". Well guess what ?!, in 2011 the farmer to our South built a huge confinement as close as law permitted !. What's up with the farmer's in Iowa !?
I'm hoping not to offend you, but truthfully, my first thought when I read your post was that maybe they don't like people coming in from other states, buying up what used to be farm land, and building homes where for decades their families used to farm. (I'm not trying to be sarcastic.)
Plus, farmers don't tend to have time to just hang out, the ones I have known, anyway, work from sunup to sundown.
Don't want to offend Farmers, but they are for the most part busy around the clock. Zero time for socializing. For the most part, that's how they were brought up. When they do interact, they're going to talk about what they know and what interests them. It's what they know. If you feel bad that they don't "drop by" and desire some interaction, hang out at the feed store for a while.
And since many farmers rent land to work as well as working their own, the questions about acreage being bought and projected use of some of it could be an indirect way of finding out if it might be available for lease.
The comment about property lines is valid. It's much easier to establish them before they're encroached upon than after you build something over the line.
As far as a hog raising enterprise goes, What did you expect, you moved to a farming area? Have you ever lived in a farming area before?
Hello to all and hope my opinions do not offend anyone, that's not my intentions we (our family) are just so let down by the "wolf in sheep's clothing" which is Iowa unfortunately. I'm mainly referring to Iowa farmer's.
We moved here from the beautiful state of Colorado in 09 for my husband's career at the U of I. We built a new home in rural Washington county in 2010 and thing's started to decline rapidly thereafter. Instead of the local farmer's stopping by to introduce themselves or just say hello, the conversations were, "how much land are you buying" and "make sure you know your plot line's", or "what are planning for that 6 acres of grass back there".
There has only been one farm family stop by to welcome us and keep in touch. They too are transplants from Ohio here to Iowa in 1998 and were treated like foreigners by the farm owners. They said when they built their new home in 2000 a schoolmate of their son's said "my dad is building a hog confinement in back of you guys to make you leave". Well guess what ?!, in 2011 the farmer to our South built a huge confinement as close as law permitted !. What's up with the farmer's in Iowa !?
I have had a similar experience in Maine.
If the farmers didn't want anyone on that land, they should have bought it.
Finding out through kids at school about building a hog confinement next to your property shows how the next generation is being taught how to treat people through harassment.
I think a lot of their comments are to alert the OP that they weren't buying into a cute "farm neighborhood", but in a fully functioning industrial farming area. They aren't weekend farmers whose main income comes from a dependable university job. They need to make a living off the land and that requires using it intensively with all of its smells and annoyances.
The OP may not be one of those weekend farmers who becomes annoyed by the way rural land is actually used, but the complaints of these types are a threat to farmer's livelihoods. It happens in urban areas too, where owners and users of industrial zoned land fight the incursion of residential construction because those who move in will eventually object to the sights, sounds, and smells of the already present industrial work.
Lol, I've moved an awful lot in life (average less than 2 years in the same place for more than 20 years), I've never been "welcomed" by neighbors. Bought and sold 4 homes now, rural, urban (no suburban), always the same story. That includes Colorado and even my home town in Wyoming after 15 years away.
As for the comments:
How much land are you buying = are you "playing" at farming or really farming. Might have been some helpful advice for someone farming on the same scale as the person who said this.
Know your plot lines = it costs everyone time, money and headache to resolve these kinds of disputes, know where your rights end and your neighbors begin.
What are your plans for that back 6 acres = hey, can I rent that from you for grazing for my horses?
Different lingo, same meaning.
As for the kids saying things in school, it's like no boy has EVER said to another boy "My dad can beat up your dad".
Perspective. If you're looking for reasons to be angry and hateful, they are Plenty easy to find. Takes no effort, skill or cognitive ability at all. Trying to understand the perspective of another is much harder, Especially if you're a transplant and have zero insight into local life.
Last edited by Brian_M; 08-17-2017 at 07:49 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
