I had changed into my Red Wing work boots and work clothes. There was always something that needed to be done on a farm.
“Could you show us around?” Uncle John asked.
Mr. Hass took us on the tour. His barns were some of the cleanest I’d ever seen. He had six barns. The smallest was the workshop and office. He currently had a combine pulled in, getting it ready for harvest. The next barn had all his tractors and trucks in it. The rest of the barns were for hay.
“All of our hay is stored in open-sided steel buildings, which greatly increases airflow and in turn, the quality. Airflow and the reduced sun-bleaching that the buildings provide also help produce quality hay.
“We raise corn and soybeans in addition to hay, so we’re able to rotate our fields out of hay production approximately once every six years. By doing this, we can greatly increase the uniformity of our hayfields and reduce weed presence and insect pressures in our hay,” Mr. Hass told us.
“No cattle?” Dad asked.
“I leave raising cattle to your crazy brother. I like to take a day off every now and then. Cattle need to be tended to daily.”
Uncle John and I both laughed. We knew Mr. Hass was busy every day too. He did get some downtime in the winter. He had hay to sell during the winter months. It was the reason he had the hay storage buildings. He made more money after everyone else had sold their hay right after harvest.
My parents, Uncle John and Mr. Hass continued their tour of the farm. I took Tami and we found a couple of bean hooks and headed to the soybean field. Tami had walked beans before, so we each took three rows and started using the bean hooks to remove any weeds. Most kids who have lived in the Midwest near farms have either walked beans or detasseled corn.
Detasseling corn is a form of pollination control, used to cross-breed two varieties of corn. The tassels have to be removed from one type of corn so it can be pollinated by another type. Machines are able to get about 75% of the tassels removed. For the process to work, you need 99.5% of the tassels removed. I think it’s almost a rite of passage for teens in farm communities to work the fields. It’s an easy way to make a few extra bucks during the summer.
Walking beans was a mindless chore. It gave Tami a chance to talk to me. We really didn’t talk about anything important, just two friends catching up. Uncle John whistled to call us back in after about an hour. Mrs. Hass had more iced tea waiting for us when we got back.
“David, remember when you said you wanted Kendal and I to find you investments?” Mom asked.
I looked at her and saw Mr. Hass and Uncle John looking anxious. I looked at Tami and she reached over and touched my arm with a hint of a smile on her face. I got the uneasy feeling everyone knew what was going on but me.
“Sure, did you find something?” I asked.
“A partnership with the Hass farm, your uncle, and Grandma Dawson,” Mom said.
I wasn’t sure how I could afford something like this. The combine sitting in his workshop would run nearly $350,000 new, just for the basic model. Most farms were in debt up to their eyeballs and ran on a very slim margin. A couple of bad years and a farmer would find himself out of business. One consideration that kept me from rejecting them out of hand was that my mom had brought me the proposal. Another consideration was that it involved both my uncle and Mr. Hass, two men I had a lot of respect for.
Yet another consideration that made me interested was the current return I was getting from the bank. If this partnership proposal could show me better than a 1.25% return, I was interested.
“Okay, tell me more,” I said.
“We’re offering you a 25% interest in our venture. Your grandmother will put up her farm as her buy-in for a 25% interest. John will provide the labor and be trained by me and receive a 10% interest plus a salary,” Mr. Hass said, leaving him with a 40% interest. “You will provide the money.”
When they told me my buy-in amount, I shot iced tea out my nose! I didn’t come close to having the kind of money they needed. Mom calmed me down and explained about leveraging other people’s money. I needed to put 25% down and borrow the rest. They were willing to allow me to use the two farms as collateral to secure the loans because they were going to combine everything under one company. The amount needed would take 80% of my savings.
“I need to think about this,” I said.
Tami got a big smile on her face. I think she recognized the old David would have made a snap decision.
I TOOK THE JEEP BACK to Uncle John’s house. We were all going to the Coffee House for dinner tonight. I wanted fresh catfish, and they would cook it for you if you brought it in. We loaded up the Jeep and talked Greg into going with us to the pond. We had caught six nice ones before I was ready to talk. We tossed them in the stock tank to keep the catfish alive.
“I need to know what you guys think,” I said.
“I think doing business with family is both good and bad. I’d be nervous doing it,” Greg said.
“Your mom would never have suggested this if she didn’t think this was a good deal for you. I trust her judgment,” Tami said.
Great, one ‘no’ and one ‘yes.’ Tami was right. I had neither the knowledge nor the time to figure out if this was a good deal or not. I trusted my mom, Uncle John and Mr. Hass. I also knew my grandmother was shrewd with money. If she was willing to include the family farm in the mix, I knew she was okay with what they proposed. They weren’t asking me to help run the business. I needed to look at this strictly as an investment, one in which I was investing in my family.
Tami smiled at me.
“I think it’ll be okay,” was all she said.
We stopped when we had caught eighteen catfish. We transferred them to a couple of coolers with ice. I drove them into town and dropped the fish off at the Coffee House. I was met at the backdoor by Grace, the owners’ college-age daughter. I had flirted with her the last couple of years until I found out she’d hooked up with my uncle.
“David, I hear you have some fish for us. Who’s your cute friend?” Grace asked.
“This is Tami, my girlfriend,” I said as a reflex response.
Tami didn’t bat an eye. I think she could figure out why I was calling her my girlfriend. She got out of the Jeep and she and Grace walked into the kitchen like old friends. I was left to deal with the coolers of fish. Grace’s mom checked them out and had me put the coolers in the walk-in. Grace’s mom and I talked about a new recipe she had for catfish which had a honey-mustard pecan crust. She also had a bourbon sauce she would put over it.
Tami finally came back and found me helping chop pecans. I just shook my head when I saw her satisfied look. She had gained a tidbit or two from Grace. I introduced Tami to Grace’s parents and then we headed back to the farm.
We all came back to the Coffee House and had a wonderful family dinner. I ended up with Kyle and Mac on either side of me and I helped them with their dinner. They were at the age where they were curious about everything. I taught them how to wad up their napkins and throw them at Grace. She didn’t mind because it kept them busy and not fussing. I was a little worried what Greg and Angie planned to teach my kids when I had them!
Friday July 3
I PULLED GREG OUT OF bed and we took care of the cows. When we got back, I went for a run and did sixty minutes of hell to get my workouts out of the way. Tami rolled out of bed and we went with Mom and Dad to the Coffee House for breakfast.
I asked Grace to visit the bakery next door to get coffee cakes as a treat for the group of retired farmers who liked to come in for breakfast every day. They were my biggest fans. Uncle John had been bragging about my getting offers and going to the two Elite camps for football.