Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Home from testing. 8 p.m. Cold out there... 39 already and supposed to go down below freezing. Was 34 this morning lows, and only got up to 46. Stayed mostly cloudy and there was enough wind to make it just plain cold.

From what I have heard the owners of the mule don't have any insurance on the animals... don't know what they have for homeowners... No offense to anyone on here, but they have a little "mini-farm" and are wannabe type farmers... I know his insurance will cover things for now... but I am sick to death of people like this that move to the country and want to have this and that and don't take proper care of things... I get shoe string budgets.... BUT keep the DAM#@D animals fenced in.....or get rid of them. EVERY single farmer I know has had animals get out... and some have had multiple issues... BUT MOST conscientious farmers fix fences, and do their best to keep their animals in. Just like I went to fix the fence the afternoon DS got the call when we were chopping corn and I went and fixed it and put the one cow in.... but not day after day all summer, like these animals have been out.

Sorry for my attitude, but if I am asked, I am going to push to SUE THEM... for all the things @Ridgetop mentioned. We have a fence out law here in our county... BUT, there are different rules for them getting on the roads... and in this case, they are a public nuisance because they have been out countless times. I don't know all the particulars, and GF probably won't tell me anything unless I ask, but this is getting to be too much. Yes, he has had more than his share of accidents and things that have not been his fault... and he is suffering for it more. This is definitely is not going to help the headaches and all that he is still dealing with. Plus the eye irritation from the glass.... he needs something for the lost time at work and the pain and suffering......
I have texted both him and her since neither is answering and it is going to voice mail.

Chickens locked in... brahma's were in the crate but had to get the leghorn ckl off the straw bale and put him in... Haven't seen the pullet with them being locked in.

Got samples to pack and going to eat something and go to bed.

 

[Mini Horses]

If they have a mortgage, they have to have insurance...farm/homeowners. Their liability coverage will be required to pay. DS should get an attorney...NOW. while there may be an expense for attny, it will be worth their collecting all he deserves for injury, etc .and the knowledge they have. They will get percentage of settlement.

They will push for liability and negligence, since repeated issues with animals out. They will do the research. Of course, property loss, pay loss, medical, etc.

 

[farmerjan]

I just talked to DS and he sounds good considering. Says he is sore as all get out. I asked about the people and he says they don't have any insurance on the animals, and I asked if they own their place and he says he doesn't know... I said that he needs to really consider that there could be other problems down the road from this. And that being mr nice guy doesn't cut it. That he is going to suffer from this pain, lost work, etc.... he deserves some sort of compensation for their negligence with the animals.... He says GF is going to the farm bureau ins office tomorrow. That is what she did for a living for 20 years before she finally went out on disability from the mental and emotional stress from the cancer and years of dealing with when she got shot years ago... I am not going to get into it because I am not so sure it was not partly just to be able to quit working... and yes, she has had some very traumatic things happen over the years... but..... well, not my place..... so in essence, "they are handling this".....

OKAAAAYYYYYY..... He does have an eye dr appt tomorrow... that is good.

 

[SageHill]

Home from testing. 8 p.m. Cold out there... 39 already and supposed to go down below freezing. Was 34 this morning lows, and only got up to 46. Stayed mostly cloudy and there was enough wind to make it just plain cold.

From what I have heard the owners of the mule don't have any insurance on the animals... don't know what they have for homeowners... No offense to anyone on here, but they have a little "mini-farm" and are wannabe type farmers... I know his insurance will cover things for now... but I am sick to death of people like this that move to the country and want to have this and that and don't take proper care of things... I get shoe string budgets.... BUT keep the DAM#@D animals fenced in.....or get rid of them. EVERY single farmer I know has had animals get out... and some have had multiple issues... BUT MOST conscientious farmers fix fences, and do their best to keep their animals in. Just like I went to fix the fence the afternoon DS got the call when we were chopping corn and I went and fixed it and put the one cow in.... but not day after day all summer, like these animals have been out.

Sorry for my attitude, but if I am asked, I am going to push to SUE THEM... for all the things @Ridgetop mentioned. We have a fence out law here in our county... BUT, there are different rules for them getting on the roads... and in this case, they are a public nuisance because they have been out countless times. I don't know all the particulars, and GF probably won't tell me anything unless I ask, but this is getting to be too much. Yes, he has had more than his share of accidents and things that have not been his fault... and he is suffering for it more. This is definitely is not going to help the headaches and all that he is still dealing with. Plus the eye irritation from the glass.... he needs something for the lost time at work and the pain and suffering......
I have texted both him and her since neither is answering and it is going to voice mail.

Chickens locked in... brahma's were in the crate but had to get the leghorn ckl off the straw bale and put him in... Haven't seen the pullet with them being locked in.

Got samples to pack and going to eat something and go to bed.

I’m totally with you on this. There is no excuse for this to happen multiple times. If they are wanna be farmers then they better well darn sure DO THE JOB or get out.

 

[Ridgetop]

Don't worry about the cost of paying for attorneys on a personal injury lawsuit. In cases like this the plaintiff attorney will usually take the case on a percentage deal. Normal fee arrangement is 25-30% if settled out of court, 50% if it goes to trial. (I was a legal secretary for years for both plaintiff, defense, and insurance attorneys.)

The attorneys will go after the animal owners and check into their insurance, and monetary holdings. If there is other insurance available or contributing factors to the accident (the city/county did not trim shrubbery causing lack of visibility, OR the county did not enforce the fencing laws on these people keeping their stock under control) then they will go after those avenues as well. In fact, the county could arrest the mule owner as being the cause of the accident if they had been warned or cited before. The owner of the property with the bad fences can also be held liable if they did not tell the tenants to get rid of the livestock that were hazards. If these people are tenants, then the property owners will have some form of insurance and that insurance might cover some of the damages.

We are lucky as arm owners because our cattle tenant is very responsible for the fencing on the property. Since he has good cow/calf pairs and a bull on the property, he makes sure it is in good repair. It is in his rental contract which I wrote up too. He has already replaced about 1600' of 5 strand barbed wire cattle fencing on the south (long arm) side of the property. Every time we go to Texas, we drive around the perimeter and check the fencing too. HOWEVER, because I make sure to protect our liability as owners (legal secretary remember) we also carry an additional commercial policy on our farm property which protects us from escaped animals, and any liability caused by tenants.

Have GF and DS go to a GOOD Personal Injury attorney. Even if the mule owners are tenants and rent, the property owner will have to have some sort of property insurance and that policy should have a liability amount against which the attorney can make a claim.

Print this out and give it to DS and GF if you think it will help. With GF's background in insurance, she will know about owner's liability portions on insurance even if the tenant is liable for the damages. I hate to think that the mule owners might try to avoid responsibility due to being tenants or not owning the property!

Loose livestock is something that can happen to anyone occasionally (fences come down in storms, etc.) but that is why we have insurance and continually repair our fences. In this case, these people need to be held accountable both financially and maybe even with an arrest and criminal prosecution for knowingly allow their livestock to roam and cause injury. If DS had been killed this could be a manslaughter charge.

 

[farmerjan]

GF and DS are taking care of it and I am not making anymore comments on it. She has said that they have talked to the insurance and that they will be covering everything then go after the owners. I did find out that the person with the animals does own the place there, and that supposedly she takes in some rescues, and that there have been several complaints about them being out all the time... I was not included in any of it as it was being discussed with some other friends, and GF made it clear that she has it being taken care of, when I suggested that maybe he needs a lawyer to go after the loss of work time and the pain and all... so, whatever. Some of his friends have called me after hearing about it and wondered how he was. I told them what I knew, and one or 2 said that they didn't bother to call him because he never answers his phone and is too busy to call them back half the time.

I went and helped to get the cows in and these other friends were there to help and the cows did real good coming in this time and it went real well. The cow owner said that he was glad to see me and that he thought I was getting around better than this spring when we worked the calves... so we talked a few minutes. Then DS was talking with the friends and GF, and I said well, I guess I will just go. I had driven separately because we use the truck/trailer and a vehicle or 2 to make a larger "funnel" to get the cows into the pen... I came back to the barn, GF drove the truck with the panels and I helped set back up the panels that he had "stolen" from an impromptu alley where he was turning some calves out to eat some grass; then he said they were going to eat at Frank's (local pizza place) so he would see me there. I did go eat, and they talked alot and I just sat and listened... that is where I heard about and was told about the ins taking care of things... As we were leaving, saw some other friends; he used to work at one of the dairies years ago, and his wife and some of their kids.....and then we got to talking.... DS was talking to them also... then next thing I knew, he was gone; so I talked to them a little longer and left to come home. He does not need me to help with the calves tomorrow... so I will go see about raking some hay in the morning before I go to work. Hadn't heard a word about doing any of it today or how he felt or anything.
I will get the one field raked that he is definitely going to sq bale, then I will rake the rest on Saturday....
The wife of these friends is the one that was interested in the Explorer, and she asked me a little about it today, and I told her exactly what DS had already told her... and I said that GF sister was going to help me put it on social media for sale, and so she asked what I was asking, and I told her that the Ford place would give me 16,500 and that is what I told DS I would let them have it for... and she said it would be a cash sale so what would I take for it, and I said again that the Ford place would give me 16,500 for it... she wants to maybe help her niece buy a vehicle because hers is always breaking down... and she would let me know tomorrow... well, I am just going to talk to GF sister tomorrow and tell her that we need to just get it listed and sold... because I am not going to keep on with this BS... I am not particularly enamored of these friends... he is an okay person but she is a little bit of a "self important" type, knows all the local gossip..... and they both play the system with getting all sorts of disability and such... have to have lots of nice vehicles and do alot of wheeling and dealing... which is fine... but they are not going to do it at my expense. I honestly do not want to sell it to them anyway... they are the kind to come back and complain after the fact...
It will be better if GF sister and I just get it listed and sold... I will be at work tomorrow anyway, so am not going to go out of my way to try to sell it to them. If she already told DS that they weren't interested and he told me to sell it, why are they pushing this... except to think they are going to get it cheaper...
Do you ever just not have a good feeling about someone? I don't think GF sister likes them much either... she was at the barn after we came back with the calves, to get her son as GF was babysitting for him this afternoon, and she didn't talk to them that much... actually she talked to me more... I don't know.... just something about them that makes me not want to turn my back because I feel like they are strictly out for themselves....

Communication would be nice so I knew what was what.

Got the sample bottles all ready for tomorrow, and will have to take this computer with me to do a jump drive exchange to test here since there is no internet connections of any kind there.

Supposed to warm up the next few days so that will be nice. It got up to 60 here but the wind was brisk so a hooded sweatshirt all day was comfortable. The wind is supposed to drop off the next few days.
Going to get a shower, get all warmed up, and hit the sack. Hope the wind dies down tomorrow so I can get at least the big field raked without freezing!!!! DS is not going to be baling any tomorrow anyway....

 

[Ridgetop]

Do you ever just not have a good feeling about someone? I don't think GF sister likes them much either... she was at the barn after we came back with the calves, to get her son as GF was babysitting for him this afternoon, and she didn't talk to them that much... actually she talked to me more... I don't know.... just something about them that makes me not want to turn my back because I feel like they are strictly out for themselves....

Absolutely! And that feeling that some people call "intuition" is actually your brain assessing everything about the situation, recalling past incidents and experiences, and evaluating all that information to tell you that something is not right. Definitely put it on Craigslist or wherever the GF sister is putting it. If anything goes wrong with the car (and it eventually will, because it is a used car) these are the sort of people that will blame you, come back on you and diss you to everyone for selling them a "lemon". Stay far away from them.

I'm glad that the GF is taking care of the damage and injury situation. With her experience in insurance, she will be able to find a good personal injury attorney an get damages for your son. And it is off your shoulders. Now all you have to worry about is the haying. LOL Maybe she will start taking over some of the other stuff too so that you will not have to listen to your son complaining and griping at you.

 

[farmerjan]

If DS keeps giving her the fun stuff to do, like moving cows from one pasture to another, and other things, that I used to do... then there is no purpose for me to be in this farming enterprise with him (them). I used to feel like he depended on me to do things, now it seems it is either wrong, or I didn't do what he wanted, and he doesn't tell me things but then says he did.... and he never tells me things until last minute. If I am getting pushed out then maybe I need to just get out and go elsewhere....
Seems they have set up to go to the sale on Monday's now... and I am not included....
Might need to see if any of the farmers I used to help, need some part-time help again....maybe get paid and appreciated for the work....

 

[Ridgetop]

Sounds like working with your son isn't so fun anymore anyway. Maybe your idea about doing nurse cows and doing your own thing might be getting closer. If she has to be on call to do stuff that he was having you do then being unpleasant with you, and you can do what you want and get paid for it, I say go for it.

 

[Mini Horses]

Concentrate on you own operation. Maybe after tree season this year you can approach the neighbors about buy/lease an adjacent parcel. A couple acres would let you add "something" to your own likes. More work from home enterprise.

I'm so wanting to NOT go to work this year...like a 360 for me. . Tells me "it's time". That's why I'm looking at farm income to offset my expenses for keeping animals beyond a couple. At some point, it will be just a couple and maybe I'll raise flowers to sell on the corner somewhere.

Already decided to only work 2 stores next year, so 2-3 days, 10-20 hrs a week. Still gives me some off farm time and pocket $ to feel "free" to splurge. I need some little structured obligation to keep me committed. . With more time at home I might develop something else to do!