An Auction and Entropy on the Farm

There's an old joke about a minister visiting a farmer for Sunday dinner. The farmer had spent years reclaiming some land pulling stumps and leveling the land. Now there were fertile fields in every direction. The minister said tot eh farmer, "You and the Lord have done some pretty nice work here." The farmer's response was, "You should have seen it when the Lord had it to himself."
Ba dump bump.

I live with the miracles of farming on a regular basis, but I can appreciate what that old farmer said. It takes a lot of energy to make a farm go. It reminds me of the Laws of Thermodynamics: there is the tendency of things to go from order to disorder. It takes a lot of energy to keep things from going to disorder and chaos on the farm.

The picture above is from an auction last week. Some neighbors sold out after a lifetime of farming. These guys were excellent farmers who put a lot of energy and intelligence into their farm. In one sense it was sad to see it end. On the other hand, they retired by choice. I have been to auctions after the owner has passed away or lost the farm. There is a sense of real sadness at those auctions.

Next week we will talk about the recent elections and if they make any difference on the farm.