If it Ain't Broke, Don't Buy a New One

One of the things my dad always says is, 'The only way to have money is not to spend it.' And he doesn't just preach that, he has always lived it. That saver's attitude is responsible for much rust, repairs, and 'historic' pieces of equipment on our farm, for example: having the same old (but functional!) cattle trailer for roughly 256 years. That attitude is what has made the Broken B successful, though, so I can't hate it.

The exact polar opposite of my parents' frugal attitude was evident last weekend, when my brother and I went to a farmer's bankruptcy sale. Let me first say that it was a hard decision for us even to go. It's a tough thing to go and tromp around a farm that someone else has poured the heart and soul and sweat of generations into, and has come up painfully short. You feel a little like a black-hearted vulture, looking to scoop up a good deal at the expense of one of your own: a piece of equipment or machinery that might have been a 4th generation farmer's purchase of a lifetime, now up for grabs to the highest bidder.

On the other hand, taking the emotion out of it and looking at the situation entirely from a practical business perspective, the sale flyer listed several things that would certainly help out around the Broken B. And, in keeping with my dad's theme, why should we pay new prices for something we might be able to get for less? And so, our practical side won out.

Once we arrived at the sale, we realized: This was not a farmer to be felt sorry for having done things right, been smart about his business, and worked his tail off only to go under anyway. This was a guy who'd hitched a ride on the Credit Express and rode that train all the way down the line to Skidsville. Barely a rust spot in sight, the equipment and machinery lined up along the top of the hill had hardly seen ONE year of use, let alone 256. His working facilities and pens were exquisite in their setup and quality. And it wasn't just Wal-Mart-type bargain basement stuff, either. This guy had leveraged himself to the top of his Carhartts, with the Cadillac of Everything.

My brother and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows, and said (dad would be so proud), 'And this is the way you DON'T do things.'

So, we raised our hands a few times and challenged our fellow auction-goers to the strategy game of Bidding. (Getting a good deal and winning at a live auction really is another art form that a farmer has to be good at. Maybe that'll be a future post.) We won some things, lost others, and came away with a couple of items that will make working the cattle this spring a whole lot easier ... and we'll probably still be using those things when the NEXT generation takes over the farm. Because the only way to have money is not to spend it.