i just got back from an all day rural auction, and i have good news.

[UpsideDownFlag]

from where i stand, the heartland doesn't belong to Bush. I saw 3 or 4 Bush stickers and maybe 15 kerry (or faded dean) stickers in a parking lot of 100 cars.

I may be counting my eggs before they hatch, but i think we're in for a pleasant surprise come nov.

[Cha]

1. Rual, huh? Sounds really good..because you know

in 2000 that ..that would have been so different,eh?

[jeff30997]

2. I sure hope so.

[soothsayer]

3. neat! what's at a rural auction? corn and grain and cows and horses?

I love to go to the horse auction in rural VA (not far out of DC), except my friend always points out the 'meat dealers' <shudder>

[UpsideDownFlag]

4. farm stuff, furniture, tractors, feed.

out in farmin country

[Andromeda]

5. This is what I like to hear.

encouraging news like this helps keep my morale up.

[gmoney]

6. Bad news: auctions

The farm auction itself is an indication of the economy...

I see huge numbers of yard sales, cars for sale, houses for sale, etc. around my area...

[havocmom]

7. Lots of auctions these days are due to old age.

Sometimes the finances are OK (not great, but OK) the farmer is just old and has to hang it up.

The median age for farmers is something like 54 or 55 in this country and in many areas there are no farmers under 40 at all. When they get infirm and need to stay in out of the elements, or when they die, there will be an auction. Not all of them are those foreclosure things we had too many of in the 80s. There's still too many, but some are not foreclosures sales.

Around where I live, if a fella is getting frail and maybe has to move into an assisted living situation, everybody goes to the auction and are very happy to pay way more for some old tool than a new, better one would cost. It is sort of their way to pay tribute to a neighbor who worked hard, got by but never go rich, and was usually a good person. It is sort of a way for them to help an old friend's retirement be not quite so bothersome. Many farmers don't have much but equipment at the end of a lifetime of work. Farming doesn't usually offer the best retirement benefits.

[UpsideDownFlag]

8. i forgot to mention, it was an estate auction

somebody croaked.

[DieboldMustDie]

9. In rural Mississippi?

:bounce: