The owner called me one night and we made an appointment for the next morning to talk. We began hearing about what was available and terms at 8:30 am and had looked at the ground and facilities by 11. Carolynn & discussed it over lunch and by 2 pm had negotiated a deal. So from the time we actually knew the full details of the deal and were offered anything it took us two or three hours to decide.

Although we had heard about them quitting farming a week or two earlier we were on vacation and figured if anything was worth getting it would already be gone. Also it was quite a ways away from us so we just dismissed it. It wasn't until the owner actually called us we knew we had a chance of doing anything. We didn't call him - he called us. The package had already been offered to a bunch of farmers before we even knew about it - four that I know of for sure. The only reason we had it offered to us is because it was a bigger bite than most people could or wanted to chew and so nobody had rented it yet. There were probably 30 farmers that would have liked bits and pieces of the deal - we were the only one willing to take the whole package with buildings, bins and all.

I guess if you count the time from when we heard they were quitting maybe a couple weeks but we sure hadn't started considering it then. Although I guess in another way we have discussed expansion for the last 25 years (shortly after we were married) so I guess the mental attitude started then - so it depends on when you think considerstion started. You could say the deal was 25 years in the making.

John