Good morning!!!!

[Bird]

Kyle, it sounds like you might need to get acquainted with a lawyer, if you're not already.

Weird weather here today. Current temperature of 65 going for a high of 73 and a bit foggy. But the weird thing is that it was 55 degrees around 9 p.m. last night and has been steadily climbing instead of falling ever since. No rain, but my wooden deck/patio is covered in water and even the outside of the door into the shop is very wet, all with condensation.

It reminds me of the morning many years ago, down in the country when I went out to my 40 x 60 foot metal shop building with a concrete floor, and found my tractor sitting in a big puddle. That gave me a little scare with my first thought being a bad leak. But as it turned out, it was just condensation from the weather change. Sure was a relief when I realized that.

 

[txdon]

Our property is a hay farm. 2 Neighbors want to replace the barbed wire fences for cattle. We have no cattle now, nor never had. The current fence is a very poor barbed wire fence, with the wires on OUR side, so it belongs to us. They want us to pay 1/2 for the new fences. They did not ask kindly. My hay doesn't break down any fences.

It's easy to say "give in", good fences make good neighbors...but money is tight and I'd rather spend it other ways. One of them told me he's broke, but that he has many cows that are worth $5-6 thousand each.

First, it does not matter which side of the post the barbed wire is on. Does he just want to replace the wire or does he want a professional fence installer, like my cousin, to provide materials and replace everything? The range between the two can be $100 or $2,000. Not looking at the law that Rick pointed out but just a fair compromise of being a good neighbor, I would say to offer to halves repair of the fence, only replacing what is rusted through or rotten. (two rolls of barbed wire ought to contain his cattle) Or maybe you can make an arrangement with him about paying with the hay on your place. How long is the stretch of fence?

He might have paid 5-6 thousand a head but at the auction like buckeye said max will be 1K maybe 2K with a heavy very large young bull. He can only get $5-6K if he sells privately.

I shared my fence on halves with the property owners that had cows and the the other property owner that did not have cows and I could not locate the owner (multiple questionable owners by no recorded will for 100 years). So for 4000' I did that fence by myself.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Thanks for the fence information guys. No, it is not the new neighbors. I need to text the new neighbor and see if they made the same demands on them.

I really do wish I had the money to help them.

The 2 neighbors wanting me to pay have benefited from OUR barbed wire fence for at least 20 years that I know of. That's how long we've been associated to this land. They brought up complaining to the county tax assessor, and one of them so far, called and talked about previous litigation(s) that he's initiated.

My wife says it is nothing short of blackmail. There has been no bad blood between us for nearly 20 years, but then there's not been any monies between us either. No surprise that money would drive this. In fact, when we first got this land, we let 1 of them run HIS cattle on our place for a while, for FREE. The other I have hired/paid over the years for various farm services. I offered him our hay (for free) this past year if he wanted to come cut, rake and bale it.

Can I force them to build their new fence on their side, leaving mine in place?

Here's another resource for you Kyle.

https://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/files/2016/08/Five-Strands-for-Download.pdf

 

[txdon]

Kyle, My mom might have some used post for sale very cheap if you want to just repair. Let me know if you need steel post or wood post and how many. All expenses will be tax deductible for him if he if he files as a farming business.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Here are the ever changing Forecasts for snow on Jan 18:
1/13 - 3-5”
1/14 am - 5-8” 90%
1/14 pm - 1-3” 90%
1/15 am - 3-5” 100%

 

[lostcreekranch]

Kyle, My mom might have some used post for sale very cheap if you want to just repair. Let me know if you need steel post or wood post and how many. All expenses will be tax deductible for him if he if he files as a farming business.

And purchased materials can be exempt of sales tax if you have an Ag Timber Number.

Agricultural and Timber Exemptions and Texas Taxes

You can register / renew online.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Wife just said her dad is back in hospital. Not sure what is wrong, testing for stroke.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Other than having to live with herself nothing as the statute of limitations is 20 years. She told the detectives who went to her home she has waited for the knock on her door for 32 years. She was at the time a very young girl who his her pregnancy from family, friends and even the father. Delivered on her own and didn't know what to do.

How sad.
Sure was nice what you all did.

 

[txdon]

They brought up complaining to the county tax assessor, and one of them so far, called and talked about previous litigation(s) that he's initiated.

My wife says it is nothing short of blackmail. There has been no bad blood between us for nearly 20 years, but then there's not been any monies between us either. No surprise that money would drive this. In fact, when we first got this land, we let 1 of them run HIS cattle on our place for a while, for FREE. The other I have hired/paid over the years for various farm services. I offered him our hay (for free) this past year if he wanted to come cut, rake and bale it.

Can I force them to build their new fence on their side, leaving mine in place?

He can complain to the tax assessor and you cannot force him to build on his side. You might want to get your hay baled this year and take pics, start preparing to prove your Agg exemption. Even if you halves fence with him he might complain. You might be forced to lease your land for cattle (or loose exemption) and will need a good fence before anyone will lease it. If you get your own cattle you need pens to load them but you don't need a trailer the auction barn will pick them up. It could cost you 10 cows and pens and a yard fence. Bird's idea of talking to a lawyer is good if you have an extra $300, but you may not like what he's says.

Have you looked into the wildlife exemption, that was my fall back to keep the Agg exemption if I couldn't get someone to lease the land for cattle.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

BEF, how are you doing with work and driving and such?
.

I’m managing. Driving makes my right leg hurt and traffic doesn’t help. still lots of tingling in feet and still some in hands.

Starting to get lots more work, next month and half will be busy. It always comes in cycles.