ELMER TELLS ABOUT AMISH BUYING FARMS

Someone asked how did John have the money to pay cash for his farm?  Did John farm on his own for a while?  This is another situation that leads me around to the subject.  Back when I was John's age, the groom's parents usually gave their son a piece of land to build a house and set up a farm on.   Many Amish still do.  But, if you have several sons, and the high cost of land today, it's hard if not impossible to do.  So now days, many son's have to purchase their own property.  As I stated in another post, we offered John our farm, but he wanted a smaller farm that he and Sarah could build on their own.

John has worked since he was a child.  He worked on our farm, helped on other farms and worked for pay on farms.  Amish help one another when needed and that includes farming.  Also, sometimes people would hire him.  He has worked for Amish, Old Order Mennonites and Englishers.  When an Amish child works outside of the home, part of their pay goes to their parents.  Instead of Anna and I keeping the money, when we received our children's pay, we opened savings accounts at the bank and put their money there.  When they reached 21 or married, whatever they did first, we gave them the money.

Aside from farming John has worked in factories, construction, and more.  John is a saver.  His goal was to be able to buy a farm when the time came that he would marry.  He also saves his change. He has a big jar and every night before he goes to bed, he puts his change in that jar.  He has filled , I don't how many jars over the years.  When the jar is full, he rolls the coins, takes them down to the bank and deposits them in his savings account.

How do people buy a farm without a loan?  Much like John did.  They are hard workers and save their money so they can buy a farm.  Most farms today are not as large as they were when I was a child or my Father was a child because of the cost of land today.

Where does someone get a loan if they need it to start a farm?  Most Amish go to Amish for a loan.  Sometimes relatives or friends will loan money for them to buy a farm.  If there is no one that can give them a loan - then we go to the bank.  We try not to go to the bank.  If they do, they try to pay back that loan as fast as they can.  Amish do not like debts.

None of our children ever had to get a bank loan when they bought their farms.  They have taken a loan for farm machinery, planting, etc.  More than once, Anna and I had to help them out money wise.   If they had just asked us before they went to the bank, we would have loaned them the money.  All of our children are hard workers.

Anna and I will probably keep a few acres of our land to build a house and barn.  But, we look around, too.  One of the main reasons, we will probably have to build is Anna's living area all on one floor and she means it.  There aren't many farm houses in this area with all the living area on one floor.  Anna will still have a large garden when we get our farm.  We will still have cows, but not as many as we do now.  Also, we will have land, but not as much as we do now.  We are getting where we don't want as much work as we have now.  But again, we're not ready to sit around and do nothing either.  We have to do something pretty soon as my daughter and son-in-law want our house soon.

Trust God's Wisdom,
Elmer