Family Ties Ch. 06

"From what Grandpa was telling me, the farm just about runs itself. His farm manager does most of the crop and paper work, Gramps pretty much concentrates on the business end of the training facility. The crops are mostly for eating around here, a few feed crops for the livestock and enough corn or hay to keep his farm designation for tax and privacy purposes." I stopped embarrassed that I had jumped in on their personnel conversation.

My Father looked at me as if I had done something surprising. "Go on."

"With the size of the farm, Gramps could qualify for farm subsidies for not growing certain crops. The government pays farmers to not grow crops that there is a surplus of or that they want to keep the prices artificially high on. Gramps could probably see another two million a year in subsidies alone."

"So where did you learn all this?" Gramps asked.

"Economics class. It's a required course."

Dad and Gramps looked at me and at each other. Gramps made the pronouncement that would change my life forever. "Richard, I think if we get him to adjust his final year's classes a bit we have a new owner/ manager of this place."

The "discussion" went on the rest of the afternoon and far into the night and the next day and the week after that, but by the end of the summer we had all agreed that after I graduated next spring, Gramps would retire, Dad and I would move onto the farm and the family business would be under new management, Mine. Dad would handle the training end until I finished learning the ropes, so to speak and I would handle the economics of running both the farm and training facility.

I never did get to learn how to throw a whip that summer but all in good time; after all I had the rest of my life to learn. Oh and I got an apartment off campus for my senior year. It made it easier than explaining why there was a constantly naked and bound female in my dorm room, besides Sis liked being the alpha slave of our own place.