My car talks to me more than my husband does. This is no exaggeration. I have a new car and it interacts with me on so many levels that I kind of feel like I am cheating on my husband when I drive into town to get groceries.
Most farmers and ranchers I talk with these days are pretty happy about how things are going for them. The high prices paid by farmers for additional farmland and expensive farm equipment bear out their optimism.
Dear Michael: We have built up a nice little nest egg on the side. One of our children farms with us and will likely receive all our farm assets – land, machinery, etc. – while the other two children will receive our savings, life insurance, Roth and any other non-farm assets.
It's basketball tournament time again.
I should have followed the bear’s example. I should have crawled into a deep hole and slept all winter without eating. Sure, people would avoid me in the spring because I would have lost all my social skills and I would be so hungry as to be dangerous, but I wouldn’t find myself in this pred…
Editor’s note: Please enjoy this Dr. Rosmann column from 2016.
Dear Michael: We have an odd situation. When my parents died, they stated in their will that I could buy the land they left my siblings at a discount. However, my siblings are younger than me and I may not live long enough to exercise my option. As such, they are in no hurry to sell.
Wow! One late January morning, as I stepped in the door from my daily feeding chores, JoAnn handed me a note with a lady’s name and phone number. It was Kim Konikow, of Bismarck (N.D.), executive director of the North Dakota Council on the Arts.
She sits on her throne – the Queen of Romance. Her platinum blonde hair is expertly coiffed, framing her small face like a diamond picture frame. Her clear light blue eyes beckon the attention of single men from all corners of the castle like the siren of mermaids beckon sailors into dangero…
Farming, logging, and forestry, were rated as the happiest, most meaningful, and least stressful by workers in these and 17 other occupations, according to an article in the Jan. 6, 2023, edition of the Washington Post. The author, Andrew Van Dam, drew on survey data from the Bureau of Labor…
Dear Michael: We had come to talk to you about our mother about 10 years ago. At the time, she had land, she had life insurance policies and some long-term care insurance. You suggested we move the land over to a life estate for the children and the life insurance policies be moved to our ow…
I don’t know if it’s the same in big cities but in rural small town America, the coffee shop “conventions” are a huge daily survival affair of what everybody else is up to, good or bad, and mostly of those that choose not to be present.
My sister told me recently that she wants to do one of those DNA kits where you can find your ancestral origins.
Editor’s note: Please enjoy this Dr. Rosmann column from 2016.
Dear Michael: We had a simple will to begin with. As our business grew, our attorney suggested a living trust to own our assets. As the years went by, the attorney then suggested an LLC for owning our farm operation and an LLP for our farmland. It has been good for us with these different en…
New years resolutions are “old year resolutions” to me. I don’t make them until December so I don’t have to honor them very long.
My throat had an odd feeling to it when I woke up. I must have been snoring last night. I comforted myself with that thought as I took a pan of cookies out of the oven. I still had another 10 dozen to roll out and glaze and decorate. It was fine. It would all be fine. Company was coming for …
Have you noticed that each year the soil and bodies of water in temperate climate zones shift almost overnight from warm to colder as the environment cools each fall and reverses each spring? I can detect the annual thermal declines and inclines at our home water faucets and when I fish.
Dear Michael: I am in the middle of a bad situation. My father and mother wanted to make certain I kept on farming the family farm. As such, they gave me most of the land and stated in their wills the other heirs would sell me their percentage of the land. But that is where they left it.
It’s been one of those “old time” long, cold, deep snow winters so far out here in western North Dakota, it went from nice fall working weather to full blown winter feeding overnight and from what I hear from friends across the state and beyond, we aren’t alone.
“Naw. This can’t be right.” I said, looking at the calendar. “Fifty years?
Editor’s note: Please enjoy this Dr. Rosmann column from 2016.
Dear Michael: My dad just died about six months ago. My mom had died about four years prior. For all our lives, our parents had told us they wanted the farm to stay together if it was farmed as one unit. My brother has been doing that, and the other five siblings have no problem with that. T…
Here’s to all my bashful and shy cohorts. Growing up bashful and shy is a constant challenge, more often than not you are perceived as unfriendly or “stuck up” when the truth is exactly the opposite. You would much prefer saying, “Hi,” shaking hands and having a meaningful acquaintance, but …
Right about now you are eyeball-deep in guilt, exhaustion, Christmas programs, and wrapping paper. It is crunch week for holiday preparations. You have nine days left (maybe 8) to get everything done. Sadly, most who are responsible for the family’s holiday enjoyment and memories have depres…