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Hans Farm is actually not that far from Baker Farm, which has an airstrip where the PA-42 can also land. It took the plane more than half an hour to begin lowering altitude.

As the plane circled down to lower altitude, it flew right over Mount Wheeler. John told him, "This is the Great Basin National Park. The Wheeler Range is covered with primeval forests, and several peaks are covered with snow. There are also ski enthusiasts who come back here to take on the challenge. Directly below us is Wheeler Peak, the highest point of the mountain. To the south, Baker Peak, Pilmeade Peak, and then two snow-capped peaks named after the Founding Father and President Lincoln. The southernmost point is Granite Peak. To the east is a Jeff Davis Peak. There are also a few peaks to the north, but there is no snow except for Bald and Buck. ”

Link understood what he meant by these snow-covered mountains. He looked down from the porthole and saw a lot of snow, but not too much. "How much water does this snow provide to the surrounding farms?" he asked.

"It shouldn't be much. There isn't a lot of precipitation here. And the water from the snow will also be absorbed along the way. Then there's the desert all around. Even if there is snow, meltwater will not flow far down the mountain. ”

Although there is snow in the mountains, there is not much snow in reality.

"There's also a big basin farm on the west side of the national mountain range, and it's a lot of land. However, it is mainly used for farming. There is a wind farm at Great Basin Farm. More than 60 huge wind turbines have been built there. Drive next to Interstate 50 and you'll see windmills that look like soldiers. ”

There's a wind farm around here too, and Link hadn't noticed it before.

The plane made a big circle near the border of the two states and was ready to land.

Link could see in the plane that the owner of the ranch was already waiting for them at the edge of the airport.

Their plane landed on the dirt and rocky airfield, and John said, "That's Little Baker, George Baker." As he spoke, he opened the plane door and got off the plane, and Link followed.

He doesn't want buyers to come across as domineering. This time he came here to fly his own plane, and he didn't even bring a bodyguard.

Even cell phone signals are not as weak as they were a decade ago, and the internet is now just as good as anywhere else. George Baker was a young man who couldn't possibly be untouched by the internet, so he knew Link.

When he saw a young yellow man get off the plane, he didn't need John's introduction, so he held out his hand: "Hello, Mr. Hans." I've seen pictures of you on TV!"

Link smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. Baker. I don't think it's nice things about me on TV. ”

"As a rule, they will only say good things for half of the politicians and bad things for the other half at the same time. Little Baker said with a smile. "I'm George Baker. You can call me George. ”

"Hello George! My friends call me Link. ”

Little Baker smiled again and said to John, "Okay, Link. John, it's a pleasure to see you again so soon. ”

John smiled and said, "I'm happy too." In fact, I didn't expect to have the opportunity to come here again so soon. ”

"It's dry here, let's go to my house and have a drink, what do you think?"

Link laughed and said, "That's the best." ”

Link and John remove duffel bags from the plane and put them in the back seat of the pickup truck that Baker Jr. was driving.

In fact, Baker's Ranch's tiny airport isn't far from Baker's home. After entering the small village, Little Baker said to Link in the passenger seat, "Link, you saw it too." A small community has been formed here. There are more than 40 people living here, both adults and children. ”

Link did see it. There are no asphalt roads in the community, and there are separate yards on either side of the dirt roads, each about an acre: "Is this land still pasture? I mean their yards." ”

"These yards belong to Baker farm workers. My father asked them to buy the land for three hundred dollars, and they built a house on it. Little Baker said again. "Of course, we need more workers than before. You know, I cultivated thousands of acres of arable land to grow corn. So there are also some workers' houses, mainly for temporary workers. Yes, most of the residents of these yards are ranch workers, but some of them no longer live here. In fact, there are twenty-three courtyards of the like. But only 16 families still live here. The one who left, has resold the house to me. ”

Little Hank drove the car into a yard and said, "When I was little, we were the only yard here. Of course, there are still some workers' dormitories, but there are no surrounding yards. Ten years ago, my dad agreed to let the workers make their home here. It also makes the place a little more lively. ”

Link got out of the car and took out his duffel bag from the back of the car. Little Baker's wife came out with a little boy in her arms.

"My wife, Sophia. Sophia, this is Link. ”

Link greeted his wife, and little Baker led them into the house and arranged rooms for him and John.

Link was placed in a guest room on the second floor. From the window of this room, you can see the circular farmland in the distance.

After settling their luggage, they went back to the living room, where Sophia had already prepared coffee and snacks. They came down from the upper floor, and little Buick sat down next to his wife, took the two-year-old child to him, and said, "Link, I heard that you already have three big farms." The largest one is in Huazhou? It's called the ......."

"Ozette Farm. It's in the northwest corner of Huazhou. Link reminded him. "There and Neva are two completely different weather. ”

"I know, it's a rainforest climate. We used to take Mount Olympus. It seems like five years ago. Am I right?" asked Sophia in his last words.

His wife smiled and said, "It was six years ago. Five years and eight months, to be exact. ”

Little Baker smiled and said, "Yes, I remember going in early autumn." At that time, we had just been married. He smiled again at Link. "The climate is good. And the dryness here is indeed a completely different climate. ”

He said to Link, "You have three farms in three different states, and I think it must be quite hard to manage. ”

"It's not too hard. Two farms actually have full-time managers. Only Ozette needs me to visit often. Link said with a smile. "The only thing that is troublesome is Hans Farm on the edge of Lake Mead, where water rights are a bit complicated. ”

Little Baker shook his head and smiled and said, "Lake Mead belongs to the federal water rights, and it will indeed be more troublesome for you to pump water there." But it's always better than ours and the like. We don't have surface water here, and the aquifers are deep. ”

Link laughed and said, "Yes, at least there can be water." Although the riparian water rights are not sufficient, we can still extract some groundwater. ”

Water rights in the United States are complex, with states with abundant water in the east using the exclusive right principle and states in the west with many restrictions. The landlord only has the right to use the water under the privately owned land, and there are restrictions on this right of use. It cannot be drawn arbitrarily. Permission is also required to dig wells. Digging wells without permission is not allowed.

While the justification for the permission to dig wells is for personal safety, these restrictions on the number of wells also actually limit the amount of groundwater that can be pumped.

Speaking of water rights, this is also a thing that must be noted in land transactions. Legislation on the right to water varies from state to state. Although Baker Farm is also in Nevada, Link also wants to know how much water the farm has to pump groundwater: "Baker Farm is a large area. The right to water should be sufficient. ”

Little Baker nodded and said, "In fact, we only use a third of the water rights that are allowed to be mined. Groundwater here is not abundant. But as you said, we have a lot of farms, so we have a lot of water that we can pump each year according to the size of the land. In addition to groundwater, sometimes the melting snow on the mountain also brings some surface water, and sometimes it rains. The water that flows from the mountains to the farms belongs to us. Absolute right to use. ”

Link asked, "Is it profitable to grow corn in recent years?"

"It's a little lower than in previous years, but the profits are still there. Baker said with a smile. "The main thing is that the input of pesticides and seeds is higher. ”

Link nodded and said, "I've heard of it too." He paused and asked. "Beck, may I ask you a more presumptuous question?"

"Of course. As long as it's not about my privacy. ”

"Large farms are more profitable than small farms. I wonder why you're planning to sell this farm. Link explained. "You know, I don't like to get in trouble. So don't want to buy a ranch that may have hidden dangers. ”

Little Baker was stunned for a moment and said, "Look, I run a farm worth tens of millions. This value is officially approved. But our farm only makes $2.8 million in gross profit a year. This includes the sale of 1,400 cattle a year, as well as large quantities of corn, soybeans or wheat. Baker Farm is owned by my cousins and sisters. Excluding taxes and worker costs, I personally receive a dividend of $1 million in a good year. ”

"That's a lot. ”

"Yes. That seems like a lot. And it's pretty stable. But my family and I have a lot to pay for it. My children will stay in this barren place, and there will be no way to get better educational resources as children. Just like me, I grew up here, and it was a bit out of place to go to the city. I don't want Oga to follow the same trajectory as me. "Oga is his son's name.

He paused and said, "Besides, I don't think running a farm is the best life. It may be peaceful, but in fact, it can also be very stressful. ”

He sneered and said: "If you need to pay more than 100,000 or 200,000 yuan in land tax every year, and you have to bear hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank interest every year, I don't think you will think that the income of more than one million yuan is too high." ”

"Hundreds of thousands of bank interest per year?" Link was a little stunned. That's the interest that will only take if you borrow tens of millions. If that's the case, the income of more than one million a year is indeed not necessarily very high.

"Yes, we all borrowed large sums of money from banks to pay inheritance tax in order to inherit the farm. Little Baker shook his head and smiled bitterly. "With my current income, it will take me another ten years to pay off my bank loan. In other words, I will still have to work for the bank for 10 years before I can make the farm my own. I also need to make millions of dollars for the bank. ”