Bartering on the Farm

Since we all know the economy is in poor shape and costs of running a farm not to mention feeding a family has risen faster than our incomes, bartering is making a comeback at least in my little corner of the world.

I recently had 5 acres fenced in and had a some woven wire left over and no extra cash! It was enough wire to finish fencing in another two sides where I keep a couple of my Foxtrotters.... about 3 acres. Two sides were already done from the bordering sheep pasture; so I asked my fence builder if he would trade his labor for an older stock trailer that I had. He said YES! So it was a win-win for both of us. I got another pasture that I could rotate sheep on and he got a trailer that I hadn't used in several years.

Now my attention has turned to winter shelters for the rams and the ewes that I will be breeding this fall. So once again I decided to barter. My husband bought new tires and wheels for our flat bed trailer that we haul hay on, but the wheel rims were not the right size and the cost to return was too high. So, we have 4 new tires and wheels that don't fit anything. And they did not get much action on Craigslist. Guess what.... they fit the stock trailer that my fence builder got.

Thus, tonight I bartered the tires and wheels to have a steel frame welded together. My fence builder is a great welder so naturally I asked him to make an A frame that is 8 foot wide by 10 foot long and 6 foot tall. It will have cross-members so it will be rigid and should hold a tarp fairly well even with a load of snow. This will make a nice winter shelter in addition to a shade shelter that I can attach to a boat trailer in the summer(another great idea from my friend Marie).

I'll post pics of the A-frame shelter when he gets it done in about two weeks. Now I'm looking to see what else I can barter to get another one made!