# Mike Stamp Case Winding Down.



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Farmer Of The Year.....

Regards, Mike

https://www.agweb.com/article/mich-farmer-mike-stamp-pleads-guilty-faces-up-to-5-years-in-prison/


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Hardly a slap on the hand for everything he did.


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## paoutdoorsman (Apr 23, 2016)

The link is 404'ing already Mike.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Should be good again now Dana. Thanks.

Regards, Mike


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## Uphayman (Oct 31, 2014)

And I quote," The Top Producer of the Year award identifies and honors agriculture producers from whom our readers can learn business concepts, ranging from value added ventures, to succession plans overcoming adversity."

If Farm Journal communications thinks we're to put any credence in anything they promote or publish ,after this ...........what a joke.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Uphayman said:


> And I quote," The Top Producer of the Year award identifies and honors agriculture producers from whom our readers can learn business concepts, ranging from value added ventures, to succession plans overcoming adversity."
> If Farm Journal communications thinks we're to put any credence in anything they promote or publish ,after this ...........what a joke.


It's not the first time the Top Producer ended up screwing people,offer high rents and go broke stiffing a lot of people along the way.Illonois Family Farms for one.
https://www.agweb.com/article/high-profile_crash_of_a_titan/


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

There was a big time operator around here that got in trouble defrauded the government and crop insurance and equipment dealers also. He was convicted later he filed a counter suit because assets were tied up during proceedings and he won that, innocent until proven guilty. Heard that he is back farming. He runs down to Missouri and farms some land so he can get an early start then come to Wisconsin and runs all over the state for land. He pays good rent for marginal land and doesn't always get a very good crop. And hires a crew to run equipment that beats it into the ground.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

One part that really pisses me off is some of that sometimes the huge coops back them and borrow them the money.Farmers built the coops just to have them borrow to a mega operator and compete with the smaller patrons of the coop.Then they go bust and all the patrons in the coop loose equity


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

And look how the equipment dealer bend over backward for them at first then as time goes by they have to get equipment from farther and farther away.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Coops and others trip over themselves trying to get bussiness from the big operators.Cut margins to nothing just to get the sale.BTO came into are from 100 miles away and they asked coop to fill eq every night in the fields.So they bounced around in fields filling them every night late.The next yr they brought their own fuel because they got a better buy someplace else.Brought their own fertilizer also.Shipped the grain back to their home base also.Didnt do any bussiness locally the second yr unless they were in a pinch.Also noticed when they were fertilizing this spring and spilled some it was straight Urea no P&K so they are mining the ground also.


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## Ray 54 (Aug 2, 2014)

Forty years ago it was about the same, local poor boy makes good in the stocker cattle business. This was the end of the days when high income people could buy cattle and make money from the tax savings. He started managing others cattle. Ended up with his own,or at least a part ownership in them. mortgaged them to the bank. The bank sent a cityboy to count them . He counted the same cattle 3 or 4 times. With large ranches miles a part it was a days long count.  Just that the same cattle were hauled all night to the next ranch. I forget how it was found out, probably that too many people knew. But the bank loan officer was never implaced for being on the inside, just not knowing anything of cattle.

In this case bank didn't recover very much money. BTO serviced something like 7 years in federal lock up. The prison had a cattle herd and BTO went on cattle buying trips with the warden according to local gossip. If BTO got away with the missing money he made $100,000 + a year for time serviced. He came back to town like nothing were happened. So in this case crime payed.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Ray 54 said:


> In this case bank didn't recover very much money. BTO serviced something like 7 years in federal lock up. The prison had a cattle herd and BTO went on cattle buying trips with the warden according to local gossip. If BTO got away with the missing money he made $100,000 + a year for time serviced. He came back to town like nothing were happened. So in this case crime payed.


Probably went to work for the bank when he got out......they seem to like forward thinkers.

Regards, Mike


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

Dad once had the new owner of Warren Livestock in the late 60's as him to run the cows past the banker several time to make it appear that they had more cattle than they actually had; dad refused to do it, but they did get the sheep foreman to do it with the sheep. I can say with my herd there is always one that is going to stick out in a crowd.


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

Maybe I should add, it was the sheep foreman that took the blame. The boss he would not take the blame, and he is the one that ordered it done.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I heard a good one a few yrs ago about bankers counting cattle.Farmer A is riding with the banker going by Pastures that he rented showing him his cows.A week later farmer B is riding with same banker and has pasture rented on other side of road said that the cows in both pastures were his.

I know both guys very well and not surprised one bit.I don't think Farmer B knows how to tell the truth.


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Big Dutch corporation was doing this in Indiana and Ohio about 1o years ago. Vreba Hoff owned the cows on several large dairies and was expanding rapidly. Cows were being moved at night to get them in front of bank auditors each day. Bank finally got smart and started checking ear tags and Vreba Hoff went down with a few facilities never having seen a cow in them.


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## Ray 54 (Aug 2, 2014)

No Mike he never worked for the bank,his girl friend was number 3 or 4 at the branch in town. After or during his lock up time he married her. She had family with land and he was back farming.

I have no idea how or why, but after the depression era California did not have many small banks,all big multi branch banks. The home of Bank of America at that time the biggest bank in the world. The cattle swindle was on Crocker Bank not on scale of B of A but still big with many branches and roots back to the gold rush days. Just a young college boy that had no experience appraising cattle,or much of anything else.


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