America’s Land Auctioneer
Captivate and celebrate the dynamics of rural America, American Agriculture and inspire and teach others how to live a bold and abundant life in rural America. Background: The intrigue, endless opportunities, and romance of rural life in America have never been more on the minds of Americans. The recent pandemic and civil unrest have Americans of all ages earning for a more peaceful, less hectic life. Even billionaire Bill Gates is now the largest crop landowner in America. As many Americans look for peaceful refuge in the rolling hills and wheat fields they are faced with a richness of opportunities. But where do you begin to look? This show will highlight and feature endless opportunities in every state. What is it that is so unique about rural America, the land and what it produces? How can I live that life? The American Land Auctioneer will tell stories and weave into those stories a place for you to dream, live and enjoy the abundance of all that rural America has to offer.
America’s Land Auctioneer
From Amish Roots to Auction Block
What happens when worlds collide? When Christian Miller sits down with Jack Pfeifer for a candid conversation about his journey from Lancaster County's Amish community to becoming a successful auctioneer in the Northern Plains, we're treated to a fascinating glimpse into a rarely-seen American experience.
Christian pulls back the curtain on growing up Amish, where one-room schoolhouses, horse-drawn farm equipment, and tight-knit community values shaped his worldview. He describes how Lancaster County's agricultural economy operates - from communal tractor ownership (with engines mounted directly on implements pulled by horses) to intensive dairy operations on relatively small acreages. We discover that virtually everything in Amish communities sells through auctions, explaining why auctioneering runs in Christian's blood as a third-generation professional following his grandfather and great-grandfather who began calling bids in 1942.
The land dynamics Christian describes are eye-opening, with prime Lancaster County farmland commanding upwards of $20,000 per acre. This price pressure has pushed Amish families into neighboring York County, doubling land values there as families seek space to continue their agricultural traditions. Unlike conventional approaches to land investment, Christian explains how Amish families willingly take on "lifetime debt" for farmland, understanding it may be their children or grandchildren who finally own the property outright - a multigenerational perspective on legacy that profoundly influences market behavior.
The conversation shifts to exciting developments at Pifers as they celebrate their 25th anniversary, with Jack Pfeifer stepping into the CEO role while maintaining the company's commitment to exceptional service across real estate, auction, and land management sectors. The transition of leadership in their land management division signals growth and innovation while honoring the foundation built by longtime leaders.
Ready to discover more about America's agricultural landscape and the professionals who help transfer land between generations? Subscribe to America's Land Auctioneer podcast for regular insights into rural real estate, agricultural trends, and the stories behind the sales.
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Contact the team at Pifer's
Welcome to America's Land Auctioneer. I'm Christian Miller. I'm joined alongside Jack Pfeiffer today. Jack, we have another show here on America's Land Auctioneer.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we're doing something a little different today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's right. Yeah, no guests today. We're just going to kind of almost interview each other today. You know, I know Christian has kind of a unique life story. Basically that. You know, I've got some good questions for you and I think it would be really fun for our listeners to hear about. And then, yeah, some exciting things going on over at Pifers. You know our fall schedule is looking crazy and just some small changes going on around here, and so, yeah, we've got some really cool topics to cover today.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yeah, we do have a busy fall at Pifers, don't we? There is a lot going on on the schedule and I know I was talking to Dwight today and we're planning around some of the Western North Dakota things, and so I think the fall looks to be a busy time for Pifers.
Speaker 2:Yes, it does. Yeah, We've got, uh, you know, multiple land auctions every week, some great equipment sales coming up. We've already had, uh, um, you know, a few uh into September here and uh, yeah, starting to feel like uh, like fall here. We just got done with the the wool estate auction. It was a rainy day out in Castleton, uh, but uh, a really good day. You know big crowd. It was really fun to see the whole community kind of come together and be at that sale and yeah, had some really good success there. So that was a really fun day yeah.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, and I know Chris Prochnow did a great job out there managing that and making sure that sale went smoothly and it looks like the equipment market has been fairly steady this so far this fall.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's what it seemed like. You know, we had our big, our big sale down and our big consignment sale down in Sioux Falls a few weeks ago and really happy with some of the results on that sale. You know from from the larger tractors went, seemed to go really well. Didn't have a lot of sem results on that sale. You know from the larger tractors went, seemed to go really well. I didn't have a lot of semis on that sale, which was fine. But yeah, it seems like things are really steady right now, which is great. I'm able to achieve some really awesome numbers for our sellers and, yeah, it seems like a pretty steady market going into fall here with the results of that pre-harvest auction.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Some cause for optimism. Yeah for sure.
Speaker 2:For sure. But yeah, christian, I kind of wanted to dive in. You know, I know that you've dealt with a lot of Cut this part a little bit, christian, I know that you have a really unique kind of perspective on life and a really unique upbringing, so I kind of wanted to dive into that a little bit. So you grew up in Lancaster County, pennsylvania, right, I did yeah.
Speaker 1:Yep, I do have an interesting story, jack, and I tell you what. I'm kind of glad we're talking about it today a little bit. I get a lot of comments that people tell me well, you have an accent there or where are you from. You know, I hear that a lot and I guess I probably don't notice it because it's the way I grew up. But yeah, I do have a unique and interesting story grew up. But yeah, I do have a. I do have a unique and interesting story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Lancaster County.
Speaker 1:Pennsylvania. Maybe what's kind of the demographic there? Right, I mean it's it's primarily Amish and Mennonite people. It is by far the majority of people that live in Lancaster County. Gotcha, absolutely Yep.
Speaker 2:And that's how you grew up, right? You grew up in an Amish community.
Speaker 1:Yes, I did, yep, Yep, and my mom and my siblings are still Amish, so that's a connection that is very close for me and I'll actually be going back in October.
Speaker 1:My brother has a wedding and so I'll be back in Amish country and seeing a lot of family and that sort of thing. So, yeah, that's born and raised in Lancaster County, pennsylvania Heavy dairy country. It's a big Lancaster County is an agricultural community. Right, you have a lot of dairy guys and they're primarily milking Holsteins and some Jersey cows or Guernseys, and then you have a lot of produce patches as well. You have people that run large markets, produce auctions they're a big part of the Lancaster County experience or produce auctions, and so we have quite a few producers there that grow produce. My mom is in the agricultural business with greenhouses, so she raises a lot of herbs and flowers and her demographic is primarily coming out of Philadelphia that's about a 55 minute drive from her house and so her greenhouses are geared more towards that demographic. Versus your, your produce patches, that's a little bit more of a, a local um type of of of market there.
Speaker 2:Right, right, and with the, with the produce and the dairy and all of that is is a lot of that? Um, you know, is there a lot of trade within the Amish communities? Is? Is there a lot of that or is a lot of it? Um you, is there a lot of trade within the Amish communities? Is there a lot of that or is a lot of it? You know, going going outside of the community.
Speaker 1:There is a lot going outside of the community. There there are some of the bigger produce producers have contracts directly with the local grocery stores, so you get a lot of that where there's large buyers for grocery store chains coming in and they're buying bulk, which is something that the auctions make very accessible. You can get bulk potatoes and tomatoes and those sort of things where they're in huge bins and they're selling them by volume, by volume. So that's a a lot of it does go outside of of Lancaster County, but there is also a a very healthy market within Lancaster County, being a lot of the people are Mennonite or Amish. They are doing a lot of canning Right and so a lot of that food is made for overwinter and so you have large families, large farming families that take a lot of food, and so a lot of it does a good portion of it does stay local for canning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, gotcha, gotcha, yeah, and I guess you know maybe it's a dumb question, but is it pretty common in the Amish community to just go out to a regular grocery store and do a lot of regular grocery shopping like that, or is it more trade within the community?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's a great question actually, and that is one I do get from time to time. I would say, for the essentials, they would go out and shop at the grocery store. Potentials, they would go out and shop at the grocery store. So your flour, sugar, paper, towels, those sort of things, they would buy at the grocery store. The things that can be made at home and preserved at home, those things they would not buy at the store. All the all the produce and the dairy products especially, it would be bought from a local producer somewhere, somewhere in the area.
Speaker 2:Right, right, right, yeah. And then I guess what kind of you know with, with dairy, so like things, like like butter, all that stuff. Is that, all stuff that you guys are making?
Speaker 1:yourself Absolutely Butter. And the big thing for for us is is cheeses. Okay, the cheese houses are, um, there, there are Amish cheese producers that are just going above and beyond with, uh, trying to keep up with the trends. Um, you get a lot of aged cheeses and and, uh, you get these cheese caves where they're aging the cheese to grow a certain type of mold on it.
Speaker 1:And it's aged for an extended amount of time and those are sometimes sold right at the cheese house. But then the large majority of that would go to big cities like DC, philadelphia, pittsburgh, and a lot of that product is sold at those big cities.
Speaker 2:Okay yeah, very good, very good Nice Nice.
Speaker 1:And that's a big the, the large cities are a big part of the Lancaster marketplace there. You on the Eastern seaboard, there I mean you're talking tens of millions of people, a very dense population, and so that's a big driving factor for for the Amish community. I think you and I both are very aware of the farm to table movement. Right, and a lot of the, the younger people especially, are kind of pursuing that, where they want to know where their food is coming from. Right, and I think in bigger cities it's maybe even a more of a push for it than what we see in some of our rural communities. Yeah, and so that really drives the marketplace for for the Amish and the Mennonite producers.
Speaker 2:Gotcha, gotcha, yeah. Very cool, and aside from, um you know, food products, are there other products coming out of the Amish community too? I guess the one thing everybody always thinks of is furniture, right, I'm sure that's a good one. Absolutely. Um, yeah, tell me about some of that. Yeah, there's the.
Speaker 1:the Amish culture is a is a. I often say it's a work-based culture, right? Um? You don't have people that are studying arts or or those sorts of things. Most people are learning a trade and, and you get a lot of entrepreneurs, people that run their own businesses, and so, yeah, there is a uh, a wide variety of products coming out of Lancaster. Um, my uncle, for example. He owns a large tin processing facility, okay, and so he brings in rolls of tin and he's cutting them to size and putting the ribs in to size on on the tin for custom orders.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Um, they're, they're powder coating it to make it look like a shingled roof or a cedar shake roof, even though it's a tin product, um, with a lot longer lifespan to it. And so, yeah, there is a wide variety of products coming out of Lancaster furniture, huge construction, um, construction crews are are are huge as far as framing and and um, carpentry is a is a huge part of it. Um, you know, we could jump into it a little bit more. On the second segment, um, that area of Lancaster is becoming developed pretty quickly, and so there's a lot of farms being sold for developments, and so that the carpentry scene is something that that is huge in Lancaster County.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's really cool and it's yeah, it's a. It's, it's definitely a unique and so much different than than most of us, how most of us grow up. And so, yeah, to kind of hear your perspective on things is definitely really cool.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And I tell you what, Jack. Why don't we jump into a little bit more of Lancaster County and some of my upbringing on segment two, I'd be more than happy to share. Before we get into the break, we want to thank our sponsor, Piper's Auction Realty and Land Management. We want to thank our sponsor, Piper's Auction Realty and Land Management. Make sure you give them a call at 877-700-4099 for your free consultation. We'll be right back after the break. Welcome back to America's Land Auctioneer. I'm Christian Miller, joined alongside Jack Piper today. Jack, we're doing another show here.
Speaker 2:Yes, we are, yeah, we're having a cool conversation. We talked a lot in the last segment kind of about your upbringing in Lancaster County and in Pennsylvania and the Amish community. I appreciate you kind of opening up and telling us a little bit about your life story. I know it might feel kind of weird, but I think it's really cool to hear about, especially in our region where people are probably a little unfamiliar with a lot of this stuff. And so, yeah, we had to talk on some good topics in the last segment. But you know, and so in our industry, you know, we sell, you know, a huge variety of equipment, right, yeah, and land of course, and we could talk a little bit about that too. But, um, you know, we're selling large construction equipment and and and the. The equipment for, for for farming these days has gotten insane. But what did that look like, uh, growing up in, uh, in your community? What kind of equipment uh did you guys have? Or what was uh? Um, yeah, what, what?
Speaker 1:what did that all revolve around? Well, uh, you know a lot of it is strong back muscles. That's the, that's the, that there's a lot of hard work, that that goes in to dairy farming in these Amish communities and any type of agriculture. But you didn't have, you know, a skid loader or a tractor with forks available all the time. So you know, as far as as baling hay, you would have a, you would generally have four horses, draft horses or four mules pulling a baler, with a diesel engine mounted on the baler and that's what would run the baler. So you know, with a tractor, you have a PTO that's running your power to it. In the Amish communities, the power unit is generally mounted on the piece of equipment because they're pulling it with horses. So you know, regardless if you have a baler or a salvage chopper or something like that, the power unit is generally mounted on the piece of equipment.
Speaker 2:Gotcha Okay.
Speaker 1:But there are times where you're running something, something that comes to mind for me. We always called it a hay wrapper. That's a big piece of equipment and we put wet hay into it. You can uh, it's a four by four stack of bales 16 bales go into it and then you have hydraulic shoots on it and it's squeezing it together, pushing it out the back and wrapping it with plastic Right, and that we always refer to it as haylage, similar as silage.
Speaker 2:You're having a fermentation process because it's wet Because it's wet, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so in that situation we ran the wrapper with a tractor.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:That tractor is generally owned by four to six farmers.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, okay.
Speaker 1:And they're using it to run the wrapper. And the other thing is agitating pit manure. You have to have some pretty heavy horsepower If you're running a honey wagon. To load the honey wagon with a manure pump, you need some pretty decent horsepower. And so they would own a tractor collectively. And that's the type of situation where you'd see a tractor on an Amish farm on steel wheels, not rubber, because it is not designed to go up and down the road, it is designed to be a stationary power unit.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow.
Speaker 1:And so that that's kind of how I uh, that's how I grew up. Um, another thing that was a big deal in the fall is putting sallage up Right, and that is I don't know if anybody's ever seen the videos, but there's plenty of them out there yeah, a single row binder with four mules pulling it, or draft horses, and then you have a wagon alongside the binder and it's it's cutting the corn, putting it into a bundle, putting a piece of sisal twine on it and loading it up into the wagon, where there's a guy standing there catching the bundle and stacking it Right and you want to talk about hard work, oh my gosh, that is hard work.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You're at it all day long until that silo is full, and then typically going to the next farm to help them put their sallage up Right right. And so in the fall in Lancaster County, you will see plenty of one row binders going down the field and teams of wagons flying back and forth, and so you would have a chopper at the silo, and so the wagons will go from the binder to the silo, run it through the chopper and blow it up into the silo, and the the chopper is generally also run by that tractor.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:That's how you're getting enough horsepower to blast it up the chute and into the silo.
Speaker 2:I see, okay, gotcha. And then as far as, like you know, like for row crops, you know, is that big in the Amish community too, or not quite as much, or?
Speaker 1:Generally? No, you're. Most of the crop is planted to feed. That is the large majority of what's raised there. Not having access to modern farm equipment makes row cropping very difficult.
Speaker 2:Right right, it probably just doesn't make it feasible. For the most part, that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the the farms in Lancaster County are small, right In comparison to out here. Yeah, a hundred acre farm is very typical there. Okay, 160 acre farm would be considered a fairly large size and two to 300 acre farms we would consider a huge farm there, really, okay, yeah, they're much smaller size because you're milking dairy cows and a lot of guys if they need to supplement the milk check, they're doing a lot of like turkey houses or broiler houses or that's how they're supplementing. Instead of having more acreage, they get typically get into a different type of production.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, and I know you've mentioned to me in the past, we've kind of compared the land prices from what we see here. Here in the valley, even some of the best of the best land doesn't even bring 10,000 an acre, which is, you know, obviously different from other parts of the world where you hear crazy numbers. But what do land values look like in that part of the world?
Speaker 1:It has gotten very competitive in Lancaster County. You know, I was talking to my uncle the other day and he said one of the big driving factors is that the Amish culture is not afraid to take on a lifetime of debt. That's something that that mentality is something they've become okay with, with buying a farm and knowing that it'll be their son or their grandson that'll eventually own that place debt free, and so that has made the land values just skyrocket. Availability is a big driving factor. There is virtually no availability in Lancaster County. The land is not selling very often and so when the opportunity comes up people take it very seriously. They might not see that again for another hundred years that that farm comes up for sale. So there it is a very competitive. The farm values are very competitive, yeah, and the other factor would be productivity. The quality of Lancaster County farm soil is unbelievable.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, you know your, 250 bushel corn would be about the standard there and you even see it north of 250 for the, for the, what we refer to as the English guys, who are row cropping, and so you know the, the quality of the land, availability and and uh, those, those two factors make for a very competitive price. We're seeing a lot of 20,000 an acre and and North in Lancaster County and there has been a big push over into York County, which is the, the neighboring County to Lancaster, and because of availability families are choosing to move to York County. It's a much hillier type of country, rockier, but being they were used to paying those Lancaster County prices. My uncle, ted, was telling me the other day. He said land prices in York County have doubled. They went from six 7,000 an acre to you're looking at 10,000 plus an acre, for six 7,000 an acre to you're looking at 10,000 plus an acre, for you know the same ground that that you're several years ago was bringing that that maybe six 7,000. Right.
Speaker 2:Wow, Well, it makes a lot of sense, you know, with you know just the, the, the lifestyle and passing things on seems to be so important and and kind of making that, that, that legacy, and then passing things off to your, to, to the next generation, is probably, you know, it's, it's important for everybody, but it's probably even more important, uh, even more important for, for that community.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, and legacies are something we're very familiar with here at Pifers. I tell you what, Jack, why don't we dive a little bit more into this conversation after the break? I want to thank our sponsor, Pifers Auction Realty and Land Management. Be sure to give the folks over at Pifers a call 877-700-4099. We'll be right back after this break.
Speaker 1:10,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000, 12,000. Welcome back to America's Land Auctioneer. I'm Christian Miller and I'm joined alongside Jack Piper today. We're having a great discussion here, jack, kind of talking about life.
Speaker 2:That's right. Yeah, it's been fun. It's been talking a little bit about your upbringing in the Amish community in Lancaster County, pennsylvania. So I do appreciate you kind of opening up and talking about a little bit. I think it's, I think it's, I think it's just really interesting and, yeah, it just kind of allows people to get to know you a little bit better too, so that when people, when people ask you'd say, listen to this podcast instead of my hour long story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but towards the end of the last segment you were talking about some of the neighboring communities, neighboring counties there in Pennsylvania. But yeah, so tell me a little bit more about, yeah, some of the neighboring communities and what your family history is out there.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah. So my mom's family is is from Lancaster County. My dad's family is from York County, the, the neighboring County to Lancaster, and so on my dad's side of the family they're also into agriculture, but a little bit different. On. York County is not as open as Lancaster is, it's not as conducive to row crops, and so my dad's side of the family has done production, laying hens and turkeys and hogs and that sort of thing. So I got to see a little bit of a different type of farming.
Speaker 1:In Lancaster my uncle, Ted, still does 60 some thousand eggs every morning that they're going up to the chicken house and they come out on big conveyor belts and they're grading them and they have a machine that washes everything and they're packing them away into the cooler. So that still is a big part of their business. And then their son runs two turkey houses and so York County is a strong ag community. Not quite the soil health of Lancaster County, Right, but it is a. It's a vibrant farming community, a little bit more rolling, not quite as open, but yeah, still a great place.
Speaker 1:And you know what's really what? What's really neat for me, Jack, is that on my dad's side of the family I'm a third generation auctioneer, yeah, and so my great grandpa started in in 1942 and and, uh, he, actually he was an auctioneer till the day he passed away. Um, he did a sale on a Saturday. They, they sold all the equipment, they sold the land and the farm and, uh, the next morning he didn't wake up, passed away peacefully. Um, and so my, my grandpa, was an auctioneer his entire life. He's 80 some years old now, and a couple of years ago they, him and his brothers, they retired. They ran an auction company, and so a lot of besides farming, a lot of my early childhood memories are are auction sales.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's, you know. People ask me a lot. You know well, how'd you get into being an auctioneer? What you know what sparked your interest, and for me it was always somewhat second nature, a little bit. Um, it's something that I grew up around and and, uh, a big part of of Lancaster County is I mentioned produce auctions yeah, um, counties. I mentioned produce auctions yeah, most of the items sold in Lancaster County are via auction. Oh, really, okay, flowers, produce, dairy, dairy cows, horses yeah, primarily sold at auction. So my upbringing was surrounded by auction sales and I got to a position in life where was looking for more a career oriented something with a little bit more longevity. I'd been an equipment operator following high school and the auction business seemed to fit well with what I grew up around and and some of my knowledge of of the auction business came from, um, some of my family roots.
Speaker 2:Right, right, yeah, that is, that's really cool. And yeah, to be the third generation in a, in a profession, I guess you would. You would say is, uh, is is something really special. That's really cool. That's really interesting that they do things even like produce and stuff at auction. You know, we always say that. You know that the auction is the truest form of price discovery. Right, it's the best way to set the market price.
Speaker 2:I mean you're discovering it right then and there, and so that's really cool that that's such commonplace in that community. That is really cool.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, and that's a. Price discovery is something we're very familiar with here at Pfeiffer's. We say that a lot to our clients and and we get questions all the time on value and what's something worth, right, and your, your answer there that statement is is spot on. Yeah, the auction method of marketing true price discovery is. It's really unparalleled. You, you don't know what something is worth until the auction is over.
Speaker 2:Right, right, yeah, exactly, yep, yeah. And for those of you who have been fortunate enough to be at some of our auctions and and hear Christian Miller auctioneer, you know he's very good at it. He's definitely a total natural at it and, yeah, I get better every time we do it, whether it's charity auctions, equipment auctions or land auctions, yeah, you've got a great talent. It's pretty awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, that's a big compliment coming from Jack Piper. I know that much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess you know one thing I should ask about. You know, and you mentioned, you know, being an equipment operator when you, when you came to North Dakota in the Jamestown area, was it? Was it a little different Cause you, you started going to high school in Edgley, right?
Speaker 1:I did.
Speaker 2:And and I guess that is, you know, an easier transition than than going to you know a big high school in Fargo or Bismarck or Minot or something like that. But what was that? Kind of transition, like during your teenage years.
Speaker 1:I tell you what, jack, I was very fortunate to go to a small town high school. The way I grew up and then you know it's a big culture shock. You know just the way that I was raised and the values I was raised with and and I think a lot of people are our age would understand. You know, big high schools today are a tough environment, yeah, and so I was very fortunate. I graduated with a class of eight from Edgley, and so when I say small town USA, we're talking small town USA. Everybody knows each other and they're tight knit communities and still to this day the small town communities in North Dakota, um, are just have a really special place. You know, for me they're, they're just, uh, they're great communities. They really are, Um, a lot of traditional values there and, uh, really great people that help each other out. You know, because everybody knows everybody Right, and so I, I was very fortunate to be able to go to high school in an environment like that and I played, uh, played multiple sports, a track basketball, played some football and and uh.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I was, I was very fortunate to be able to go to a smaller school and and, uh, a smaller community it was uh, go to a smaller school and a smaller community. It was a. It was a culture shock for me, especially the technology. Um, going from an environment with no technology, um, to you know, our public schools today are everything's on a computer or or uh, you're, you're using technology constantly. Um, I was fortunate enough. You know you, you and I both can probably attest to this. Young people generally have don't have much problem adapting and learning how to use technology. So I was fortunate there and made some good friends and people that I'm still in touch with today. So, yeah, no, it was a. It was a very unique and interesting experience.
Speaker 2:Right, right, cause education back in Pennsylvania. What did that look like? Was it more like, almost like, a homeschooling type of deal?
Speaker 1:One room school houses up to the eighth grade, gotcha. And so that's about the extent of of the education the Mennonites some of them have, they have each. You know the Am, uh, the Mennonites, some of them have, uh, they have each. You know the Amish and the Mennonites, they each have their own schooling systems and so, um, the Mennonites have a little more extended education, but the Amish culture is to the eighth grade, and then, uh, you have one day a week in ninth grade where you learn advanced mathematics, okay, and so, yeah, by the time you're, you're, you know, to the ninth grade, I'm, you know, 14, 15, you're working full-time, either on the farm, yeah, or a construction crew or something of that nature, and so it kind of goes back to the trades, and I think that's a big reason why Lancaster is so driven with construction crews and that sort of thing. You have a lot of guys that learn at a young age how to do a trade.
Speaker 2:Right right.
Speaker 1:And they need work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Huh. What about you know? Is there any form of athletics or any nothing like that? No, formalized.
Speaker 1:No, no, if the a lot of the youth groups Sundays, the youth groups get together and there you'll see baseball and things like that, people you know playing soccer and and volleyball and those sorts of things. But yeah, that's a more of a leisure activity on Sundays when the youth groups get together and, uh, it's a way for the young people to kind of meet each other from all over Lancaster County Awesome, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, just totally different from the average teenager. You know formative years experience for most people. But yeah, I love what you said about you know being fortunate to go to a smaller town like Edgley to make that transition easier. And yeah, you're right, you know it's a small town. Small town mid Midwest is, you know, tight knit communities with you know similar values and and that kind of thing it sounds like from from what you grew up, grew up and so, yeah, that's that's. That's really cool.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, and we got one more segment left here. Jack, we're getting to the end of our third segment here. We've got a great segment where I get to ask you some questions and get to interview you a little bit. We have some changes happening in Pifers and we're excited to let our listeners in on what's going on here at Pifers. And, speaking of Pifers, we want to thank them for being our sponsor on the show today. Pifers Auction, realty and Land Management. Make sure you give them a call 877-700-4099 for your free consultation. We'll be right back after this break. Welcome back to America's Land Auctioneer. I'm Christian Miller, joined alongside Jack Pfeiffer today for another show on America's Land Auctioneer. We are in segment four and I get to ask Jack a few questions for this segment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah it's been. This has been a fun one, you know it's been a lot more just kind of conversational and it's been fun talking about your upbringing and stuff and all that. I think people find that really interesting. But yeah, kind of switch gears here. A little bit talk about some stuff that's going on here at Pifers you know some upcoming sales and then also just yeah, there's been some changes at Pifers lately.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, seems like yeah. No, there has been some changes and I wanted to talk about it a little bit because I know that our listeners will be very interested to hear what's going on internally at Pifers. Talk a little bit, jack. Well, I guess I tell you what I might as well. I might as well just crack the egg open here and and talk about you. Recently have have taken on the role as the acting CEO for Pifers. Is that?
Speaker 2:correct. Yep, that's right. Yep, yeah, my dad, Kevin, is still around, you know, but he and he's still, you know, the president of the organization but, yeah, kind of taking a little bit of a step up more of a more of a management role and kind of overseeing the, the, the three big divisions of Pifers, right, the, you know, real estate side, and we still have Steve Link, our broker, who does a great job managing the real estate side of things. And the land management division is doing really great right now, you know, just providing an incredible service to everybody. And then Andy Murnack, the head of our equipment division, does a phenomenal job as well managing that and so, but, yeah, it's been, it's been a fun challenge, you know to, to kind of take on a new role.
Speaker 2:It's, it's, it's been interesting because, you know, I've, you know, like we talked about with you you know I've kind of been in the auction industry my whole life, right, and kind of been a part or been around this company my whole life too. So, you know, for we've had guys who have who have been with us for, uh, you know, since the beginning, right, guys who have been with us for like 20 years and so, uh, they've known me since I was, since I was a kid, and so now to kind of to work alongside them, um, and be in kind of that leadership position is, um, uh, it's, it's. It's a little bit odd at times times, but we have just such a great crew and such great agents and administrators throughout the company that they really make it. You know, have made it a really easy transition.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and you know you mentioned Dwight Hoffman with land management, jack. We talking about changes in the company. There's a little bit of a leadership change going on there with Dwight Hoffman, and I believe Tyler Burby will be stepping into Dwight's role at some point here, and could you talk to our listeners a little bit more about that as well?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah for sure. So first I want to, you know, pay Dwight some compliments. Hopefully he doesn't listen to this show and doesn't hear me saying nice things about him, but Dwight has done an incredible job over the last, I believe, 15 years building our land management division. He just does an amazing job of connecting with landowners and just treating everybody so fairly, of connecting with landowners and just treating everybody so fairly landowners and tenants and managing what is normally people's most you know important asset, which is the family farm. And so, yeah, I want to thank Dwight for all that he's done for Pifers, but, yeah, he is starting to kind of transition into into retirement a little bit.
Speaker 2:And he, tyler Burby, who's been with us for a few years now, is going to be taking a step up into into leading the land management division, and I think it's just an awesome fit. Tyler's a really great guy, full of energy, a lot of new ideas. He's done a great job kind of integrating new technology into what our land managers do on a daily basis and kind of making other people's jobs easier. And, yeah, he's passionate about what he does. He does great work. He works really hard, and so it's, yeah, really exciting for Tyler and, yeah, pretty happy with Dwight's decision there. And so it's, uh, yeah, really exciting for for Tyler and uh, yeah, pretty, pretty happy with, uh, with with Dwight's decision there, and so it's going to be yeah it's going to be a really exciting time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely yeah, a little bit of a changing of the tide here at Pifers and and to allow these young guys to step into their roles and and still have um, a little bit of guidance from the senior management group to push them in the right directions. And I know when I heard the news I just thought there couldn't be two better people for the role. I've worked with you for some years now and have gotten to see what you bring to the table, and you and Tyler are both great fits and bring a lot of new ideas to the table, and so I think our crew here at Pifers is excited for the future, and I really hope our clients are too. I know that our service won't. Nothing will change there. They'll continue to get the service that Pifers has always brought to the table and maybe get to see some new technology come into play. I know Tyler has been very active with implementing new things for our. We have some younger land managers coming on, correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, there's been, yes, a few additions to the, to the land management division, which has been, which has been really awesome. But, yeah, Tyler's done a really good job of just kind of implementing technology, not in a way that it not in a way that it does the work for you or any or anything like that, but just, but just ways that that that make, uh, that make the job a little bit easier, um, and kind of give the get the end result to be a little bit better for the client, um, and for the customer, which is which is really awesome, um, but yeah, it's uh, it's exciting stuff. You know we're celebrating our 25th year here at Pifers this year, um, and so, yeah, hopefully, um, you know, with uh, we can, we can start building towards, towards the next 25 years, right, um, and and keep providing, um, you know, uh, an awesome service to uh, to our, to our clientele.
Speaker 1:Absolutely I. I know, with your new role, jack, I'm sure you have some, some, uh, extra duties that you probably didn't have before. Have you had any challenges, or talk a little bit about what the experience has been stepping into those shoes?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there definitely has been just kind of more, unfortunately, more time at my desk and at my computer. I don't get to do as much running around and droning properties and stuff like that as I used to, which is all good. You know, there's lessons to be learned along the way. For sure, probably the biggest thing that I've kind of come to realize is, you know, to not be afraid to ask questions. You know, just because I'm placed into a new role doesn't mean that I know anything, and people have done a great job of not making me feel like I'm expected to know everything. And so, yeah, sometimes you might.
Speaker 2:I had had a bad habit of sometimes, when someone's talking about something and just kind of nodding along and you know, you know what I mean, just pretend you know, to pretend you know just as much as they do.
Speaker 2:But I think it's good to to no hang on. So explain that to me a little bit better. You know what I mean Absolutely, even though it might, you know, might show that you're you're, you're not the expert, that that you might want to be on some things. But I think it's it's, it's good to ask questions. You got to be hungry to learn in this business because the things are changing constantly in our industry and so, yeah, and then just being able to being able to kind of lean on all the experts we have here at Pifers, you know, we have guys who have been doing their jobs for a really long time and who have backgrounds in all kinds of different industries which makes them so great at their role here with Pifers now, and so, yeah, just I guess those are some of the challenges and ways of dealing with things that I've come to learn.
Speaker 2:There will be a lot more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, times are changing on Pifers. We're changing right along with the times. It's important for us to keep up and we're very excited, jack, to see what the next 25 years looks like. It's going to be a great ride for all of us. I know we're looking forward to it. Before we end the show here, jack, we have a very busy week coming up next week and I know you wanted to update listeners on a few land sales.
Speaker 2:I do. Yeah, we are running short on time. I guess I would just encourage people to go on to Piferscom and look at next week's auction schedule For the third week of September. We have an incredible amount of land auctions going on with some really quality pieces. But yeah, it looks like we're just about out of time. So I do want to thank Pifers Auction Realty, our sponsor for today's show.
Speaker 1:Thank you all for listening. This has been a really fun show and we will see you guys.