When a farmer dies, what happens to the farm?

Since my father was a coffee grower, this is a very personal issue for me. My latest column explains what happened after he died, and how we found unexpected joy and success in keeping the family farm.

This story hit a nerve with a lot of readers. You sent me e-mails about your own parents that made me tear up. A struggling widow said my mother gave her courage. (Her story really made me cry.) And you shared tales of your own decisions to keep on farming.

Bob McKellar of Family Farm Fresh writes:

When I read your column about your family's coffee farm in this morning's paper, there were tears in my eyes. In 1972, when my Father died, we faced the same situation with our citrus farming operation that my Father and Mother started in 1927. Even though I had a public relations agency in Salem, OR and my sister a full-time teacher in Traver, we decided to do as you did. There are many reasons, too numerous to mention here, why we are still here and going strong. We diversified with a CSA and an Agri-tourism venue now in place. We were named Agribusiness of the Year in 2008. My Mother has now joined my Father, but, we too are doing our best to keep the dream alive and well.

And Michele Reynolds of K.M.K. Farms writes:

I had to let you know just how much your article touched my heart! I lost my father a few years ago also. Out of his 5 children, I was the only one who followed his path by farming. I guess farming is in my blood, because there is really no other place I would rather be than here on our farm. ... My father is buried under a olive tree, 3 hours north of me. I was sad that I could not go to his graveside when I needed to talk to him, so I cut a branch of that olive tree and brought it back to the farm to propagate it and it is now 3 feet tall. Today I was outside and notice it has 2 small olives on its branches...it brought tears to my eyes.

I'd like to hear more of your stories. Do you know someone who faced the decision of keeping or selling a family farm? And do you have special ways of keeping alive the memory of your parents or other loved ones? If so, please share them with us.