I give my bales from 60 acres to my neighbor, and in exchange he has offered to do the following tasks.
1. He controls my thistles.
2. He mows when I want him to.
3. He doesn't fertilize above my ponds.
4. He built me a bridge across Cheese Creek.
5. He improved my fence gate.
6. He watches over my property and contacts me if something suspicious is going on.
7. He sends me a Christmas gift certificate to a sporting goods store (I don't require this.
)
8. He helped me burn and eradicate 20 acres of unwanted green ash trees.
I've found that by not charging him for the hay that I've developed a great, mutually beneficial relationship with a neighbor that will benefit me for years. If I charged him then it would be purely business. I'm not saying you shouldn't charge your Amish neighbor--just that there are some things better than money.
Just a guess, but I'll bet if you didn't charge him he'd make it right in his own way.
