We are struggling along with sale of our farm. The sale contract finally got signed after a month of negotiation and big bills from the attorney. Now we are in a 60 day due diligence period that can be stretched to 73 days if the buyers feel we didn't get information to them fast enough.

For the past 3 weeks I have been fighting with the irrigation ditch company to obtain a copy of their bylaws as requested by the buyers of our property. These are the basic rules about how many members are in the ditch company, how the officers get elected, whether people can bring dogs to the meetings, etc.

Several ditch members and the ditch company secretary told me that only the owners can obtain a copy of the bylaws. But when I requested them as an owner, the secretary wanted a notarized authorization from me and my cousins (co-owners of the water share) to release information to the buyers. We got the authorizations, but then she decided that the ditch company was going to have to have a board of directors meeting to decide if the bylaws could be given to a 'shareholder.'

And our farmer, who is one of the board members, was very firmly telling us that it is not the policy to give out the bylaws to just anybody, meaning us, because although we should be entitled to them, everyone knows we are going to pass them along to the buyers.

'Shareholder' is another word for 'owner' but it was becoming clear that there are shareholder/owners, and then there are the owners who are running things. The bottom line is that the current ditch company membership doesn't like the idea of us selling our farm to people who for one thing are going to some day build houses on it, and for another thing are smart-ass 30 year old businessmen with MBAs, probably from back east somewhere. And the secretary didn't want to give the bylaws to us because the ditch members would think she was helping the enemy.

We really were a gnat's eyebrow from losing our buyer over this single document.

When I went to bed last night I was composing a letter to the ditch board in my head. I was going to point out that some day they or their heirs will want to sell their farms, and how would they feel if they could not get what they were entitled to from the ditch company so the deal fell through.

But early this morning when I dragged myself to the computer after a miserable night, there was an email from the secretary saying she was tired of all the phone calls and emails, and here's the bylaws. Just like that. That easy.

I don't know if she talked to ditch members about this, or just decided on her own. Seems like after all the foot dragging and rationalizing the members did to us about their policies and why they were a good idea, they might get mad at her, but maybe not. I'm thinking now that nobody is asking, everyone will forget about it.

I don't think this is the last we will hear about document requests, but for today there is a wonderful silence.