If Max was defaulting on the farm, is it possible he either took his own life or staged it in order to leave his family in a more secure financial situation? Or if watching his property being sold off too much to bear? The amount of hay supposedly stolen out of the barn would be quite physically strenuous to load and move. Then to move that amount off the farm without anyone noticing would be quite difficult unless it was moved to a neighboring farm, perhaps the neighbor that recanted his story? With the idea that he was in a financial crisis, could he have arranged a sale of the hay prior to his disappearance that only a select few knew about? Interesting that the part of the farm being sold was the parts that should have held animals. Animals need hay. What an odd case