—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 21, 1965
4
From Where We Stand...
Farmers' Goal Cheap Food?
Has any contemporary political
figure ever said “Farmers of America,
you are fools! You make it possible
for the great American consumer to
spend a pittance for food so that she
can spend a fortune on luxuries. And
you do it at your own expense.”
Not that we have ever heard. More
likely they give the farmers an offhand
ed pat on the head for the fine produc
tion job they are doing for the politi
cian’s constituents back home. And they
echo the wrath of their constituents if
the retail price of meat, milk, or eggs
goes up a few cents.
Why shohld the farmer take pride
in producing food at a price which more
often than not does not cover his aver
age cost of production? Why should the
farmer invest his capital and labor so
that the American consumer can be the
best fed in the world and at the lowest
cost (19 cents out of each spending
dollar)?
As the American Dairy Association
points out m its newsletter “Tips”, there
is frequently a human cost in producing
cheap food and fiber that is often over
looked. That human factor is the Ameri
can farmer.
Most consumers can afford to pay
more for food than they are now pay
ing. Economists claim that demand for
most food products is “inelastic”. That
means that for a given change in price,
there will be a less than proportional
change in demand For example, people
don't suddenly curtail buying eggs when
the price goes up 10 or 15 cents If the
price gets extremely out of line with
comparable products they may eventual
ly buy less eggs and more of some other
food item “Tips” makes the interesting
point that homemakers are not general
ly aware of actual prices paid for speci
fic foods, they are more likely to have
a total tood budget within which they
try to stay.
As the growxn/g population de
mands more and moTre food, and as
the number of farms get fewer, but
larger, farmers are going to be more
business-minded than they are today.
And they are going to be considerably
less willing to invest their money for
such a marginal return.
But that may be a long time com
ing Right now the farmer has little con
trol over the retail price of food There
is too much production, and therefore
competition dictates the price. The farm
ers’ share of the food dollar has con
stantly shrunk in recent years, and yet
retail prices have increased The reason
for this is that there is more being
done to farm products after they leave
the farm than was once true. The mar
keting system provides more services,
packaging, labor and processing costs
are all up The so-called “built-in maid
service that is added to a product after
it leaves the farm increases almost
daily But the farmer plays no part in
this part of the food business, so does
not profit from it
One solution might be for farmers
to consider doing a bigger share of the
total food-producing job. Grow it, pro
cess it, and market it This can’t be done
practically by individual farmers, ex
cept on a small scale But it can be done
by farmer-owned and controlled com
panies. The big boys are getting into
it, why not the family farmer?
What Do YOU Think?
Lancaster Farming
Lancaster County’s Own Farm
Weekly
P. 0 Box 266 - Lititz, Pa.
Offices:
22 E Main St.
LiUtz, Pa.
Phoned Lancaster
394-3047 or
Lititz 626 2191
Don Timmons, Editor
Robeit £ 3 |Canpsbell,
tismg Director
Established November 4,
'1955. Published eveiy Satur
day by Lancaster-Famung, Lit
itz, Pa.
-ITS,*'*-. . -*«. 1 £
The Myth Of Everlasting Plenty! •
In the early days of America the
comparatively small population looked
upon the natural resources of this land
of milk and honey as endless. Unfor
tunately, that myth has been perpetuat
ed to this day.
Now we know that there is a
measurable limit to many of these re
sources oil, coal, land. And now we
are gauging the growing numbers of
people and the demands of industries
against a measurable amount of water
the one resource without which life
can not survive.
One very important step has been
taken this past week long overdue
action on die chronic water shortage
in the northeast. It has now become a
matter of national attention. Senator
Aiken’s water bill has cleared the Sen
ate and is expected to receive quick
and positive action in the House. This
bill would provide outright government
money grants plus ample loans for rural
water systems.
In addition, plans for getting start
ed on a practical, large scale program
for desalmization of sea water are
getting under way. That we have come
to this in the few hundred years that
this nation has existed is a little frigh
tening. There is no chance that our
generation will make a serious dent
in the seas, but at the present rate
of water consumption we wonder how
many more generations it will take to
drink up t>ie ocean, for all practical
v>ni poses
Again, the myth of endlessness
is being applied to a natural resource;
this time it’s the ocean. We should
develop a large scale desalinization pro
gram, but it should be for emergency
use only that is to balance out the
uneven rainfall from year to year. To
regard it otherwise puts the country
into the position of the little old widow
who finds that she can not live on the
interest from her investments so she
spends a little of her principal each
year, hoping that she won’t outlive the
last of that fund. She can take a cal
culated risk because she’s concerned
only with her own life. But as a na
tion, we have to provide, hopefully, for
endless generations to follow. We can
not morally spend their principal.
The only long-run answer is edu
cation, as it seems to be the answer
to so many of our current problems.
According to the National Association
of Soil and Water Conservation Dis
tricts, education at the elementary
school level in the functions and im
portance of conservation of natural re
sources is practically non-existent They
hope to remedy this lack through a
massive educational effort. They can use
all the help they can get'
This concern over drinking up the
sea may seem a bit ridiculous and
if looked at only in the span of one
short, human lifetime, it is In future
generations the sea will be needed for
its bountiful harvest of food. It is also
valuable for transportation undoubt
edly less so in coming years and for
recreation. But food is its greatest trea
sure
So let’s prepare to drink it in emer
gencies, but through better conserva
tion measures and education let’s limit
those emergencies.
Weather Forecast
Temperatures for the five-
day period, Saturday through
Wednesday, are expected to
average below normal. It will
be cooler at the beginning of
the period with little day to
day change thereafter. Nor
mal high for this period is
84 degrees; low, 62.
Precipitation will pro%a|b
ly total less than % Inch
occurring'as showers Monday
night or Tuesday, with larg-
est amounts near the coast.
What Do YOU Think?
Many swine producers know
the importance of a good boar
but are reluctant to pay the
prtce of a performance tested
sire. Much has been done in
recent years to improve the
rate of gain, feed conversion,
and carcass quality. These
traits can be selected for in a
good hog and will help im
prove the pig crop and in*
crease profits. A herd-improv-
Blevins was proud-to quote mg sire does not cost the
the field staff r to the owner money, he pays the
effect that this, gr-qup sefemed <<owner extra dividends' T
to be the brightest and most
interested of the groups in the To Use Adapted Varieties
five-state area in which these Winter gram seeding ' time
iouth camps have been held, is approaching when many
—.-
• NFU
(Continued from Page 1)
the national office at Denver,
Colo, were Mr and Mrs Leon
ard Giaham Janies McHale,
field representative for NFU
in western Pennsylvania, also
attended with his family.
! ,w sG©as/
SPEAKS
*
* --
Inl«rn<ii*n«l Uniltim
«! U f '»y ScK*f>l L»*ft»nv
Purity First
lesson for August 22, 19G5
Background Scripture; Galatians 5 13 26*
DOVohon&l Beading: Colocsians 3 1-10.
A BOUT THE only place where
man can safely do as he
pleases is inside a padded cell.
An old-time ruffian, swinging his
fists and spoiling for a fight,
shouted, “I can swing my fist
anywhere I please, they ain’t no
body to stop me,
this is a free
country, see?” A
quiet man there
present retoited,
“But your free
dom to swing
your fist stops
where my nose
begins!” Maybe
Dr. Foreman neither man wa?
a Christian, hut the story shows
that you don’t have to be a Chris
tian to see that freedom always
has its limits. If a man does
exactly what and as he likes, he
is pretty sure to do what some
body else like, and that
is where the trouble begins.
A Mistake About Freedom
Many religious people, who
maybe have more “religion" than
common sense, make the same
mistake about freedom. They
know two things which aie
true, but they put them together
wrong. They know they have
been “called to freedom,” which
is one of Paul’s ways of describ
ing conversion, called from
slavery into a free world. They
know too that God is a gracious
God and has forgiven them their
sins. Tiue; but then these
people go on to a wiong conclu
sion. They think that now they
ha\e reached that happy land
where they can do just as they
please, and G<)d won't mind a bit.
People in Paul's time made the
same mistake. Tney “mistook
liberty for license ” They used
their freedom as if it were free-
dom to do wrong. They supposed
that freedom meant that a kindly
God excused them from all le
sponsibihty, that tney could bleak
ar * his law’s and not displease
L '
Now Is The Time ...
To Apply For Federal Gas Tax Refund
The fom cent per gallon federal tax
amounts to a good amount of money on many
faims Claims for this lefund must be filed
oy Septembei 30 Foim 2240 Gas Tax Refund
can be seemed at the local Internal Revenue
Office Tins coveis gasoline purchased be
tween July I, 1964 and June 30, 1965 Gaso
line used in the duect pioduction of faim
commodities is eligible foi lefund
To Introduce Heifers To Milking Routine
Dairy heifeis that will be freshening for
the fust time this fall should be given some
attention pnoi to their coming into pioduc
tion We’d suggest that the heifers be intro
duced info the milking herd seveial weeks
before they aie due to freshen, they should be tied into their
milking stabs along with the other cows and become accustom
ed to the milking loutme and other procedures They should
be led each time in older to get them into good condition.
To Use a Good Boar Hog
The New I'orlfcmism
It used to be tru'o of run-to
sccd puritans that they would i
judge a nan by some ono partic
ular point. If he made good on
that, he was rated a Christian;
if not, he was out. For instance,
a great and good .man arrived in
Korea on a preaching mission; i
but he got oft the plane with a
cigar in his hand. That killed
him for some of the old-stylo
puritans who saw or heard of it.
lie couldn’t be a Christian, he
smoked! But the modern puritan i
turns it upside down. His position
is that if only a man is concerned
with the race question, and pref-’
crably has taken part in demon
strations somewhere, then God
will overlook everything else. We
can see the absurdity, now, of
saying, “He must be a Christian;!
lie doesn’t smoke.” It is as wrong
to say a man has fulfilled his|
Christian ideal when he has a
good pcisonal chaiacter, as it is,
to say he is all a Christian should 1
be if he has a sense of social
justice. Personal punty AND so->
cial justice, being a Christian
includes both. But personal purity
conics first. Doing good in so
ciety, real, enduring good, if it
comes out of a pure heart, has a
stiongcr base than when it is
done by those who have low per
sonal ideals, or none.
The Disinherited
,v» ‘
A man who knew God if any
one ever did, (he apostle Paul,
wrote to clear up this matter,
for some people he knew in Gala
tia He diaws up (Gal, 5, our
“background Scupture”) twos
lists, one of acts or habits which
aic in harmony with God
(“fiuits of the Spmt” he calls
them) and also a list of deadly
sins The bad list staits with
immoiahty and impuuly. Per
sons who do such things, he tells
us, aic disinhciited God will not
take them into his kingdom. If
you will look at these two lists,
you will find that the life de
scribed on what I nave called the
“bad list’’ is easier by far than
living by the good list Tti put
it better Living like God is al
ways harder than living 111®“ the
devil "<
(based on outlines copyrighted! liy the
Division oi Christian Education, National
Council of in* Churches of Chrsirii the
USA Released by Community' Press
Service ) *
ATTEND THE CHURCH OF
YOUR CHOICE ON SUNDAY
farmers should be ordering
their needs We urge growers
to select the varieties that
will do the best for them and
to use good quality seed. The
best way to be sure of this is
to buy certified seed. If home
grown seed is to be used it
should be tested for gemina
tion and weed seeds, and be
treated with a fungicide foi
disease control Penned is
the leading winter b'arlejj vari
ety with Wong and Hudson
also acceptable. ,For fyintei
wheat Redcoat is on ’'every
one’s list with PernioH. and
Seneca continuing to get some
acreage.
I
MAX SMITH