4 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 31. 1966 From Where We Stand,.. Congratulations To A Master Farmer! We heartily applaud the recent selection of Amos H. Funk, Millersville R 1 vegetable grower, as one of this year's six Pennsylvania Master Farmers. He will receive this honor during Farm Show Week, at Harrisburg. Amos’ unselfish contributions of time and energy in serving statewide, as well as local, agricultural causes are well known. We can think of no more worthy a Lancaster County farmer to receive this recognition. Amos Funk is one of the new breed of business-minded farmers for which Lancaster County is becoming known. He has applied imagination and hard w'ork in building one of the county’s outstanding farm businesses, and has still found time to unceasingly serve his community. Our congratulations to a Master Farmer and “Master Citizen”! Tox Land According To Use, Not Location We hope that 1967 will finally be the year to bring tax equality to Penn sylvania farmers In the face of con tinually upward spiraling land values, especially in such counties as Lancaster with its increasing urban sprawl, taxing land according to use not site is the only salvation for farming. This might seem to be an impossible line to sell to the city dwellfer, but, for a variety of reasons, they’re buying it in mafty neighboring states. Last year, the Pennsylvania Farm ers’ Association proposed a constitution al amendment which was introduced in the legislature with bipartisan support. It failed to pass. It was patterned after similar- farmland tax relief legislation which.' hqs become law J -in Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut. Maryland, which pioneered this idea in the 1950’5, assesses farmland accord ing to its value for farming, instead of its subdivision value That law has helped keep farming an important in dustry in Maryland. It had one weak ness, however, which later New Jersey and Connecticut laws avoided it neglected to properly define a farm. This led to confusion among tax assess ors, and to many needless court cases: New Jersey’s law spells out the definition sharply, only actual acreage under agricultural or horticultural use qualifies, and five acres is the minimum farm size, the land must gross an aver age of at least $5OO a year, and it must meet these requirements two successive years before applying, finally, a farmer must reapply for farmland assessment every year The savings to farmers from such a tax break are readily apparent, but what’s in it for the suburban and city folks 9 PFA cited five advantages which caused voters in Maryland, New Jersey, and Connecticut to favor such legisla tion 1 It would promote rural-urban • Futures Trading ("Continued from Page 11 Futures tiadmg was most active m soybeans, coin and wheat The volume of trading LANCASTER FARMING Lancaster County’* Own Tar'-a Weekly P O Box 2GC - Bitit?, Pi 1 754’i Ol lit. 22 10 Hun St , T.itit/, Pa 17543 Phone JO incaster 314-2047 or Bill U C2G-2111 Don Timmons, Kditor Eobcit r, Campbell, Advertising I hi<itor Bnb-t option puce- f 2 per \ eat in Bimister County; $3 elsewhere Established Xoiember 4, 19 "7 I’tiblishf d even Satunlai bj I-.inc ister Fanning, Idlin'. Pa S-fimd Cli=s Postage paid at Litiu, P*. 17543 balance "by keeping some farmland throughout the state. 2—lt would guarantee a supply of fresh products by making it possible for local farmers to meet local demands. 3 It would preserve the state’s agricultural-agribusiness industry this is the second largest industry in Pennsylvania. 4 It would preserve the recrea tional advantages, especially for sports men, and 5 Above all, it would conserve open space. Such preferential tax treatment might appear to put local communities at a financial disadvantage, and unduly burden non-farm tax payers. Neither is the case apparently, according to a recent article in Farm Journal. In an eight-county area of Mary land, the magazine found, farmland as sessment cost each of the area’s 2.6 mil lion people about $l.BO. This tax load would have been considerably heavier if farms had been allowed to go into subdivisions. Most of the farmland assessment laws enable local governments to gam lump sums of property tax income when the land finally sells for development. How much in actual savings could such a law mean to Lancaster County farmers? The article cites one New Jersey fruit farmer who, prior to the limited valuation law, had part of his land assessed at $16,000 per acre The new law puts a farmland value limit of $4BO per acre, and this farmer now pays an average of $lO per acre in taxes. Some difference, huh? When this amendment again comes up for consideration and the climate in Harrisburg seems more favorable in the coming session than in the last we urge you to lend it your complete support. <33 More Net- Profit For Farmers In '67? Although it’s generally safest to take one year at a time (and even that’s risky unless one is talking about the past year), the economic outlook for agriculture in the next few years looks good. Many “experts” expect a continu ed improvement in farm income, ex panding domestic- and foreign markets, and a- considerable increase in total farm output. Rising production costs will tend to temper this bright outlook some what, resulting in a slightly lower net farm income than the $l6 billion that farmers shared this year. However, farmers with inadequate size businesses and insufficient capital and management capacity will continue to take employment in off-farm jobs. This wilt enable farmers with better than average production capabilities to expand their businesses and increase their efficiency. It will also leave fewer farmers to share in the net farm in come for 1967. So, although USDA pre dicts a five percent reduction in that net figure, it may average, nearly the same as in 1966 on a per>farm basis. in corn was at an alltime rec ord of over 10 billion bushels; wheat with trading volume of 71 billion bushels was at the highest level since 1937; and soybeans at 16 5 billion bush els was under last year’s rec ord total, but was the second highest on record. Other commodities with rec ord trading volume included soybean meal, with over 46 million tons, and potatoes, with about 575,000 carlots. Soybean oil, at 594,000 tank cars will be about the level of the record trading in 1965. Trading volume in oats and rye was also considerably % higher in 1966 "than m 1965 Trading was also well-main tained in wool futures For the year, trading declines were registered in cotton, eggs, wool tops and cottonseed oil futures. Alex C Caldwell, CCA Ad numstrator, said that the large trading volume increases in the major commodities was stimulated by reduced sur pluses of farm commodities, increased consumption at home, and a step-up in de mand from abroad. “'Hedging by the’glair, trade in carrying and merc’nandis- Lesson for January 1,1967 employment of the church to come a social worker. He too) B«cVyr«und Scrlptur* Luke 3 1 through 4 is. believed that he had at last dia<t D*v«ti«nal Rtadiny tsaioh 40 1 5. covered his true vocation. Both Some parents today become” 1 '" stopped for . a moment, at alarmed if their children had not is considered to bed rather chosen their life’s vocation before J ate st ®K* 1 they complete high school. One JJ 1 ' v ° ice of G°d. Obedient to what youth told me that his parents be*? 1 r h 114 gan to "hound’’ him to make up alt J llo that ca ‘ , . his mind from the moment he iixfluence B that changed entered tenth** 1 ® Galilean s life were thepreach grade. "Hurry,” * n S of John, a period of searching ' they advised, "or prayer and meditation in quiet it will be tooseclusion, a knowledge of th* late!’’ ' scriptures, and an unwavering Thus it is desire to do what God wanted, hard for us to Might there not be people in your conceive of a own life through whom God i»( man who, at the speaking of your true vocation? age of thirty. Would you be willing to open the; would give a your mind And Rev, Althouse g oo d vocation to through earnest prayer and medj embark upon the uncertain life of Ration? And if the an swer cam® an itinerant preacher. Jesus of to you» that God wanted to sene Nazareth, a carpenter following y° u into a direction, in the parental footsteps of would you have the* courage t<| Joseph before him, did just that, follow? Out Into Wilderness What God Wants • One day the carpenter of Xaz- As Jesus himself experienced* areth went out into the wilderness the temptations are many for that surrounded the Jordan Kiver those who seek to use their liver to hear and see John, the prophet- purposefully. The temptor is con ic preacher and baptizer about stantly offering us short cuts* whom everyone was talking. Re-} m -) us t means that he insists are ceiving baptism at John’s hands, justified by righteous ends. How the s'ign of a new beginning in skillful he is in using good inten his life, Jesus the carpenter was tions to lead us into making thfc conscious of being called to anew worst decisions, vocation. Not that the new voca- At the age of thirty Jesus th* tion burst upon him unexpectedly, carpenter began a new Vocation* for we are led to believe that there Moses had begun his at-eighty» had been other indications that It is never too late for a man t® God w r as calling him to a special stop and listen to the voice of Goa task. This time, however, he re-to find otit what hS really intend® sponded, determined to gofpr us to do-with this life wherever God would lead. God, given us. he was sure, had a mission for cpyri. htw by th. Divt*,.#, him to perform. af Christian Education, Nahanal Cauneil af ihfe What kind of mission Ivas it to ch™, ,n it,, u. s a. Ht be 9 So that he might discover ex- *""" n ' ly "* ,rvic * actly what God wanted of him. 7 w Jesus went off into the wilderness for forty days to fast, meditate, and pray. In the wilderness God spoke to him, but so did some- one else That '"someone else” greeted him with attractive coun- ter-offers that could not help but catch any man’s eye. Theyoungf Now Is The Time ... To Repair Farm Equipment The winter season is a very good time to repair and service most farm equipment. Many faun equipment dealers and service concerns will welcome the work during the winter and many will give special prices If .'he equipment is put in top working condi tion now, there will be less delay at planting time next spring To Attend Farm Show Meetings The Pennsylvania State Farm Show is mted for many things and is attended by i housands of people, however, there is an ■ducational value that can he easily over looked due to, the great attraction of new aaehmery, exhibits, hot dogs, and baked SStltfi 1 •jotatofes Most, of the state- are dangerous to eVeryohe; wide farm and home associa- one of the common abrasives lions hold annual meetings or is salt that is used by street banquets; many 1 helpful rec- and" highway departments, c oimehdations and suggestions Property owners are, cautioned j-e presented at these events, about Using salt because 5f the Local farmers 'are urged to ob- danger to shrubs, trees, and tarn a Farm Show Program grass, the resulting salt'"water and attend the event in their will be caustic to most vege* particular line 1 of - agriculture, tations and damage will result. To Be Careful With Salt... We suggest-the use of Sand, , Icy walks or steps around ashes, or phosphate in these the home or other property areas. , 1 mg stocks has been expanding ® TobflCCO ShcfW during 1966,” he said, “and from. Page « ... . . . , ’ next Thursday, the - Tobacco voll continue into 1967, so Growers Association* wilt' hbld long as domestic utilization its annual meeting!in .thf 'Say" a'id exports continue to in- uk Company &ssbdia (i ease.” tion officers nvill ""ge* -’elected lor the coming yetr. Novor Too Loti By Mar Smith, Lancaster County Agent f M * * iliiean, howlver, flood fSE 111 >uld do only what God «w>Ml im to do, nothing else, ie Acceptable Tima Some people still And thilrtrul icatlon when they are well past tat appears to be the "accepts* « time.” I recently spoke with A m who in his early forties gave a good Job as an accountant to go to seminary and become a clergyman. This, he decided, was what God really wanted him to do. Another man of my acquaint* ance has recently left thf
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers