—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 1. 1972 10 To Thine Own When it comes to our personal finances, most of us are reluctant to discuss them with anyone. Reasons are numerous: we feel it's nobody else’s business; we don’t want to boast, and so forth. It gets carried to the point, we’ve found from experience, that successful farmers don’t want it reported about them that they’re making money or that they’re doing something because it makes them money even if figures aren’t mentioned and even though it should be self-evident that a farmer can be successful only if he's making enough profits to keep operating. We think the right to privacy in these matters is one of the most fundamental of rights and farmers should always fight hard to keep this right But while the farmer should have the right to keep his business from others, he should be very careful that he doesn’t also hide it from himself. That is, he should always know, from a financial standpoint, where he is, where he's been, and where he's going. Such knowledge is possible only with considerable effort. It is possible only when the farmer knows his operation from A to Z; this type of an awareness exists only when the farmer can literally tear his operation apart and put it back together again—on paper. This knowledge must include, but not be limited to, the following, complete knowledge of total costs and how they compare to past accounting periods, an understanding of why some costs are higher and lower, a breakdown of costs per animal, per bushel, per hundred pounds of milk; further breakdown of costs to show proportions going into labor, new machinery, machinery mamtenace, buildings, fertilizer, medicines and so forth, comparisons with past years on all these items; proportion of income-going to repay debt, meet taxes, and left over for profits; a reasonable future cash flow projection for future years to make sure that enough money will be available to meet bills and debts as they come due. The farmer who has these and other facts and who truly understands his operation knows at all times just where he stands financially. He knows what his business has done in the past, he knows how it stands now, and he has a pretty good idea of where it’s going to be in the future Of course, things change and changing conditions must always be taken into account, but the farmer who has kept up with his condition can readily adjust his figures to reflect changing conditions. Why is it important to know all these things 7 Many farmers who are quite sucrpssful can no doubt claim that they never look at their finances, except to pay bills and figure taxes. But while it’s true that many local farmers learn enough to be successful by watching their successful relatives and friends, n’s also true that farming keeps changing and getting more LANCASTER FARMING Lancaster County's Own Farm Weekly P 0 Box 266 - Lititz, Pa 17543 Office 22 E Mam St, Lititz, Pa 17543 Phone Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2191 Robert G. Campbell, Advertising Director >: Zane Wilson, Managing Editor £ Subscription price: $2 per. year in Lancaster * County $3 elsewhere Established November 4, 1955 Published every Saturday by Lan caster Farming, Lititz, Pa Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa 17543. Newspapers Farm Editors Newspaper Publishers and National Newspaper £ Members of £ Assn., Pa. £ Association, Association Self Be True competitive. It's necessary to keep getting better just to stay even. And one of the areas in which farmers across the country are getting better is in management, in pushing the pencil, in finding areas where they’re losing money and eliminating them, in finding areas where costs are too high and can be cut, in finding areas where income is too low in relation to the amount of time spent, in finding areas where time can be spent more profitably. It all boils down to making the operation a little more efficient. Time doesn't stand still. Successful crops and practices are constantly changing. Often it’s the changes which seem to be little ones that can make a big difference. And it’s usually the first farmers to discover successful new crops and prac tices who reap the biggest rewards. Once everybody else joins in, things get more competitive. The farmer who pushes his pencil, who has a compete understanding of his operation and farming in general is prepared to make the right decisions. The farmer who is prepared can answer tough questions, based on facts from his own operation, questions such as the following: Does it pay to hire custom operators who are increasingly available? Can I afford to buy the equipment which they will make unnecessary when I consider all the costs, including replacement? What is the time the custom operator saves worth to me and what alternative uses do I have for that time? Can the custom operator do a better or poorer job than I can do myself? As more custom operators become available and as equipment costs continue to rise, will the relative advantages of the custom operator increase? What is the best use of myt scarce land? Should I continue with all corn? Or should I have a few acres of alfalfa for a better cow diet? Now that the corn scarcity is over and corn prices relatively low again, should I consider another crop such as soybeans which have held their price? Should I try double cropping, such as barley and soybeans, to get the top return? Are some crops so cheap on the market relative to cost of production that 1 should quit growing them and devote my ground to more profitable crops? in order to take advantage of very low prices at harvest time, should I have more storage facilities; can these facilities actually pay for themselves in a short time? Studies have shown that there are very high costs built into crop production, particularly for farmers who use costly equipment on limited acres. This equip ment must be replaced and the cost of this replacement must be figured into the cost of production. With all costs considered,.it is frequently quoted that it takes 70 to 80 bushels of corn per acre for the farmer to meet his costs. While most farmers locally grow far more corn, it is known that statewide many farmers do not. And it is believed that many of these farmers ac tually are losing money on their corn operations. Most of those losing on corn don’t even know it, because their records are inadequate. Other crops or livestock must carry the load for corn, or else the farmer will eventually not be able to continue to operate. The point, of course, is that an un profitable corn operation is a drain on the financial strength of the entire operation. Farmers losing money on corn should either imporve this phase of the operation or else they would fee much better off to save the time spent on growing corn and devote that time to the portions of the operation which are profitable. But only farmers who know exactly where they stand are in position to make decisions of this type. (Continued on Page 12) now is THE TIME . . By Max Smith Lancaster County Agent To Make Farm Management Plans Farming today is a which requires modern management techniques and substantial capital investment. To keep abreast of modern technology farmers have to make any adjustments in their operations. These adjustments have resulted in larger farm units as farmers try to keep up with climbing costs and increase their income. Farmers who have made these adjustments are very likely to be disappointed in their expectation unless they planned carefully before making them. Adjustments made just for the sake of “size” and without proper planning may end up increasing expenses, risk, and management problems without any com mensurate increase in net in come. The farm manager should develop a long-range plan of operation. By doing so he will be able to determine what ad justments must be made to achieve his long-run goals. Planning permits farm managers to determine how proposed adjustments will affect larm income before actually making the adjustments: it saves time, money, and often disap pointment. The newest tool in the farm managers kit is “linear programming”. It makes planning easier and more meaningful. It not only shows the manager how proposed ' ad justments will affect farm"in come, but also gives the com bination of crops and livestock that should be used to produce the IS LOVE “WEAK”? Lesson for January, 1972 B«ckf r«gnd Scripture: Luke 4 Is Christian love indicative of moral weakness? There are many today who think so, including some who are presumably members ofthe vari ous churches. Mercy is equated with cowardice, benevolence with compassion with evil. Those who take seriously Je sus’ teachings on love are regarded not only as being in error, but sub versive and dan gerous as well. But Jesus Rev. Althouse says .., The teachings of Jesus seem no less acceptable today as they did when he first appeared to the world: Society advises us to hate our enemies. .. . . . but Jesus says to “Love your enemies”! Society suggests that we return hatred to those who hate us . . . ... but Jesus says “do good to those who hate you”! Society demands that we return blow for blow ... . . . but Jesus says we are to “turn the other cheek”! Nietzsche once said, “Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is strong.” in interpreting this re mark, psychiatrist Karl Mennin ger has pointed out that those highest net returns from the available supplies of land, labor and capital. The solutions also show the farm manager how much income will be sacrificed if he chooses a plan which differs from the one producing the highest income. The new tool is available to Pennsylvania far mers To Check Farm Pond Winter Safety Even though we have had some very mild weather this winter we can be sure we have some cold days and nights ahead of us. Cold weather makes possible the winter recreation of ice skating. Frozen farm ponds are attractive for skating and recreation, especially during the holiday season. Thickness of ice is not always an accurate measure of its strength. Slush ice, for example, is about half as strong as clear, blue ice. New ice is stronger than old ice, and ice formed by direct freezing of pond water is stronger than that for med from melting snow. Generally two inches of ice supports one man on foot. Three inches will support a group of people single file, and at least 7M> inches are required to support a car or truck. Exercise caution with ice qovering spring-fed bodies of water, or that on stream with fast moving current.' Thickness of ice on these may vary considerably. Many farm ponds provide good ice skating, but always make a test of ice thickness and other safety fac tors. Keep a straight ladder or coil of rope handy for rescue purposes. who often call for the harshest measures against wrongdoers are those who feel uneasy because they have entertained the same ideas themselves. “No one is more bitter in condemning the ‘loose’ woman than the ‘good’ woman who have on occasion guiltily enjoyed some pimple dreams themselves. The “first stone” is always “cast” by some one who himself is not “without sm.” The courage to love Thus, hatred and anger and the withholding of mercy and love are often means of coping with our own secret sense of sin. If we can find an obvious object of guilt: the town drunkard or adul tress we can load all our own guilt upon this person, just as the ancient Hebrews practiced a rite of loading their sins upon a “scapegoat” and driving him into the wilderness. It takes courage, however,- to face the realities of sin and fail ure in our own lives. To project our hostilities upon others is the greatest weakness. It is the real cowardice to condemn another be cause we don’t have the courage to face our own-failures of mor ality. This doesn’t mean the Chris tian ought never to punish, but that he ought never to punish either in self-righteousness or with the obvious pleasure that often is so evident in our society. Jesus never counseled us to enjoy the sins of others. The problem, then, with devel oping “enemies” is that allows us a coward’s way-out. The lack o£ love we show our enemies may be even more injurious to ourselves than it is to them. Is love weak? Look at the cross of Christ and tell me what you see there! (Bosed on outlines copyrighted by the Division of Christian Education, Notional Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Released by Community Press Service.)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers