—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.)