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Elizabethtown Pa
>Mfttn uciccv G. R. MITCHELL, INC.
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DAVID B. HURST
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Ephrata, Pa
;*J.ViViV*V»V#%ViVrr* »v«v» • • • •
From Local A
X
The article for this week was
written by Clifford Grube,
teacher of agriculture at War
wick High School. Grube owns
and operates a 120 acre farm in
Berks County, where he
presently is raising 28 head of
Registered Angus.
What’s Wrong With Farming?
One question that has been
troubling me lately is why more
and more young people,
especially our farm youth, are
not going back to farming as a
career. Maybe their parents are
discouraging them, citing long
hours, hard work and low return
on investment as reasons why
they want more for their children
than they had. Perhaps a neigh
bor or relative is making “big_
money” as a tradesman or'
professional person and has
plenty of time to have fun. Or
maybe the image of a farmer
doesn’t quite fit what they think
they are or want to be. I guess
this boils down to the old “grass
is greener on the other side of the
fence” syndrome.
At the same time thousands of
young people, mostly from urban
backgrounds and well educated,
have discovered the “back to
nature thing” is filling a big void
Red Rose
CATTLE FEEDS
MOUNTVILLE
FEED SERVICE
Mountville
MUSSER FARMS, INC.
RED ROSE FARM
SERVICE, INC.
N Church St . Quarry vilie
CHAS. E. SAUDER
H. M. STAUFFER
& SONS, INC.
Columbia
& SONS
Terre Hill
Witmer
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 6, 1973
Teachers:
Thoughts
in Passing
Clifford Grube
in their lifestyle and want to learn
about farming. Books and
magazines covering these sub
jects are selling at an un
believable rate.
To illustrate, the most recent
issue of “Mother Earth News”
covers such subjects as growing
vegetables, raising rabbits,
raising ducks and geese, how to
be a hired hand, home curing of
beef, and homesteading. The
organic garden, whole grain
breads, natural foods, goats milk
and the like are the “in things”.
The whole idea of living in har
mony with the land has amazing
appeal, especially with those that
we might call hippies. Like it or
not, these style-setters are the
ones responsible for the present
long hair, patched blue jeans and
other miscellaneous rags as well
as some more undesirable
conduct which has occurred in
the past five years They may
very well be an influencing factor
in changing the attitudes of our
farm youth toward their own
heritage.
Let us examine the favorable
aspects of farming. First, far
ming is a family business which
unites its members through
common interest. This is unlike
many of our modern families
where everyone is doing their
own thing and they’re usually
distant pursuits. Remember that
many off-farm jobs mean
overnight travel and evening
work that disrupts family life.
Farming is honest work. Good
- farming practices are non
exploiting of nature or man.
Many jobs are based on deceit or
are immoral. Farming means
relative independence. There is
little worry about strikes,
lockouts, layoffs, transfers, plant
closings and the like.
Farming is challenging. Any
job done on the farm today can
undoubtedly be done better.
There is a never ending challenge
for those with ambition.
Aerial Ladder Equipped
FARM PAINTING
We Spray it on and Brush It In!
FOR FREE ESTIMATES
CALL COLLECT 717-393-6530
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HENRY K. FISHER
2322 Old Phila. Pike
Lancaster, Pa. 17602
Farming hours are flexible to a
degree I know that cows must be
milked and animals fed at certain
times but if you want to go to that
farm sale or get a haircut or even
go fishing in the middle of the day
you can arrange your work so you
can go Farming doesn’t
necessarily mean working out
side in bad weather At least you
have a choice. Many workers
must stand out in the rain until
quitting time A farmer can
arrange his work schedule and if
he’s working in the rain it’s
because something needs to be
done and he wants to do it.
Farming is not boring. I’ve
never known a bored farmer and
I don’t have to tell you why.
Farming is satisfying. Big and
small satisfactions abound for a
good farmer; just don’t let the
disappointments get you down.
Now that I’ve said a lot about
an occupation that you know even
more about, maybe we should
discuss another as a comparison.
Try to imagine this situation.
You overslept by a half hour and
now race to get ready for work.
You leave without breakfast,
jump in your car and race
through traffic only to find the
parking lot full. By the time you
find a space, run in to punch the
time clock, you are five minutes
late and the boss tells you that
you will be docked 30 minutes for
lateness.
0.K., you get to your machine
with which you will punch six
holes in a piece of flat metal until
10 o’clock when you will have 15
minutes to stand in line at the
coffee machine only to return for
105 minutes of hole punching It is
now noon and the big thrill is to
eat lunch on the loading dock
because from there you can see
the sunlight.
The buzzer goes off at 12 • 30 and
you return to 240 minutes of non
stop hole punching, at 4-15 the
foreman comes around and tells
you that you have to work an
extra hour overtime.
At 5:30 when you walk out it’s
now dark and you head home,
knowing that tomorrow will be
exactly the same. This man has
earned his wage but life must be
more than a mere existance.
I realize that I’ve painted a
pretty picture of farming and you
probably didn’t think it was all
that glamourous but I’ve worked
at a number of different jobs and
none comes close to farming in
comparison. I strongly believe
that there is a real future in
farming as it is the worlds most
important occupation. If you like
the work, enjoy a rural at
mosphere, desire a close-knit
family life and are willing to take
on the responsibilities of a
husbandman and steward of the
land, don’t let that family farm
slip away from you.
33