TRY A CLASSIFIED AD
PFA Honors Don Hershey
I Continued from Page I|
pushed her luck just a bit too
far.
“I paid my electric bill at
the bank this morning,”
Hershey said, “and I just
happened to comment to the
teller, ‘Boy, that thing sure
gets bigger and bigger every
month, doesn’t it?‘
“And she said to me,
‘Yeah, just like food,’
“Well, she said that to the
wrong person. I delivered
my sermon right there, and
when I was done, she knew a
thing or two about what it
costs me to produce food.”
The theme of Don Her
shey’s food story is that the
American farmer works 10
to 12 hours a day, 18 to 20
hours during planting and
harvesting seasons, to
produce to world’s cheapest
food. He reminds American
consumers that they still
spend a smaller percentage
of their total income for food
than any other country in the
world. And he reminds them
that for all his hard work, the
farmer still very often
doesn’t make ten percent on
his investment.
“I feel this is my way of
telling agriculture’s story to
the public. We’ve got to tell
the American people that
food isn’t as expensive as
they think it is. More far
mers have got to start
talking up. It doesn’t do us
any good to go to farmer
meetings and complain to
each other about the
treatment we get m the
press. We’ve got to talk to
consumers. We’ve got to
reach the news media.”
Food costs are only one
part of Hershey’s farming
story. The disappearance of
good land is the other part.
“I don’t know what’s going to
happen to the price of ground
here,” he said. “We should
have some way to keep good
productive land in farms
rather than shopping cen
ters, but developers are
looking for the land they can
make the most money with,
and that’s Class 1 and 2
farmland.
“The American people
shoudl get up in arms about
the disappearance of far
mland. We have to let the
developers and realtors
Iqiow that we want to save
the land. We’re not growing
enough food right now to feed
the world the way it ought to
be fed, and things aren’t
going to get any better if we
don’t have land to grow the
food on. Some farmers can
resist the developers. I know
one fellow who turned down
$lO,OOO an acre. But we can’t
depend on that kind of far
mer to save the land. It’ll
take a lot of education.”
Hershey’s energy and
dedication spill over into his
church and community. He’s
a past president of the
Manheun Farm Show, past
president of the Sporting Hill
Elementary School PTPA,
he’s on the Farm and Home
Center board of directors,
and with his wife, Gerry, he
chairs an annual chicken
com soup supper to benefit
the Sporting Hill school.
Both Hersheys are active
in the Congregational Bible
Church in Marietta as
Sunday School teachers and
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Nov. 16,1974
serve one night every week
in the Church’s Youth
Center.
Don has served as
president, vice-president
and secretary of the
Manheim Young Farmers,
and was Region 2 vice
president of the state Young
Farmer group for two years.
He currently serves as
president of the Lancaster
County Farmers
Association.
There are three Hershey
children. Larry is 15, a
member of the Manheim
Central FFA, and eagerly
anticipating the day when he
can go into farming.
Stephen, 13 is anxious to get
into the vo-ag and FFA
programs. Daughter Patty is
nine years old.
As the interview drew to a
close, Don Hershey summed
up his appraoch to farming
and living. “When you come
to the end of life’s road, if
you haven’t left your com
munity, church and farm
better than they were, then I
don’t think you’ve fulfilled
your purpose in life.”
9