10 —Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 12, 1975 Farm Commentary Hie Importance of Estate Planning One of the biggest threats to the family farm is. strangely enough, one of the easiest to deal with Most farmers have at least one child who would like to take over the family farm. With careful planning, a farmer can insure that when he dies, all his children will share in his estate, and that at least one of those children will have a chance to own the farm Estate planning was one of the key elements discussed at the two-day ag lending meeting held in Lancaster last week. Some 135 farm loan of ficers were on hand to discuss their problems, and to talk about the farm outlook. Estate plans are important not only for the sake of transferring the farm to future generations, the bankers were told, but also for the Red Meat Output Up Sharply in February Red meat production up sharply during February - despite lower pork, lamb-mutton outpout. At 2.9 billion lbs., commercial red meat production during February was up 8 pet from a year earlier, 6 pet above that of February 1973. Beef output, at 18 billion lbs, was up 15 pet from a year earlier, 10 pet. above that of Feb. 1973 Veal production, at 50 million lbs, was double that of a year earlier But, pork production, at 954 million lbs, was down 5 pet. from a year earlier, 3 pet below that of February 1973 Lamb and mutton production totaled 31 million lbs. for the month, down 9 pet from a year earlier. An added factor Lower average World Wheat, Oats, Corn Output Off World production of wheat, oats and corn down last year, but rye and barley output was up, according to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. World wheat output, at 346.8 million (metric) tons, was down 5 pet from 1973’s record (366.5 million ton) harvest, but 7 pet. above the 1968-72 average. Reason for the cutback; Lower yield Though world wheat area increased 2 pet., yields dropped from 16.9 to 15.6 quintals per hectare (a quintal is 220 46 lbs; a hectare, 247 acres) Oat production, at 50 2 million tons, was down from 53.7 million tons a year earlier Reason for the decline: Lower area, lower yield. Output m the North American sector was off 12 pet., production in the Soviet Union, Will U.S. Farmers Take Over Industry? Over the years, there has been a lot of worrying about a possible takeover of US. farms by large industrial establishments USDA issued a report about some of these industries last week Industries that are so called multiunit industries which are also engaged" in farming Oh, they were big all right They accounted for 7 pet of the total value of US farm output in 1969,, for example And, that’s only 410 of them by Dick Wanner sake of protecting lenders' interests in farming operations. Lenders may be increasingly in terested in the wills and insurance plans of all farmers. Farm loan of ficers are interested many times not just in protecting their capital, but in seeing that farms remain with the family even if the head of the family should die. Too many farmers have given very little thought to estate planning, it was pointed out at the banker's meeting Virgil Crowley, a Penn State farm management specialist, urged the bankers to probe into farmers’ estate plans when they apply for loans. So the next time you see your banker, don’t be too surprised if he asks you about your will. weights in all categories - except calves. The cattle kill, at 3,082,300 head, was up 21 pet from a year earlier, with the average live weight per head at 1,021 lbs down 42 lbs. from a year ago. Live weight per head of calves slaughtered was 270 lbs, compared to 235 lbs. a year ago. Calf slaughter, at 329,600 head, was up 78 pet from a year ago. down only 1 pet from a year ago Average weight per head was 236 lbs, 7 lbs less than a year ago But, lard rendered per 100 lbs. live weight was 6.3 lbs, compared to 6.2 lbs. a year ago. Sheep and lamb slaughter totaled 586,500 head, down 7 pet. from a year ago. Average live weight was 107 lbs., 3 lbs. less than last year. at 15.3 million tons, was down 13 pet. World corn production, now seen at 279 million tons, was off 10 pet., with lower yield the major cause for the decline. Output was off 17 pet. in North America (U.S. output was off 18 pet.) Over-all yield was down from 27.3 to 23.9 quintals per hectare. Meanwhile, rye production was up 13 pet. - to 32.7 million tons, with world rye plantings up 14 pet. and yield unchanged The Soviet crop, at 15.2 million tons, was up 41 pet. and the largest since 1955. Barley output totaled 157 million tons, up slightly (from 156.1 million tons) a year earlier. Though plantings increased slightly, yield was down slightly. (FAS-FG-5-75). But, the report, makes another interesting point most of us probably never considered That is that a lot of these multiestablishment firms got their starts as farms This brings up the question Will U S farmers takeover industry. Single copies of “Farming and Agribusiness Activities of Large Multiunit Firms," ERS-591, available on request, of course WHAT IS MAN? Lesion lor April 13.1975 Background Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31; Psalms 8. Devotional Reading: Psalms 19. There are really two ways of asking that question. One of them is philosophic, inquiring about mankind in general: ‘‘What is man?" The other is personal, Inquiring about one man in particular. “Who am I?” Basically, however, it is the same question viewed from different perspectives. Man the creature It was the question with which the Psalmist and the writer of Genesis were wrestling. From that soul searching there came several answers. First, they saw man as'a creature of God. In the eighth psalm there is no question but that man sees himself in the light of God’s greatness. The awe of the creature for the Creator is evident: “When I look at the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou has established, what is man that thou art mindful of him. . .?” (8:3,4). A familiar hymn says much the same thing; “0 Lord, my God, When I m awesome wonder, Con sider all the worlds. Thy hands have made ... How great Thou art! How great Thou art!” If man is to know who he is as a creature, he must first acknowledge the greatness of the creator. Man the steward The Psalmist also sees man - and himself - as the creature who is the highest of God’s creations. Despite his seeming insignificance, man, as the Psalmist puts it, is created to be a “little less than God, and thou dost crown him with honor and glory” (8:5). This belief has far reaching implications for I^ol*lll both mankind in general and -M* me in particular. For | 1 mankind it means being |PTI CI{LT ranked at the top of the Cohlr , „ . evolutionary scale. For me p „ Aprd \ 2 - «. in particular it means that m^ g f* regardless of how lam !?f f J? ran f e Hal * ln esteemed by either myself or from 1000 others, lam a unique, T „ ... valuable creature. Leb < ? non Exposibon FinaUy, the Psalmist sees £ tT 3 ™ man as a steward: “Thou Pa?r at hast given him dominion MMri a P ‘ m " over the works of thy hands, !^ prg 14 • thou hast put all things under Vege f gardening dime his feet” (8:6). The Creation p l *® C r ent / al . Ch ® ste r story in Genesis also speaks rLafo'^n 11 S + C 7?™ of man’s dominion “over the at 7:30 fish of the sea and over the p ‘ eve% oi llvtg a thlt i 85 Ephrata Far jnoveaupontheearth” (Gea. Man, as God’s highest School ag classroom 7:45 creation, is given dominion over aU creation, but for a v Apr,ll6 1 purpose: to manage it for Ve f* abl f gardening clime God as a good steward, thus A ick |nng V | giving man both a high B / ers Road privilege and a gre!. ‘ - Ha«.a.e of Christian Education, at the Farm Show National Council of the Building in Harrisburg. Churches of Christ in the Friday, April 18 U.S.A. Released by Com- Pa - Holstein Cow and Bred munity Press Service.) Heifer Sale at the Farm |||uV»ViV»ViV*SViV*V»VtVAViV« , iVAWiV/» , «WiViSViViVMV*V» , »Vi , i , »V*'»Vi^V I'" - I $ far ( „ a TO INSPECT PASTURES Before livestock are turned to pasture it is suggested that farmers go over the entire area and remove solid waste that has been thrown there during the winter months. This is more important when pastures are along public roads. Even though it is against the law to discard junk and garbage along the highways, or on the property of others, it is still being done by thoughtless persons. In some cases this junk may contain materials that will be poisonous to livestock. Also, it will in terfer with the clipping of the pasture area later in the spring. Be safe and inspect the pasture to remove possible hazards. TO PROTECT SOD HEADLANDS The spring plowing season is at hand when many acres of sod crops will be turned under. The practice Of plowing right up to the high way right-of-way, or to other boundaries is to be discouraged. We have ob served farmers that have plowed so close to the road that they had to come out on the road to turn around. This does not allow any vegetation to stop flood waters and as a result, the road becomes covered with silt. Along the same line, sod waterways should also be protected during the soil working this spring. Heavy sod with some width is needed to carry off the extra water without tearing into the topsoil. Protect sod headlands and waterways for best soil and water conservation. TO PRACTICE BETTER WEED CONTROL The problem of weed control confronts every gardner and fanner. There are amny methods of keeping weeds from har- NOW IS THE TIME... I Max Smith County Agr. Agent Telephone 39t*6)(5l ming crops, but" {he major effort should be to kill the weeds before they get a good start. The application of pre emergency sprays, in order to keep the weeds from sprouting or kill them as they come through the surface of the ground, is strongly recommended. If this is not done, then the best time to kill the weed plant is when it is small; (under two inches). After it gets well started and several inches high, it is more difficult to kill. With clean cultivation the very small weeds can be killed quickly, while larger weeds may take root again and keep growing. Weed control included proper timing and efforts of eradication when they are small. Don’t let them get started. TO HANDLE MANURE PROPERLY The month of April sees many tons of good organic matter returned to the soil in the form of barnyard manure; also, this is a very valuable fertilizer ap plication that could reduce the amount of commerical fertilizer use. However, the big thing is to get the manure incorporated into the topsoil just as quickly as possible after application. This is especially true on open ground or on hilly fields. If the area can be disced or plowed soon. after the manure application, there should be less run-off and less loss of fertilizer materials. Liquid manures that are injected into the topsoil at application time should include maximun benefits. When hauling manure over a public high way and chunks fall from the spreader, those might present a traffic hazard and be the cause of an accident; the highway should be kept free of manure spillage. Show Building in Harrisburg. Saturday, April 19 Pa. State Holstein Show at the Farm Show Building in Harrisburg. Sunday, April 20 Dairy Goat Seminar at the AmyrFarm with Mr. and Mrs. Richard Stonebeack of Oxford in Chester County. Monday, April 21 Eastern Lebanon County Young Farmers meeting at the Elco High School vo-ag classroom at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, April 26 Lebanon Valley Exposition Corp. square dance at the Lebanon Fairgrounds at 8:30 p.m. Editors Quote Book "" -■ " We do not quite forgive a giver The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bit ten Ralph Waldo Emerson
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