2S— Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 21,1979
From calves and finance
this Adams Countian
By DIETER KRIEG
GETTYSBURG - “We like to keep our
operation simple, and our overhead
down,” is one way E. Lee Rarasburg of
southcentral Adams County describes his
dairy farm.
It’s not a fancy place. The soil has a
notorious reputation, most of the buildings
are in disrepair, numerous pieces of old
equipment are rusting in the field, and the
farmstead in general needs a good
manicuring.
Ramsburg, a 30-year old dairyman, isn’t
very concerned about the appearance of
his farm, however. He says that he may be
farming more than he can effectively
handle, but adds that it’s a part of a plait
which he believes is best until other
matters have been established and taken
care of.
His primary concern, besides milk
production, is having land - enough land -
to avoid being hemmed in by develop
ments at some future date
“When agricultural land comes up for
sale nowadays, it may be a farmer’s last
chance to buy it or else homes will be put
on it,” he explains “And how often do you
hear a person say ‘I wish I had bought
that land back in ‘64 . ’ Well, I don’t want
to be faced with the same kind of regrets if
lean help it.”
Consequently, Ramsburg, who started
modestly, considers the aquisition of more
land as a key to success He does not want
to be caught m a real estate squeeze It
happened to him once and he doesn’t want
a repeat experience
“It’s just a matter of what you want to
do,” he said, explaining that he recently
spent $24,000 for 14 acres In Adams
County that’s a pretty fair price for land
But not every farmer would have been
willing to pay that figure, Ramsburg
claims “And yet they go to the farm
machinery shop and don’t even get a very
big tractor for that kind of money,” he
reasoned
Keeping his machinery inventory and
costs at a minimum is another key to
Ramsburg’s farming formula. He bought
only the essential items when he first went
into the dairy business in 1970 and
borrowed whatever else he needed from
his father.
Commenting on equipment purchases in
general, the young dairy farmer quips;
“Fifty per cent of the equipment pur-
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bought because a farmer just thinks he
wants it - he gets lured in - or he needs a
tax break.
As a finance major at the University of
Maryland, Ramsburg became familiar
with tax structures, and financing. Quick,
and even eager to push a pencil, the young
dairy farmer calculates carefully before
he makes a business decision. And he’s not
bashful about being shrewd.
When he’s dealing with interest-free
money at agribusiness establishments, for
example, he makes use of the time granted
for payment. That allows him more
flexibility with his money, he says, adding
that he’s equally careful about when he
places orders, so he can have use of
something for the longest possible time
before he gets billed for it.
Ramsburg started in the dairy business
in a rather unusual way. His father and
grandfather were dairymen 30 years ago,
but never had any desire to get back into
the business after 1950. What’s more, there
was little encouragement from the elder
Ramsburgs no matter how much young
Lee pleaded and begged for cows. He notes
that his family was known to have one of
the better dairy herds in Maryland, with
the foundation being of the famous
Dunloggm bloodline.
After graduating from high school in
1966, the young man enrolled at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Campus, to study finance. Ramsburg
explams that he didn’t like university life
at all and consequently never stayed there
any longer than absolutely necessary. To
keep himself occupied, he decided to begin
raising calves. His father agreed to let him
keep them on the family farm (The
Ramsburgs lived in Maryland at that
time.)
A full-fledged UMBC student, Ramsburg
says he was “a country boy in a city
school It wasn’t my cup of tea.” He
commuted back and forth every day to
care for his calves. He raised 10 during his
freshman year, selling them two years
later for a handsome $4OOO. Meanwhile, he
purchased more young Holstein heifer
calves and continued the venture. His
costs were negligible since his father
provided the feed free of charge in return
for the work he was doing around the farm
Ramsburg kept his calf and heifer
business going throughout the time he
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UMBC, however, his studies took him to
the mam University of Maryland Campus
at College Park. That was too far away to
commute every day, so the heifers became
a Summer-only project.
Ramsburg reminisces that he wasn’t
sure of what he wanted to do in life until he
was in his senior year at the University. He
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Lee Ramsburg, his wife, Jane, and their two children, Beau and Kate have
found a happy home on the farm. They live south of Gettysburg and farm over
000 acres.
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says he developed an interest in cows when
he was just a small boy, but had more or
less resigned himself to something else
since his parents discouraged him to
become a dairy fanner.
Ramsburg’s affiliation with dairy
students at the University of Maryland
strengthened his boyhood ambitions. A
former 4-H’er and member of livestock
(Turn to Page 40)
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