Alo—Utarttr Fanwing, Saturday, May 3,1980
Lancaster Farming says... f
There’s an old saw in farm real
estate circles that good farmland is
cheap no matter how expensive it is
and poor farmland is too expensive
no matter how cheap it is.
Soil Stewardship Week this coming
May 11 to 17 reminds us of the need
to husband our fine soils.
The race to buy that good farmland
has driven the price of the average
acre of Pennsylvania ground up from
$373 per acre in 1970 to $1245 by
the end of the decade. That’s 270
percent.
Earlier USDA estimates that farm
real estate values would increase by
five percent or more at the start of
the 1980 s now seem trivial com
pared to the expected value of good
land once the country pulls out of its
recession.
Experts say land prices may triple
in the next 10 years. Pressure comes
because there is no more new land,
but plenty of new people; and most of
our best farmland already is in
production.
Returns to match the average 27
percent jump over 10 years an in-
ON "GETTING
IT RIGHT"
Lesson for May 4, 1980
Background Scripture:
Uohn3:l-18; 4:7
through 5:21
Devotional Reading:
1 John 3:11-18
TO PLAN acreages have been in-
GASOLINE NEEDS creased, or if there has been
Despite the absence of a a change in the type of crops
gasoline shortage in Penn- grown, gasoline allocations
sylvania this spring, cu, be changed. Also, it is
gasoline continues to be on strongly suggested that
an allocation basis for fanners maintain their
farmers. Farmers are to be current suppliers. We are
guaranteed 100 percent of j n f o rm»d that the Depart
their base period gasoline men t of Energy will not
purchases; this base period transfer base period
was from November 1977 niinretinm from one sup
through October 1978. If crop p ij er to another. If needs are
RURAL ROUTE
(BE CAREFULL HELPING THfSHEEP
\ INTO THE DIP, THOSE.BOARDS GET
Can farmers afford farmland?
vestor could have gotten in farmland
during the 1970 s make stocks,
futures markets, and the Swiss franc
look like poor investments.
The question “is farmland being
priced out of farming” is being
considered seriously by a number of
economists.
Penn State Farm Management
Specialist Virgil Crowley says no
single group is responsible for
current farm real estate values. That
includes nonfarm buyers.
Everyone contributes simply
because there is a large group of
prospective buyers bidding for a
limited supply and because farmland
is a commodity which is in demand as
an alternative to investment in other
areas.
Nationwide, farmers buy about
two-thirds of the farmland sold. Of
that, 63 percent goes to farmers
enlarging their operation. About a
quarter of the purchases are com
plete units, and another J 1 percent
goes to part-timers.
However, in the Northeast, pur-
If I bad my way which I
don’t I would make die
reading of 1 John mandatory
in each and every church
every Sunday morning
until as Christians we “get it
right!”
Why 1 John? Because this
epistle puts the very essence
of being a Christian in the
clearest, most un
compromising language. Of
coorae, we “know” that God
is love and that, as followers
of Christ, we are to love one
another as he loved us. But
many of us are like the little
boy who was disciplined by
his teacher to writing on the
chalkboard 100 times; “I will
not throw spitballs in dass.”
He “knew” he wasn’t sup
posed to disrupt the dass,
but his “knowing” did not
keep him from doing it By
the time he finished writing
this affirmation on the
board, I think we can
assume that he “knew” it a
lot better than before.
By nils We Know
to a similar manner we
also “know” about Christian
love, but we don’t frequently
enough give the appearance
of having “gotten it right.”
This is why 1 John is so
challenging to us. What is
the central “message” of the
Gospel which John’s readers
not being satisfied, or if amouni
changes are to be made, defini'
farmers may contact the regulai
local ASC office, or in follow'
Governor’s Energy Council
at Harrisburg, 717/783-1650.
Han ahead for gasoline
needs in order to prevent
costly delays.
TO BE CAREFUL
WITH WEED KILLERS
Many property owners and
farmers will be doing con
siderable herbicide spraying
in the coming months. All
weed killers are approved
for certain weeds in a stated
chase of farmland for enlargement
accounts for only 38 percent of the
transfers.
This may be because dairy and
vegetable operations don’t profit as
much from big acreage increases as
the Midwestern grain units.
Some observers maintain the
current prices of land pose some
serious problems for farmers and
agriculture unless there are ad
justments either in the price of
farmland or the prices farmers
receive for their production.
But farmers don’t seem to agree.
Their purchases of land indicate faith
that they can handle the debt load.
While high farmland values give an
established operator the credit base
he needs to borrow to go more
deeply in debt, they also can lure the
young, struggling operator into
selling his high-priced land. -
A whole series of costs, debt loads,
and potential returns gives a whole
series' of break-even points for the
farmer.
But Crowley, as handy as any
have received “from the
beginning?” That “we
should love another” (3:11).
What are the yardsticks by
which Christ measures our
love for him?
“Anyone who hates his
brother Is a murderer...”
(3:15).
“...If any one has the
world’s goods and sees bis
brother in need yet doses his
heart against him...” (4:18).
“..he who fears is not
perfected hi 10ve...” (4:18).
I don’t know about youjjut
I don’t do too well with that
checklist. I may avoid the
word, “hate, for example,
but there are some people to
and to be applied at
times. These
ins should be closely
However most
other shrubs and desirable
plants. This is where the
trouble begins. Spray ap
plicators should keep in
mind the danger of drift of
the sprays, and the danger of
vapors from the herbicide in
hot weather. Any of these
can cause damage to nearby
crops and plants. Fanners
operating in sub-urban areas
should be extremely careful
with, wind direction at the
By Tom Armstrong
BY CURT HURLER, EDITOR
i <1 v - *i.
whom I respond with a
hateful attitude. To be sure,
these people are usually
“safe” objects of my
hostility: welfare chisders,
violent criminals, dishonest
politicians (usually of the
other*party),' nations and
peoples who treat the USA
with disdain or contempt,
department store clerks
there’s really quite a list;'
But the writer of 1 John
makes it so painfully dear
that, in reality God’s
reality none of them are
“safe” for me to hate. For,
“H any one says, ‘I love
God’, and hates his brother,
he is a liar” (4:20).
time of spraying. Many
shrubs and trees can be
damaged because of
reckless applications.
TO BECOME
PESTICIDE
RE-CERTIFIED
if you were too > busy to
attend a farm meeting this
past winter, you may have
missed your chance to
become pesticide re
certified by this summer;
this was done at most of our
Extension meetings held
since January. However,
Farm Calendar
Saturday, May 3
Penn State dairy day, main
campus, University
Park.
MD sheep breeders and
lamb show, Howard
County fairgrounds,
continues through Sun
day.
MD Ayrshire sale, Frederick
fairgrounds, Frederick,
MD.
Allegheny County State 4-H
citizenship tour.
economist with a computer, reached
a somewhat surprising conclusion.
“The ability of farmers to sup
plement income from purchased
farmland with income from other
farm enterprises rests primarily on
their managment ability/’ he says.
Management: difficult to define,
elusive to put a number on, easy to
see in the final analysis.
The bottom line, Penn State says,
is not the cost of the land nor high
interest rates. The bottom line, for
both the established and beginning
farmer when net cash income from
the land fails to meet cash flow
demands, will be management.
If only it could*be entered into our
checkbooks.
Prayer, too, may help .. .it seems
many X)f our rural churches have
forgotten to celebrate Soil
Stewardship week. The freshly
turned-over ground should
remind preachers this week that a
good sermon for the next service will
be land its management and care
entrusted to mankind.
In Deed And Truth
1 John also helps us to
realize that what God in
Christ wants from us to is not
necessarily loving feelings
and declarations, but loving
deeds. The test of Christ’s
love was “that he laid down
his life for us,” and the test
of our love is, not how we fed
about those infuriating
Communists and disturbing
John Bircbers (our angry
feelings are more than
justified), but bow we act
toward them. For the test of
our love is the same as our
Lord’s: “We ought to lay
down our lives for the
brethren” (3:16).
I’m informed that the State
Department of Agriculture
has extended the deadline
untQ January 1, 1961 to
become re-certified; the
original deadline was
September 30,1960. This will
permit applicators more
time to attend an
educational meeting to
become eligible for re
certification. In addition,
most fanners and gardeners
can make the needed pur
chases for this season by
September 30. The need to
(Turn to Pace A2B)
MD wool crafts festival,
Howard County
fairgrounds, West
Friendship, MD.
Montgomery County tractor
safety driving exam at
theV'O'Tech.
Sunday, May 4
Adams County apple
blossom festival,
Arendtsville fairgrounds,
tours start 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
(Turn to Page A2B)
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