AlO—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 28,1981
Lancaster Farming says...
In any meeting between two
farmers, the conversation quickly
turns to prices and costs
One of the first questions asked is,
“What’s an acre of land around here
worth 7 " Given today's prices the
figure is likely to be between $l5OO
and $7500 an acre for typical
Pennsylvania farmland
Even the most optimistic land
owner or dealer could hardly have
predicted the skyrocketing value of
farmland m the past decade or two
But there are signs it will continue
This week Austin Ktplinger, in his
respected Kiplmger Washington
Letter, projects farmland prices will
triple by 1990 on a national average
Kiplmger says two-thirds of the
gam will be due to inflation, the rest a
real increase resulting from higher
demand and better yield on farm
crops
A bit of quick work with a computer
shows the current inflation rate
HARDNESS OF
HEART
March 1,1981
Background Scripture:
Matthew 19.
Devotional Reading:
Deuteronomy 30 - 15-20.
“For your hardness of
heart.”
That, said Jesus, is the on
ly reason that a man and
woman are even-allowed to
terminate their marriage in
divorce. Divorce is plainly
not God’s purpose, for as
Jesus puts it, “the two shall
become one.” What God in
tends for his children is the
unity of marriage, but, as in
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Max Smith,
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
Phone 717-394-6801
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TO KNOW YOUR TIMBER
Don’t close the deal on the sale of
timber from your woodlot until you
are sure that the price is right, and
that the buyer will not do con
siderable damage for the future. In
too many cases the owner will sell
because he thought “it sounded
good” or because “I needed the
money”. In either case real value
may not have been received We do
not have too many acres of forest
or woodlots in southeastern
Pennsylvania, but there are a
number of farms with good
woodlots. In these areas there are
often good trees that are worth
money. The owner should be sure
of what he has and it’s market
value before selling to anyone.
Professional help from the Service
so many of God’s other inten
tions for his children, that in
tended unity is lost m
marital conflict
Divorce, therefore, is sin
because it fails to ac
complish God’s purpose But
it is not a unique sm and too
often religious people and
particularly religious
authorities have been
legalistic in this one area of
human relationships As
Jesus makes clear in the
Gospels, God’s purpose for
his children is also honesty,
purity, charity, humility,
self-sacrifice, and love
toward all of God’s children
When we he, cheat, and
strike out against others we
are sinning no less than
when we fail to fulfill God’s
purpose m marriage Many
Americans cheat on their in
come tax, for example, but
that does not remove them
beyond the bounds of God’s
mercy.
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Forester of the Penna Depart
ment of Forests and Waters, or
from the Extension Service is
available Don’t sell too quickly
and then be sorry
TO BE CAREFUL WITH FUELS
Mishaps in the handling, use,
and storage of gasoline, kerosene,
and diesel fuel result in many fires
and explosions During these tunes
when we are all trying to conserve
fuel, there are many opportumtes
for accidents The best place to
store fuel is in an underground
tank. Small quantities should be
stored in labeled safety cans Do
not store fuel in glass or plastic
containers Our safety specialists
say that most of us are in danger
when we haul gasoline in a safely
can in ihe trunk of our cai fumes
Land cost vs, land value
alone will do the trick of tripling the
cost of an acre of farmland by 1990
That means an acre of prime
farmland will be selling for over
$20,000 in less than a decade Not
too long ago that figure would get an
entire farm for a soldier returning
from World War II
It is difficult to justify today’s cost
of farmland with the value of a farm
business and the products it
produces
Investment firms mail brochures
describing farms which start at 1000
acres and go up Price tags run over
a million dollars Surely this is not the
property average young farmers seek
as they get out of school Nor is it for
their parents
The sales pitch is aimed at the
investor Giant investors, or mutual
funds, lick their chops and eye vast
tracts of our best farmland as blue
chip investments
What God Has Joined
What I am saying, then, is
not that divorce is "ok”
it isn’t but it is not the
ultimate tragedy or sin in
jrnman life Divorce is not
“o k. r ’ and neither is our ex
ploitation of one another or
our deceit of one another 1
emphasize this because
often we are given the im
pression that there are only
two possible norms for the
Christian to accept in this
society: (1) divorce is wrong
and should not be permitted,
or (2) divorce is quite accep
table
I believe there is a third
position open to the follower
of Christ, (3) divorce is not
what God wants of us, but it
may be the final recourse
open to us when reconcillia
tion seems not to be possible
That means we will upnold
the sanctity of marriage, we
will continue to hold divorce
as failure, but, as with any
other area m which we fail to
(current Farm Credit rate) to plant a
crop which at best will return six or
seven percent on his investment
The average person, even the
average family, can not afford the
cost of getting into farming
So, farmland becomes con
centrated in the hands of giant-size
farmers or absentee landowners,
simply because those who want to
farm can’t afford to compete
live up to God’s will, we can
find forgiveness and
redemption even in the
midst of this tragic ex
perience
Yet, it is "the hardness” of
our “hearts” that is usually
at the roots of marital
discord. Sometimes it is
willful, other times it is ig
norance people simply not
HAV HAWS.,/ ///
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can build up, or a rear-end crash, 7 7 7 l\ 7 / / // „ . . './/
could cause an explosion The best /
place to haul that can of gas is on 7 //
the floor behind the front seat, 7 /
then open windows for good ven- / /
Illation Be extra careful at this ,
time when handling all types of ‘ft
fuels j '
TO STOKE SUPPLIES SAFELY f
Many farmers nave bought and f f
accepted early delivery on seeds, / /
fertilizers, and other supplies / /!
Some attention should be given to / / /
the proper storage of these items I 7 7 n
have seen bags of fertilizer stored ff f
too close to a barn door, or to an /
open window, the same with farm // / /
seeds Extra moisture on these ' 7 /
materials, oi under them on a // //
damp floor, can cause trouble ' /.
Also, it is very important to keep j// / f.
seeds away from weed-killer /
chemicals These herbicides may / f
reduce, or kill, the germination of , / /
the seeds Also, children, pets, and ' // /
livestock should not have access to 7
stored seeds or farm chemicals 7
All ot these materials get more \ %J 7 /
expensive each year It is only * / s~\ 7
good management to store them / Q j /
carefully
TO BEWARE OF GYPSY
MOTH INFESTATION » Ij ©
It appears that parts ot our area I'm iucf il -
wa^7hlfatr s tersro^a? d r PerS
Back in 1977 Continental Illinois
Bank and Trust of Chicago had its Ag
Land Trust Fund program nipped in
the bud when Congress protested its
potential impact on the family farm
system and farmland prices
But with rates of return ap
proaching 15 percent, the investor
with sizable capital and patience can
ill afford to put his funds in a bank,
common stock, or even urban real
estate
Meanwhile, the farmer is
borrowing money at 12 percent '
The Hardness Of
Your Hearts
BY CURT HARLER, EDITOR
realizing what is wrong with
their lives It is the same
kind of "hardness of heart”
that leads us to he, cheat,
bear false witness against
our neighbor, resist the
needs of the poor and
helpless, participate in war
fare, and waste the
resources that God has plac
ed at our disposal. In each
one of these instances of
"hardness of heart” we must
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It may not be too many years
before the nation finds itself with a
two-tiered agricultural system seen
in primitive nations a large group of
farm workers, peasants, tilling soil
owned by a relatively small group of
wealthy landholders
The reason is the land’s value as a
productive-resource is not as great
as its inflated cost
Ag districts may slow speculative
rises in price
But as long as speculators and
farmers continue to buy land ex
pectmg inflation to increase their net
worth, farmland values will soar
Relying on inflation to provide a
growing credit base adds fuel to the
fire
Only by breaking the credit
inflation cycle will farmers be able to
call themselves truly independent
A first step is to distinguish bet
ween land cost and land value
find ways and means of ex
periencing God’s redemp
tion.
So it is in the tragedy of
divorce What the divorced
person needs from us is not
our condemnation, not our
legalistic self-righteousness,
but the same forgiveness
and love that God offers to
all of us who experience
failure to living the Christian
life
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