C2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 22,1981
Janice Burkholder
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
Managing a modem farming
operation takes a combination of
intelligence, drive, determination
and faith. In many operations the
most valuable asset is the farm
wife that rare combination of
homemaker, mother, tractor
driver, egg-gatherer, cow-milker,
gardener and go-fer. Her support
and help are an invaluable con
tribution to the success of the
farm.
But what is right for one woman
may not work for another and each
farm wife must find her own place
in the enterprise if the marriage
and the farming business are to be
happy.
At the recent Pennsylvania
Association of Farmer
Cooperatives’ Co-op Couples
Conference, three Pennsylvania
farm wives shared their feelings
and discussed the way they sup
port the farming operations of
which they are a part. Each of
these women is fully involved in
her husband’s work, but each has a
different responsibility.
To Janice Burkholder, in
volvement in her husband’s part
nership with his father means
keeping records. Having worked
as a secretary, she feels
recordkeeping not only keeps her
in touch with her previous career
but is also an invaluable aid in
their farming operation.
Janice’s records, however, do
not just include bills, milk checks,
calf registrations and other ex
penditures involved with the farm.
She also keeps a complete budget
for both the form and her
household, and she knows exactly
where every penny is spent. She
admits, “I thrive on paper work. I
love to know where the money
goes.”
Her husband, Stan, is a Franklin
County dairy farmer and together
with his father, farms over 400
acres and milks 125 dairy cows
which average 19,300 pounds of
milk and 690 pounds of fat.
While her father-in-law had
previously kept all farm records,
Janice states, “We gradually took
over the bookwork so we know
what’s going on. Most major
decisions my father-in-law lets up
to us.”
Janice writes all the checks for
the partnership but they are signed
by either her husband or father-in
law so that they see what’s going
Farm wives talk on tkeir
out or coming in. She points out
that since partnerships are not
eligible for the NOW banking
accounts they keep their checking
account balance as low as possible.
She said her family feels some of
the easiest earned money is paying
bills on time so as not to be faced
with interest payments. They also
keep a close watch on interest
rates at the bank and on money
market certificates.
Another of Janice’s specific jobs
is to write the numbers for
brucellosis testing and for
classification. She also takes care
of calf registration, saying, “My
husband feels it saves him a lot of
hours.”
Above and beyond the usual
bookwork, Janice also figures a
monthly budget and estimates
what kind of income they can
expect. This includes trying to
estimate how many cows may be
culled (using DHIA records as a
guide), and whether there will be
any major machinery investments
needed. “We try to figure out the
milk price and see how much short
or how much left over there will
be,” Janice states.
In addition to farm records,
Janice says, “I make up a cash
flow for personal expenses, and we
each draw a check from the part
nership once a month.” In her
expense book she records every
penny spent according to
categories she has established,
such as car, clothing, tithes,
recreation and others. At die end of
each month she totals the ex
penditures and compares it with
previous months. “It’s a good way
to keep expenses down,” she says.
“Every tune I come home from
shopping I get out my budget
book.”
While some may find this a
drudgery, for Janice it is a joy and
she likes working hard at the
records. She feels she is doing an
important job. “It makes me .feel
like I’m really helping more.”
The Burkholders are active in
dairy promotion and in the
Holstein Club. Janice adds, “We
believe in the spiritual develop
ment of the family and are active
in the Church Sunday School and
youth group.” They have two
children, ages 5 and 7.
Janice concluded, “I thoroughly
enjoy being part of the farm. I’m
proud of Stan. He refers to me as
his own personal secretary.”
Eileen Green is an integral part
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of her family’s dairy and poultry
operation in Bradford County. Her
husband Gary and his brother have
had-a partnership for five years,
with 42 registered Holsteins and
12,000 laying hens.
Eileen says, “I don’t get too
involved in the barn unless his
brother is away. I don’t know how
to milk.” She does know how to
feed and do other chores when
needed.
“I work mostly in the poultry
house,” Eileen says. The Greens
get about 11,000 eggs in peak times,
and they are gathered by hand on
flats of 30 eggs each. Another adult
and two children work with Eileen
and she estimates, “It takes about
an hour daily. “It is not hard. ”
In addition to the physical labor
of gathering eggs, Eileen is
responsible for all the bookwork,
including the writing of all the
checks. She says she enjoys this
work, and it should be a natural
since she also works three days a
week in a bank, from 8:30 a.m.
until 1:30 p.m. She says, “The
hours are convenient.”
Eileen and Gary had lived off the
farm for seven years before going
into the partnership with his
brother. She readily admits, “It
takes a lot of adjusting.” She said
it was a real shock to get $2,000
feed bills, and despite substantial
backing from her father-in-law,
there was a “terrible debt load."
Nevertheless, having lived both
on and off the farm with a young,
family, Eileen says, “Farm life is
a great life for kids. They have a
lot more respect for people.” The
Greens have two daughters, 14 and
7.
Both partners in the Green
operation have their own outside
activities, with one brother being
active in Dairy Herd Improvement
and the other in cooperatives.
Eileen says, “They both have an
equal amount of time. Being in a
partnership is a big help because
we can cover for each other. ”
Eileen said she feels a positive
attitude is important in a suc
cessful operation, keeping the
attitude that it will work for you.
She is especially appreciative of
opportunities which get young
farm couples together, saying, “It
is helpful because you think you
are the only one with all the
problems. It is good to share ex
periences and learn about other
set-ups.
She adds, “I feel the wife should
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Eileen Green
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differing roles
be involved even if she works off
the farm and whether or not she
does chores. She should know
what’s going on.”
Jane Benner is a full time
working partner with her husband
Ken in their 60 cow dairy herd in
Perry County. Jane, who is a soft
spoken southerner from Virginia,
was raised on a dairy farm there
and studied dairy science at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University.
Jane milks the cows with Ken,
feeds the calves on her own and
can be found just as much in the
field as in their home. She wants it
that way, and says of Ken, “I
appreciate my husband’s healthy
attitude toward my participation.”
She also does the bookkeeping for
the operation.
Jane is optimistic about young
people going into farming,
something she and Ken did on their
own 10 years ago. She
acknowledges the difficult times,
but advises, “The sooner you get
on your own the better off you will
be. Then you can work together as
a family. It worked for us.'You
must have the guts to do it.”
She is a firm believer in getting
experience by working for
someone away from home before
going into farming, however. She
says it gives young people the
opportunity to prove their integrity
and to show that they can meet
their financial obligations. It also
gives them time to come up with a
realistic management plan.
In any family arrangement,
Jane says, “You must be 100
percent sure it’s going to work, and
you must make sure a family deal
will be fair. A farmer will lose his
most valuable resource - his wife -
if the family deal doesn’t work
out.”
She added, “If you start out with
your wife with you, you will have a
better chance.” She feels strongly
that farm wives should be allowed
to help make decisions, from the
biggest to the smallest, and then
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Jane Benner
they, too, will share worries about
the weather, milk surplus and the
bugs on the alfalfa. They will share
the joys of accomplishments and
face the crisis together.
“Husbands who consider their
wives as smart as they are have an
excellent chance of having a wife
there helping them. She’ll be a wife
who has faith in her husband.”
To the wives, she points out,
“You’re just as responsible for the
debt. When you see a man and wife
working together it’s a sure sign of
management.”
Jane credits much of their
success to a hired man who has
been with them for eight years.
“We give him a lot of credit for the
success we’ve had. We try to
consider him one of us.”
Calf feeding for Jane is a joy,
not a chore. She says, “They
depend on me, and feeding them
takes all the worries out of my day.
I know the calves and their per
sonalities and I can sense when one
is not well. They are my pride and
joy.” Her attitude is reflected in
the fact that they have lost just two
calves since 1973.
Last year, Jane was selected to
be a young couple representative
on the Board of Directors of the
Maryland-Virgima Milk
Cooperative. “I attended all the
board meetings,” she says, “I will
miss it now.”
The Benners have a 12-year-old
daughter who “grew up in the feed
cart and on the tricycle in the
gutter,” who knows all the cows by
heart. “We’ve never tried to keep
anything from her - she knew when
we were going through hard times.
She’s learned how to be happy by
herself, and we’re real proud of
her.”
With their daughter in 4-H and
other involvements m the
community, Jane says they have a
full life away, from the farm. She
adds, “We don’t feel we are being
left out. We’re happy doing what
we’re doing.”
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