B22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 19,1981
Money woes hit agriculture; farmers told how to cope
COLUMBIA, Mo. Farmers
facing financial disaster were
urged this week to "make a plan”
that will either allow them to
survive or to re-enter fanning at a
later date.
Above all, they were told, "don’t
take the business failure per
sonally, avoid becoming
emotional, and don’t make
threats” to the lender.
"We’re seeing quite a few far
mers in serious financial trouble
for the first tune in their lives.
Many are just victims of the
times,” said Norlin Hem,
University of Missouri-Columbia
agricultural economist.
"These farmers need to diagnose
the cause of their trouble, make a
financial plan, and do their best to
cope with extreme financial
emergency.”
Heim said farmers’ financial
plight has been caused by a
combination of inflation, poor crop
growing weather the last two
years, low commodity prices, and
high interest rates.
“But they (farmers; can’t pass
all the blame. It's time for some
honest self-analysis about
management ability,” , Hein
said. “In some cases you may
just decide to look at some other
occupation or business.
"If you decide you’re a good
farmer and want to keep on going
develop a plan for recovery. If that
plan doesn't work, set yourself up
both personally and in terms of
your remaining assets so you
can re-enter farming in the
future.”
Hem said the plan can be simple
or sophisticated. It should include
a list of assets and liabilities, some
ways to raise cash and restructure
debt, some cash flow projections,
and so on. It might include selling
some assets "or even finding a
wealthy partner to bail you out of
financial trouble.”
Hem emphasized that it’s im
portant “for you to come up with
your own plan” on how to solve
your problem.
“If it’s your plan, it’s more likely
that you’ll stay with it. Also, even if
the business doesn’t survive, you
at least made the effort to make a
• Smooth Sides Rounded Corners • Less Feed Wasted •
plan. Tms unpresses lenders
tremendously. Should you want to
re-enter the business in the future,
at least the lender will have a
positive attitude toward you
because you had a plan and tried. ”
Hem said some fanners in
financial trouble are just giving
up.
"Some have been so emotionally
hurt they’ve even forgotten to feed
their livestock or to do those other
chores necessary for operation of
the business,” Hem said.
“Several of these farmers have
taken the matter of financial
failure as something personally
imposed upon them by their len
der. As hard as it may seem, you
must remember that this is a
matter of business as far as the
lender is concerned and you must
react to it that way.” said Hein.
“Otherwise, the lender is not
going to look upon you favorably if
you want to re-enter farming at a
later date. Nor is he likely to give
The SMITH CATTLEGUARD® Company’s
"EASI-LICKIN" FEED BUNKS
Centerline
Increase the efficiency of your feeding operation with our "EASI
LICKIN" Feed bunks! We use the highest quality (5000 RSI) concrete to
give you a durable bunk with years of maintenance-free service.
Because there are no corners where feed can build up and spoil, your
livestock will eat more and produce more beef or milk for you.
• Steel-Reinforced Precast Concrete •
• Easy Installation and Maintenance •
Additional Farm Products
The SMITH CATTLEGUARD®
• 12', 14', 16' Lengths
• 15,000 Installations
The
Automatic Freeze-Procf Waterer
NO ENERGY NEEDED
100 Gallon Capacity
Stock Tanks
• Approved by Soil Conservation
Service
• 200-Gallon Capacity
is> Licensed by EASI-SET* Industries
you a favorable reference.
"1 know it’s not easy to keep
doing a good job of managing and
to act in a businesslike manner
Beaver Co. completes
BEAVER The Beaver County
DHIA finished its 35th year on
September 30 with 31 whole-year
herds and 2 Owner-Sampler herds.
The county’s 1,426 cows on test
averaged 13,967 pounds of milk and
494 pounds of fat
McChesney Bros. Dairy of New
Galilee led the county with 19,191
pounds of milk and 694 pounds of
fat on 32.2 cows.
Floyd and R.M. Bonzo of
Rochester were the second Beaver
ALL FEED BUNKS:
35th
: enceline
8-Foot Sections •
Please send me information on
□ cattleguards □ waterers
bunks
name
address
city
phone
CONCRETE
®afety SYSTEMS,.
Route 1095 Bethel, Pa. 19507
(717) 933-4107
when you’re under this kind of
stress. But somehow you must
remain calm and cool in order to
survive/'
. i
<‘j i
year
Co. dairy to average more than 600
pounds of fat. The Bonzos finished
the year with averages of 16,711
pounds of milk and 694 pounds of
fat on 16.5 cows.
Members of the Beaver Co.
DHIA include: President-
Raymond Seanght; Vice
President-Dan Brenner;
Secretary-Treasurer-Keith Nye;
Supervisors-Gregg Tallon and Jim
Parks.
□ feed
state
zip