Alo—Lancaster Faming, Satantay, Dtcirtif 4,1982
Bills, bills, bills.
It seems like the mail people these days take
special pleasure in dampening our holiday
spirits by bringing scores of envelopes
demanding money for goods and services
delivered. I don't know why bills are always
such a shock to the nervous system when they
finally appear in the mailbox since their arrival
is inevitable.
But even the bills had to take a back seat in
startle-ability to the piece of mail that
squeezed its way into mailboxes this week.
The dastardly 1040 form wrapped its
multitude of pages around other personal mail
as if to display its importance and to make
sure it wouldn't be overlooked.
Taxes! Who wants to think about filing in
come tax* forms when Christmas hasn’t even
been celebrated, and Father Time hasn’t rung
out the old year yet? But there it was that
1040 form just a “subtle" reminder of
Uncle Sam's request for his financial share of
our "fortunes.”
But our national relative will be in for a
surprise this year when he starts counting his
benefits from farmers across the nation. If he
was expecting a financial boost from the farm
sector, Uncle Sam is sure to be disappointed.
Let’s face it farmers just haven't had the
best of years.
The only thing that’s helping farmers show a
gain of 1 to 2 percent in gross farm income this
year is a slightly "bullish" livestock market
and government payments for grain programs
something akin to “robbing John (Block) to
pay Sam.”
But, before Uncle Sam starts counting his
“chickens," he’ll have to realize that these
meager gains in income will rapidly be offset
by farmers' increased expenses. Hence, USDA
figures put farmers’ net incomes near the
middle of the $l7 to $2l billion range.
It's no secret why most farmers' incomes are
in a slump in 1982 bumper crops of corn
and wheat have kept grain prices in a tailspin
since spring planting and may finish up the
year at a level about 10 percent below 1981,
on the average. Economists with USDA show
Saturday, Dec. 4
Lancaster 4-H Horse Banquet,
Farm and Home Center, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 6
National Farmers Organization
annual convention, Louisville, Ky.,
continues through Thursday.
Berks County Reproductive
School, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Kutztown
Grange Hall, continues tomorrow.
Chester County Farmers Union,
7:30 p.m., Perkins Cake & Steak
House, Rt. 41, Avondale.
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By Sheila Miller, Editor
Unexpected mail
Farm Calendar
Dutch Country Goat Club, 7:30
p.m., meeting room. Coca Cola
plant, Manheim Pike, Lancaster.
ELCO Young Farmers,
Schafferstown Fire Hall, 7 p.m.
Red Rose DHIA Annual Dinner
Meeting adn Awards Program,
11:30 a.m. Good ’N Plenty
Restaurant. Second session
scheduled on Wednesday, Dec. 8,
same time and place.
Lancaster County Conservation
District, 7:30 p.m., Lancaster
Farm & Home Center.
Bradford Extension Banquet,
7:45 p.m., Troy Vets Club, Troy.
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figures of crop cash receipts for farmers falling
by 3 to 4 percent this year to a level of about
$72 billion.
Helping to keep farmers’ heads from sliding
under this year’s economic quicksand though
is the 2 percent gain in livestock receipts,
bringing about $7O billion in to offset the grain
losses. Hog receipts alone rose about 12
percent, and cattle are up by roughly one
percent.
But it wasn’t as good a year for poultry
farmers who watched their cash receipts drop
4 percent this year. And in the dairy business,
even though more milk is flowing into the
market, reduced prices for wholesale milk are
keeping cash receipts at about the same level
as 1981.
Unlike the past three years when the cost of
operating a farm climbed an average of 11
percent, lower grain and fuel prices and
reduced interest rates have helped to hold
farm expenses from going into orbit. In fact,
expenses for the average farmer in 1982 are
expected to rise just 3 percent the smallest
increase since 1968.
If Uncle Sam gets the feeling that his far
mers are not as healthy as they once were,
after he takes a look at their 19821040 forms,
he wouldn't be wrong. An economic ther
mometer would show income dropping, debts
rising, and farmland values eroding.
Checking his farmers' fianancial “blood
pressures," Uncle Sam will find that net cash
income is down from last year by about a half
billion dollars. Farmers’ net cash flow, the
money they have available for spending on the
farm business and home, will also drop by as
much as 2 percent this year. So, it’s an easy
prediction to make during the last month of
1982 that farmers’ net farm incomes are on
their way to a third straight year of decline.
No, it hasn’t been a great year economically
for farmers which may raise some eyebrows
in the ranks of the Internal Revenue Service.
It looks like Uncle Sam will be forced to go on
a strict diet and tighten up his belt, too. Just
like his dedicated All-American farmers did in
1982.
Tuesday, Dec. 7
Wednesday, Dec. 8
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Thursday, Dec. 9
Peninsula Horticultural Society.
Vegetable Production Meeting,
Wicomico Youth and Civic Center,
Salisbury, Md., 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Golden Harvest Holstein and
Garden Spot Sale, Guernsey Barn,
Lancaster.
National Agri-Marketing
Association, 6 p.m., Revere
Tavern, Paradise.
Friday, Dec. 10
Sussex County Crops Meeting,
University of Delaware Sub
station, Georgetown, Del.
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WAS JESUS
RELIGIOUS?
December 5,1982
Background Scripture: Luke 1:1-4;
5:29-32; 8:19-21; 9:18-22.
Devotional Reading: 2 Timothy
4:1-8.
“Was Jesus religious?”
may seem a strange question. The
key, of course, is what you mean
by "religious.”
The scribes, Pharisees and
Sadducees did not think that Jesus
was religious, because in his
ministry and his teachings he did
not stick to what they regarded as
religious concerns. For the scribes
and Pharisees, religion had to do
with keeping the rules so that a
person might keep himself morally
pure. For the Sadducees and
priests, being religious meant
keeping faithful to the rituals of the
Temple.
TAX COLLECTORS
AND SINNERS
But although Jesus respected the
law and the Temple, he got in
volved with a lot of things that
went quite beyond these limits of
religion. For one thing, he allowed
himself to get involved with
unreligious people, sinners and tax
collectors. In the view of his
critics, a religious person would
not do such a thing and would keep
himself free from contact with
their impurity. Not once but many
tunes, he was criticized for this.
• • Why do you eat and drink with tax
collectors and sinners?” they
NOW IS THE TIME
Lancaster County Agriculture Afent
To tighten farm security
Rural crime is a serious problem
in many parts of our country. We
need to take every precaution to
protect our property from theft
and vandalism.
This is more difficult on a farm
because of the number of buildings
and exposed items. A good place to
start is to install automatic lights.
Also a good watch dog will signal
the arrival of a stranger or
something unusual happening.
Another preventive measure is
to keep garages and workshops
under padlock to make it more
difficult for illegal entry. Farm
machinery should be stored under
cover or near farm buildings at all
times. It’s also a good idea to
engrave all tools and equipment
with your drivers license number.
Social Security numbers are non
retreivable so your driver’s license
number is a much quicker iden
tification.
Neighborhood watch is very
successful. Notify your neighbor if
you see something unusual.
To observe withdrawal time
The use of drugs and antibiotics
are needed in many cases with
livestock, poultry and dairy
production. However, the misuse
of these materials is where trouble
can start.
When these items are ad
ministered to animals or poultry,
the owner should read the label for
directions relating to withdrawal
period for milk cows, or time
between treatment and slaughter
for meat animals. It’s only good
common sense that these
regulations should be followed.
To short-cut the period of time is
only jeopardizing the product and
the entire fanning business. Don’t
SD
ap
ED
By Jay Irwin
Phone 717-3944551
demanded when they found him in
Levi’s house sharing a table with
these people.
Jesus’ response was, as they saw
it, a very nnreligious one: “1 have
not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance." Their
understanding of religion was to
keep one’s self pure. Concern for
others, particularly those who
were obviously sinners, was not
part of their religious practice and
lifestyle. Perhaps if Jesus had
stuck to religion (as they in
terpreted it), he would have been
more acceptable to them.
THE CHRIST OF GOD
But Jesus never was satisfied
with staying within the bounds of
contemporary religion. His “good
news’’ could not be limited to the
synagogue or the Temple, to
lawabidmg Jews, and it went far
beyond the laws and rituals which
often reflected the ideas of men
rather than the will of God. When
Jesus came into contact with
hungry people, for turn that was a
religious problem. When people
came to him with broken bodies, he
demonstrated that God himself
shared those same concerns. The
poor, the homeless, the op
pressed—these were people for
whom God was concerned. And the
sinners were the people to whom
this Messiah was especially sent
When Jesus asked, “But who do
you say that 1 am?” and Peter
replied, “The Christ of God,” it
was apparent that this Christ did
not fit comfortably within the
limitations imposed by the
religious authorities. Jesus’
message and mission was a threat
and a challenge to the narrowness
of their religion. Like new wine
fermenting in an old wine bottle, it
broke open their understanding of
what God wants froip his children.
We still have problems fitting
Jesus into our religion.
take chances with our valuable
fowl products. Also, keep accurate
records of all treatments. In cases
where excess tolerances are found,
it might save time and money.
To store firewood outside
We are more energy conscious
than we’ve ever been. This is
certainly a good trend. Most homes
are equipped with a real energy
saver the fireplace. A lot of
people will be using their
fireplaces and wood stoves more
than ever before, so they’ll be
using more firewood. Proper
storage is important.
When storing your firewood,
keep it outside the house insects
may hibernate in the wood piles. If
you keep it inside, they’ll think it’s
spring and wake up, come out and
be a pest in your home. If this
happens, use an ant and roach
aerosol for control.
It is a lot easier just to keep the
firewood in a cool garage or some
outside shelter. The important
thing is to keep it dry, even if it
means covering it with a plastic
tarp. Wet firewood takes a lot of
heat just to dry it out.
To plan work schedules in
layer houses
If you are planning to work with
your layers, such as applying a
miticide to control lice or mites or
do any noisy repairs to the feeders,
fans or waterers, this work should
be done in the afternoon. The
reason for this is it’s after the hen
has laid her egg for the day, and
she is less susceptible to injury and
damage to the future dfegs. Your
everyday chores won’t upset them
because they are accustomed to
them, but these unusual conditions
can upset their regular cycle.