A22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Janaary 14,1984
Cautious optimism is ag byword for 1984
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN You’re literally surrounded by
FARM SHOW —No one likely all sizes and shapes of things which
gets to talk to more fanners in a you like to crawl over and get to
few days time than the com- know better. Like the flea, you
mercial exhibitors at the Penn- don’t know which to hop on first,
sylvania Farm Show. The best approach seems to hop
And walking through the com- from one to the other, sampling
mercial exhibit area is a lot like a what each has to offer.
flea when it first gets into a dog And even if you’re not in a
kennel.
Larry Schnettler, of Ford Tractor, says new models
particularly 1000 Series —ar >tti ;ood -»ti
—.;y, ighi.
with dairymen, Joe and Al Schertel, of R 1 Barto
interest in tractors and planters.
buying mood right at the moment,
you can get a firsthand look at
what’s new and different.
The commercial exhibitors as
they talk shop also are a good
barometer of farmer feelings.
After all, any ag salesman worth
his weight in alfalfa not only is a
seller but he’s also the industry’s
finger on the pulse of the
agricultural community.
And what was this finger finding
at the Farm Show. Well, it was
finding at least three different
things:
First, the pulse of the ag com
munity is still beating strong and
steady, but the rhythm of the beat
might best be characterized as one
of cautious optimism.
Second, if any area dairy far
mers are signing up for the DO
milk diversion program, they
hadn’t emerged by Farm Show
week.
And third, farmers - who would
rather tackle a problem out in the
shop than any video puzzle in the
living room - haven’t lost their
interest and yen for mechanical ag
innovation one bit, even though it
may have been relatively dormant
for the past couple of years.
Here’s a sampling of comments
from some of the exhibitors about
their Farm Show contacts:
“We’ve found farmer attitudes
just great. There’s pent-up
demand out there. Now, if the
government will only quit con
fusing people with new programs.
The greatest interest has been in
our new pivot-tongue mower
conditioner and the slurry-type
manure spreader, which can
handle both solids and liquids.” -
Gary Mummau. Sperry New
Holland.
“I’d go along with cautious
optimism for the coming year.
Outlook depends on conditions that
exist in a certain area. Where PIK
payments have been heavier, as
the Eastern Shore and Central
Virginia, business is up. But you
can’t ignore things like the Avian
flu. There’s been good interest in
our harvester with the cornhead
that features Spout-Trak, which
guarantees the crop goes into the
wagon and builds an even load and
Row-Trak, which keeps it on the
corn row.” - Gene Walker, of John
Deere.
“There’s been good interest and
we’ve found that attitudes are
significantly brighter in general.
Our Model 782 Diesel Cadet
Tractor has been getting a lot of
play, along with the center-pivot
mower-conditioner and the 50
series tractor. Planter intentions
are picking up. Last year, no-till
boosted planters and this year
following PEK the interest is
continuing.” - Dennis Harm, In
ternational Harvester.
“In the last six months as the
general economy has improved,
we’ve noted similar improvement
in the ag sector. People are up
beat, but the new milk diversion
program has dairymen hesitating
at the moment. We’ve had strong
interest in two lines of tractors -
the 1000 Series under 30 HP. and
the TW Series, particularly in the
105 to 120 HP. range.” - Larry
Schnettler, Ford Tractor.
“Yes, there’s cautious optimism.
But I haven’t talked to a dairy
farmer yet who plans to par
ticipate in the milk diversion
program. Their shippers simply
need the milk. We’ve had a lot of
interest in pre-owned equipment
and the new Atlas unloader that
fits the largest of our structures.” -
- Frank Possessky, of Penn-Jersey
Harvestore.
“The outlook is better. People
are optimistic but naturally a little
cautious. But they’ve been putting
off buying for some two years now.
The smaller tractor - from 100 HP
and down - is very popular in this
area and we had our best planter
sales in December.” - Lloyd
Fortna, Allis-Chalmers.
talks with Farm Show visitors. In background is company's
pivot-tongue mower-conditioner.
i vT-4*wmr
Gene Walker,
principle on harvester with tim Mosebey, of Lost Creek
Implement at Oakland Mills.
Dennis Hann, right, and Larry Clouse, of International
Harvester, talk tractors to Steve Kauffman, of Parkesburg.