Brockett’s Ag Advice
K| By John E. Brockett
K Farm Management Agent
'Jp Lewistown Extension Office
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS PART II
Sometimes solutions to financial
problems can get very complex.
Both the borrower and the lender
may give up. Is there anything
further that may be done? The
answer is a qualified yes if you are
willing to accept help, listen to new
ideas, probably make changes,
maybe even go into a managed
money program, and spend time
constructing good records. There
are people who can look at the
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situation and possibly come up
with suggested solutions. Your
Extension Service has access to
some of them. Another banker or
lender can sometimes see a fresh
approach. Sometimes it may take
a number of people to solve the
problem. A financial expert may
be able to see how to increase cash
flow net by manipulating figures.
A production expert such as a
successful farmer may be able to
spot obvious production
BERRYSBURG CAMP HILL
OUARRYVILLE
PIPERSVILLE
management errors. A farm
management specialist may be
able to read and interpret a farm
analysis and show you weak spots
in your business. They all may be
able to give you ideas on changes
that should be made. The key
person in this is YOU. Only you can
actually decide what to do, when to
do it, and how it is to be done.
The next two years are going to
be shake out years. By 1986
agriculture should be on the mend,
but only the successful will be able
to take advantage of this mend.
Budget
Budget is a bad word. It also
means several things. Budget is a
way you can estimate the effect of
a change in the business. Budget
also means setting an amount you
will spend on something. You will
have to do both if you want to come
up with a long range solution to
your financial problems.
isiy
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Large-capacity 7" by 15" plunger and one
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FORKSVILLE
STONEBORO KENNEDYVILLE, MD DISTRICT SUPERVISOR
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 3,1984—D19
1. To stay within your budget
a. Watch what you spend money
on and make it economically
justified. Know how much you
have to spend.
b. Cut out the frills - the extras -
do you really need zinc in the
feed? How do you know 9 Did you
get a forage test that told you so?
What is the least expensive feed - a
prepared mix or straight goods?
c. Use DHIA to get the best
return not the best record from
each cow.
d. Stay on top of price changes.
Buy a little ahead of need but don’t
buy too far ahead. Remember
every $lOO of borrowed money
costs $1 per month in interest.
e. Don’t borrow if you can help it.
Even at 8 percent it has to be paid
back. When you do need credit,
borrow enough to do the job then
budget in the payments as if they
were operating expenses
Harvesting sweet potatoes
Home gardeners growing sweet so *l a bout 6to 8 inches from the
potatoes for the first time may p enter of the row or hill. If you
wonder when to harvest this happen to bruise or break any of
vegetable. “Once the leaves start tubers, set them aside to use
to turn yellow, the tubers won’t get
any larger and are ready to dig,” PjB potatoes when the soil is
says Willie G. Adams, extension J air ly dry, Adams says. Spread
garden specialist for Delaware them out to cure, unwashed, in a
State College. “7 place for about a week. Then
The first frost is also a warning store. Sweet potatoes require
not to delay digging, he says. This warm dry conditions. At a tern
crop readily deteriorates under P®rature of 55 to 60 degrees F and
cold conditions. To harvest, 80 to 85 percent relative humidity
remove most of the vines with a they should keep for ap
weed cutter or garden rake. Then proximately four to six months. Do
use a potato fork to penetrate the n °t refrigerate.
HAMBURG
2. Capital Goods - this is no year
to go overboard on capital pur
chases. Remember it is a survival
thing. Take care of your old
equipment - but don’t get into the
bind of needing to replace several
major items at once. Do a little
more thinking when you make an
investment. A hay stacker or large
round baler is nice as a time saver.
What will your storage loss be, can
you handle them, are there
alternatives, and are you sure you
can handle the payments. Too
often farmers purchase capital
items without considering alter
natives.
My final word is to keep,
analyze, and use financial records
as well as production records. If
you want to be a farmer in the
future, records will be the vehicle
you will have to ride to get there.
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Ph: 215-944-7808
STOLTZFUS WELDING SHOP
Owner - Samuel P. Stoltzfus
RDIOII, Dryvilleßd.
Fleetwood, PA 19522
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