CB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 3,1984
If there’s one thing American
farmers need this fall, it’s a little
understanding. They’re out there
right now rushing around trying to
harvest corn and soybean crops
that are probably going to be
losers. No doubt they’re going to be
in a bad mood when they climb off
the combine long enough to see
what corn and soybeans are selling
for and to check the sad state of
their cash flows.
It’s one of the paradoxes of
fanning. Bumper crops mean
bountiful food supplies for con
sumers, but low prices for far
mers. Despite what some folks
think, farmers don’t set the price
for what they sell. That’s a concept
!k
STRIKE
IT
RICH!
SELL
IT
WITH
A
LANCASTER
FARMING
CLASSIFIED
Farm
Talk
Jerry Webb
that’s hard to explain because
most urban folks only direct
contact with farmers is through a
roadside stand, and that’s perhaps
the only time when farmers do set
their prices.
The typical homemaker who’s
out shopping for a Halloween
pumpkin may stop by a local
produce stand and become
outrages at the high price of
pumpkins. She tells the farmer
operator that his prices are too
high, buys the pumpkin anyway
‘cause little Johnny wants a Jack-
O-Lantern and storms back to the
city where she assumes that
farmers are responsible for the
high price of food. That may be the
V
s' if
CALL US FOR FREE ESTIMATES
on TOP QUALITY BARN SPRAY & BRUSH PAINTING
•Try Our New Concept In Penetration And Adhesion.
In 1984
To earn a dollar give a dollars worth of service and work Pay only $750 for the
best kind of barn painting on an average barn • if you pay more you paid too
much
On barn siding painting temperature and timing are factors as well as
penetrating kind of quality for adhesion are helpful guides for long lasting under
average conditions of siding type and age
I will share helpful guidelines on roof maintenance of steel roofs by brushing on
at prime time
The farmers in Lancaster Co. are lucky because of the amount of
competition in barn painting.
Check with us for the best deal!
PHARES S. HURST •Years of experience plus self
RDI, Box 503, Narvon, PA 17555 employment gives you quality
215-445-6186 work for less expense.
GARDEN W
JUST ONE
TH
TROY
WAY
• Rmmr-Mountmd Tln»a cl
and bury old sod, slandii
and organic matter with
• Power Driven Wheels i
steady, comfortable pace
struggle you guide it'
JUST ONE HAND'
• Cmmt-lron Automotive
trmnamlmalon designed
hard and last a lifetime.
• 4 forward mnd
ELECTRIC START model
• Inatant, accurate Oapth.
for precise cultivating, dee)
tilling, and everything in ►
• Model steea from 3Vt ft
to fit every garden, from i
backyard to an acre or mi
• Full no-tlme-llmlt wan
See and compare all the Troy Blit' Tiller Models at
HoWingei't
/ £am & Golden Equipment, One.
TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS:
1755 W. Main St 1515 East Chocolate Ave.
Located on Route 322 Phoned STCdmn
Phone (717) 738-1131 Phone (717) 533-4060
<✓’ H
only farmer she ever sees up close
and that’s probably the only time
he sets the price for what he sells.
For everything else from milk to
soybeans, from potatoes to alfalfa,
the farmer is the price taker and
his price depends on supply and
demand. If there’s a large supply
of corn and soybeans available, as
there is this year, then the price
tends to reflect it. And depending
on how big the crop actually is or is
perceived to be nationally, some
farmers can face disaster.
Nationally, it’s been a banner
year for production. Those heavy
supplies have weakened demand.
Currently, prices received by
farmers for corn and soybeans are
not very good. For some farmers
that means hard times. For others
it means out and out disaster, up to
and including bankruptch.
Farmers are gamblers - it’s part
ot the occupation and the tradition
of fanning. They make heavy
investments in the spring, gam
bling against a variety of factors
including the weather, consumer
spending, and the world food
supply. Then they wait thi UUgll LUC
long growing season with one eye
on their fields and the other on the
commodity market.
By now it’s obvious that prices
aren’t going to be that good
because of bumper crops
nationally. Depending on their
actual costs of production, many
BRUNING
farmers find themselves
multiplying price times yield,
subtracting cost and finding that
they’re losing money. The more
acres and bushels they have, the
more money they lose.
It’s enough to put them in a bad
mood. In fact, it’s enough to cause
them to become severely
depressed and to question the
whole economic system in this
country. And yet farmers wouldn’t
have it any other way. They don’t
want guaranteed prices and
support programs that create huge
surpluses. They would rather
compete in a free market and take
their chances. We all benefit
because of that attitude, but
sometimes it’s rough on the far
mers. This happens to be one of
those years.
Contrast this situation with
what’s going on in some other
countries where through the best
efforts of government and far
mers, there still isn’t enough food
to feed the people and they’re
shopping in the world market
trying to buy the foodstuff they
need to live. In this nation farmers
feed the people with an abundance,
a variety and a quality unheard of
anywhere else and there’s still
plenty left over for exnort - more
than the food-short countries are
willing to buy at a fair price, so
farmers are left with weak
I COTTON SEEP I
New Crop of Cotton Seed is now available at
much lower prices than last year.
Cotton Seed is a high energy feed which is also
a good source of protein with a fiber utilized by
the cow to the maximum. These factors mean
high production and high butterfat test.
We deliver to your farm in 23 ton loads on flat
unloading trucks.
For further information contact:
Virginia Cotton Seed Co.
E. Woodson Irby
Rt. 1, Box 37, Blackstone, Va. 23824 -
804/292-3569
Day or Night
LOW DISCOUNT PRICES
& FAST SERVICE
on all your animal health needs!
pbs livestock drugs 8
I
I Get your FREE 64-Page CATALOG today!
I Simply complete and return this coupon
| pbs livestock drugs'
I m 2800 Leemont Ave, N W
PO Box 9101
• Canton, Ohio 44711-9101
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY
STATE
I PHONE
| UFJKI J
OR CALL OUR TOLL-FREE NUMBER
800-321-0235 OHIO 800-362-9838
markets and uncertain futures.
Ironically, the strengthening of
the U.S. dollar, which to most folks
is a good sign, is part of
agriculture’s problem. A strong
dollar makes it more difficult to
increase, or even maintain, export
sales. And other nations like
Brazil, Argentina, and Canada are
supplying more wheat, feed grains
and oil seeds to the world market.
As you stroll the supermarket
aisles in search of the proverbial
daily bread, try to remember that
farmers are doing their part, even
more than their part, to see that we
all have plenty to eat. And while
they feel an obligation, even a
calling, to provide food they also
have a strong desire to make a
living. Without some profit they
can’t operate.
There’s not much consumers can
do to solve the farmer’s dilemma -
eat an extra slice of bread or
another pork chop perhaps - and
beyond that just try to understand
the system and how it works.
MAD
LANCASTER
FARMING
FOR COMPLETE
AND
UP-TO-DATE
MARKET
REPORTS