America’s farmers are going through an agonizing financial period. Many have already gone broke and more will follow. There are a lot of sad stories being told at farm auctions these days as the creditors move in to salvage what they can. That’s not to say that all of agriculture is in deep financial trouble. It isn’t. But the debt ratio is higher than it used to be, and solutions to financial problems are harder to come by. Perhaps more farmers are just tired of fighting. This roller coaster started back in the early 1970’s when things looked good for agriculture and a lot of farmers especially young ones and those planniong to bring young family members into the business started to expand. That’s when those rags to riches stories popped up in the farm press - when we started hearing about young tigers with 3, 4 even 5 thousand acres spread all over several counties and more than $ s M WEAVER'S HARDWARE CO RD4125 Fleetwood, PA 215-944-7486 , SHOW-EASE STALL CO. 523 Willow Rd. Lancaster, PA 7X7-299-2536 A6WAY, INC. 101 Mam St. Salunga, PA 717-898-2248 GOOD'S STORE, INC. R.D. #2 East Earl, PA 717-354-4026 Rt. 23,1 Mile E. of Blue Ball C.B. HOOBER &SON, INC. Intercourse, PA 717-768-8231 BOMBERGER'S STORE Elm, PA 717-665-2407 ROSS H. ROHRER &SONS, INC. 16 E. State St. Quarryville, PA 717-786-3372 GEHMAN FEED MILL, INC. 44 N. 3rd St. Denver, PA 215-267-5585 MARTIN HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT CO. Rt 501 S ol Shaetterstown, PA 717 949 6817 i tTSWa f9«M Farm Talk Jerry Webb one state. It was a time when management mistakes could be covered up with volume. And when the ever increasing land values kept lenders at bay and provided operating capital. Farmers blame a lot of things for their current problems. Everything from Jimmy Carter to the Farmers’ Home Ad ministration. From high interest rates to large Russian wheat crops. From an oversized national debt to an undersized rain fall. The circumstances of failing farmers are as different as the farmers themselves. Cir cumstances that allowed one farmer to steadily grow and continually prosper, allowed another to get in over his head and go under. Government programs that provided encouragement, price support and much needed cash helped some and hurt others. And now each week in the farm press and in the farm auction ads we read the final chapters of some * I This Christmas- Put TIN6LEV BOOTS Under Your Tree! Tough, yet so light-weight you’ll forget you’re wearing ’em. This means less work fatique that can lead to farm accidents. It also means dependable, durable rubber overboots that work with you every step of the way. At your dealer in a variety of styles! Make Tingley Boot; A Must Unde Your Tree Thi Christmas.. See Your Dealer Now! MiM V|§W ■ farmers 5,10 > i . Some have soia out oi are belling out taking their losses, paying what bills they can and getting out of agriculture. Others regrouping, getting back to a more simple farm business that can stand on it’s own feet. There are still farmers who are borrowing all the money they can get, renting all the acres they can find and running full speed from dawn till dusk but there seems to be a shift even among those who still have the finances, to get on a more solid footing. Farmers know now that they can’t count on the government to bail them out of mind boggling financial losses. Or to provide programs that will take care of large farmers when crop prices fail. They know too that escalating land prices of the past 15 or 20 years are just that - a thing of the past. No doubt there will be some land inflation but not enough to carry an otherwise failing farming operation. Hardly a farm magazine arrives in the mailbox these days that doesn’t include a story about a farmer who has learned his lesson and is cutting back. Some have swallowed their pride and ad mitted failure to their creditors, to their family and hardest of all to their peers. They have given up the far flung rented acres, the ex pensive and seldom used four wheel drive tractors and super sized combines. Their stories are heart breaking when you think of where they were and where they are now. Some tell of million dollar losses, of losing the family farm, of greatly damaged pride of self confidence. Some of those who have scaled Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 15,1984-C3 back and who have come to grips with their pride are enjoying life a lot more. They talk of time to spend with family and friends, of being better organized and doing a better job of farming. They talk about pride in their productivity and the way they care for their equipment, livestock and land. And they talk more about the basic values that made farming great in decades past. Some farmers are destined to operate huge enterprises and do well. Others for a variety of reasons just aren’t up to it. They lack the financing, the management skills, maybe even the motivation to deal with such a tremendous task. A lot of farmers have found this out the hard way. Others are still learning. A two thousand acre spread isn’t within the grasp of every farmer and FmHA plans public meeting HARRISBURG At 10 a.m. on Jan. 9, 1985, the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) will hold a public information meeting in Room 202 of the Federal Building, 3rd and Walnut Streets, Harrisburg, for the purpose of discussing FmHA’s Draft Natural Resource Management Guide. FmHA circulated a Draft Natural Resource Management Guide for review and comment to appropriate Federal and State Agencies, State and regional NORMAN D. CLARK &SON Rt. 75 Honey Grove, PA 717-734-3682 HUBER'S ANIMAL HEALTH SUPPLIES 810 Tulpehocken Rd . Myerstown, PA 717-866-2246 MILLER EQUIPMENT CO. R.D.«I Bechtelsville, PA 215-845-2911 ZIMMERMAN'S FARM SERVICE Bethel. PA 717-933-4114 WEAVER'S STORE, INC. R.D. #1 Denver Fivepointville, PA 215-445-6791 PiKEMUE EQUIPMENT, INC. r.d. n Oley, PA 215-987-6277 SHARfIESVILLE FARM SERVICE RDI, Hamburg, PA 215-488-1025 UMBER6ERS MILL Rt. 4 Box 545 Lebanon, PA 717-867-5161 RB&HENRV EQUIP., INC. New Berlinville, PA 215 367-2169 ’ 1 iMjii «jp fatal fatal •tnlWh • i n)APSi* some of those who reached for it and even got a good hold on it have had to let go. There may be some loss of pride in that realization but I still think a farmer who can manage 200 .acres well - well enough to make a living - is a lot better off than one who is scrambling over two thousand acres going deeper in debt every day and unaware of whether he is making a living or not. It’s a period of difficult ad justment in agriculture. A time when some solid fanners are in serious trouble and some not so solid are going under. There is little joy even among those who can say “I told you so”. Those who survive this period will have learned some valuable financial lessons. Ones that will serve them well when the boom years come again to American agriculture. review agencies assigned the consultation requirements of Executive Order of 12372, as well as interested localities, groups and citizens. The Guide is a brief document of major environmental standards and review requirements that have been promulgated at the federal level as well as those that are particular to the State. Copies of the Guide can be obtained by writing or telephoning the State Office. U.S. signs agreement WASHINGTON, D.C. Agriculture John R. Secretary of Block and Mexico’s life, Secretary of Agriculture and *® Hydraulic Resources, jiff Eduardo Pesqueira, H have met to sign two jar agreements-an ex £• tension of a long-term «® soil conservation 2? project and a new « memorandum of un jar derstanding for & cooperation in forestry. W The signing of the soil conservation amend ment extends a current jar program of drainage and reclamation 1® projects in Mexico’s tropics. The other agreement provides •at bilateral scientific and y& technical exchanges for «® research, education, g training, information w exchange and jar management relating to & forestry. Block said the United g States and Mexico have a long history of jar cooperation in scientific and technical ex *® changes and in the jiff control of agricultural diseases and pests, jar “We share a lot more & than a 2,000-mile bor *® der, we share each iff other’s markets,” Block » said. “We are Mexico’s jar best customer and they & are our fourth largest j® market for agricultural W commodities.” H| Discussions which f followed the signing ceremony included these topics: ff ~ Extension of the screwworm eradication jar program into other & Central American *® nations; iff - Setting up a toxic H| residue monitoring jar program to assist j& Mexico’s meat export •® program; iff - The possibility of establishing an allot jar ment for high-quality (R U.S. beef, principally I® for Mexico’s tourist gff trade; U| - Entry of Mexican citrus into the United States.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers