I
Do Delmarva farmers really
spend their winters in Florida,
enjoying the fruits of their sum
mer’s labors? There is an old myth
to that effect and every once in a
while someone mentions a crop
rotation that includes corn,
soybeans, and Miami. That in
dicates that some farmers,
especially those who grow only
crops, limit their activities to corn
and soybeans that are grown in a
relatively confined period, leaving
them plenty of time for extended
winter vacations.
That myth was probably started
by a dairyman who was a little
sore at spending seven days a week
milking cows while his crops
farmmg neighbor took a few days
off. But the general consensus on
the Delmarva peninsula, and
throughout the country for that
matter, is that farmers are rather
reluctant to take vacations even
during the winter lull.
With luck, a corn and soybean
farmer can be all through with the
hard part of harvesting well before
Christmas. That means three or
four months before the tractors
start to roll again. That’s not to say
there isn’t anything to do around
the farm.
Farm
Talk
Jerry Webb
First off, most farmers have a
big obligation to Uncle Sam that
includes a lot of time-consuming
paperwork. When that’s done
there’s still the task of marketing
last year’s crop, planning for the
new season, buying supplies, and
getting equipment in shape.
The fact is, most farmers have to
let a lot of things go during the
busy harvest season. They’re
working day and night trying to get
the crops in the bin before the
weather turns bad. Some years
they make it, some years they
don’t. Given a rainy fall, they can
be out there well into January
trying to scrape up crops that have
fallen to the ground.
There’s no doubt that most
farmers take it a little easy in
January and February, spending
time in educational meetings,
attending auctions, shopping
around for equipment and sup
plies, and in general moving at a
slower pace. And a few even take
real vacations. Some sign up for
farm-related tours to exotic
places, and some go off on their
own to visit family in other places
or to just look around.
As a group, it’s hard to get
farmers away from the farm even
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717-29HHMtV
Ed Prosser’s Home 717-367-2368
\vhen their duties are pretty wol
caught up. Maybe it’s part of that
age-old tradition that says farmers
are hardworking, God-fearing,
salt-of-the-earth types with their
shoulders to the wheel and their
noses to the grindstone. That’s a
heavy burden and it makes having
fun quite difficult.
There’s a certain amount of
pride in the voice of some farmers
when they tell you they never take
a vacation, or they haven’t been off
the farm for more than a day in 20
years. There’s also something kind
of sad about that, especially when
you consider an older farmer who
is not hurting financially, who’s
never been anywhere or done
anything else besides farm.
The world is a lot larger than a
200-acre farm, and it wouldn’t hurt
most farmers to take a little time
to find that out.
People in business and industry
take vacations. They use this time
to relax and rejuvenate, and it’s
said they come back to work with
new perspectives and new en
thusiasm. Maybe that’s what
farmers need after many months
of fighting all of the problems of
agriculture.
So if you hear about a farmer
who’s gone to Disney World for a
few days, don’t be too hard on him
when he gets back. After all, he’s
put in a lot of hours this past year
and he has some compensatory
time due him.
You can bet come early March,
when the first signs of Spring start
to show, he’ll be back from
wherever vacation spot he may
have chosen with his equipment in
tune and his supplies on hand,
ready to start another farming
year.
Main Office 717-397-1411
Simbrah popularity
BOZEMAN, f,.i. a few years
ago, the American Simmental
breed underwent a very rapid
period of growth - some even called
it an "explosion”. Now, it appears
that ASA has another potential
"explosion” brewing... in the form
of the rapidly expanding Sunbrah
registry.
"The increase in Sunbrah
registrations over the past few
months has been amazing”, said
ASA executive vice president Earl
B. Peterson. "The demand for
Sunbrah cattle is growing by leaps
and bounds”.
Cattlemen have found Simbrah
to be especially attractive in
warmer environments. However,
the breed is not confined to hot
climates and sizable numbers are
found in many other states as well.
The Simbrah has also spread to
other parts of the world, including
Australia, Africa, South and Latin
America.
According to the American
Simmental Association, which
maintains the herdbook for both
breeds, the Simbrah registry
surpassed the 20,000 mark in
Bill McCoy’s Home 717-569-5044
Pat McCoy’s Home 717-656-8076
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 29,1954-C3
on the increase
November, thanks to the two
largest months ever for Sunbrah
registrations. Simbrah
registrations totalled 794 in Oc
tober plus an additional 776 in
November, the two largest montly
totals in our history.
“There is every reason to believe
that Simbrah registrations will
reach an annual total of 10,000
before many more years”,
Peterson said. He pointed out that
many existing beef breeds which
have been on the American cattle
scene for several years are not
registering that many on an annual
basis.
“There is wide-spread optimism
about the future of Simbrah”,
Peterson said. “There is a broad
base of breeding stock available
and we are seeing the breed’s
popularity reflected in the in
creased number of new members,
requests for information and
strong sale results”.
Information about Simbrah
cattle may be obtained from the
American Simmental Association,
One Simmental Way, Bozeman,
MT 59715.
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SELECTION
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