A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 19,1985
Women in Agriculture Day
Pa. ’s first
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
HARRISBURG - Penn
sylvania’s first lady Ginny
Thornburgh and Agriculture
Secretary Richard Grubb were
among the honored guests on hand
Tuesday to salute the state’s
agriculture women and extend
welcomes during the second an
nual Women in Agriculture Day.
More than forty farm and agri
business women attended the day
of educational sessions,
management workshops and
“networking” among women’s
agriculture groups held at the
downtown Holiday Inn.
Ginny Thomburgh-who brought
a special guest, her mother
Virginia Judson-said that farm
women have always been partners
in agriculture, now the state’s
largest industry. An estimated 1.2
million individuals from the state’s
population of 12 million are em
ployed in agriculture and related
businesses, annually generating
more than $3O billion "dollars of
economic activity.
She applauded farm women’s
welcome during the annual Women in Ag day
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lady , ag secretary , salute state’s farm women
traditional love of God, country
and the land, and agriculture’s
upholding of the concepts of thrift
and high value of working.
“Women have a right to be
consulted, respected, trusted,” the
state’s first lady said. “They have
opportunities to be problem
solvers and role models, not hand
wringers. They have the chance to
make a difference on earth.”
Secretary of Agriculture Grubb
predicted that within two or three
years, farming will be a popular
occupation again.
Noting that women have come a
long way toward recognition in
their contribution to agriculture,
he offered an anecdote about his
first job interview after graduating
from college with his ag economics
degree. The interviewer was a
woman, which at the time
“disconcferted” him a bit.
He speculated that she probably
had a difficult position to fill in
what was then basically a man’s
business, and added that
recognition for ag women has
come “slow and late.”
According to Secretary Grubb,
over 80,000 women now own or
manage farms in the United
States, while more than one-sixth
of all farm workers are women.
Christine Crist, director of the
Pennsylvania Commission on
Women, offered a brief glimpse of
the accomplishments of the
Planning is good business for farmers 9
says management consultant
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
HARRISBURG -
Running a business
without a plan is like
asking for a crop
without planting any
seeds.
Still, far too many
farm families operate
their agriculture
businesses with little or
no planning - they’re
just too busy farming to
plan.
That’s the philosophy
of Baron Kessler,
planning specialist and
management con
sultant, whose Baron
Kessler Associates
business is headquar
tered in Brownstown.
A seminar by Kessler
on managing family
farm businesses was
featured during the
afternoon session of the
Women in Agriculture
day, held Tuesday at the
downtown Holiday Inn.
Dubbed “Keeping the
Farm in the Family;
Keeping the Family on
the Farm,” the
workshop dealt with
studying options and
developing new per
spectives on classic
farm problems. While
the problems might
range from bringing
children into the
business, to estate
planning, to handling
the stress of long days
and financial crunches,
Kessler’s recom
mendations can be
applied toward seeking
acceptable solutions.
commission since its inception in
1964 by then governor William
Scranton. She highlighted
legislation passed since that time
dealing with women’s issues, and
educational strides being made in
areas ranging from day care to
women in the political arena.
“Women should in no
way be intimidated by
men’s management,’’
Kessler told an attentive
audience of 40 ag
women, most intent on
scratching notes for
future reference.
Farm families tend
toward too much sen
timentalism in the
business, he said, and
neglect to look beyond
the traditional methods
of passing on property,
dividing responsibilities
and handling the
inevitable conflicts that
arise through a family
working together in a
business.
He focused on a series
of key ideas to consider
when dealing with
difficult farm-family
decisions. The family
should write a complete
list of all possible
solutions - even those
bordering on the ex
treme or bizarre - and
then work backward to
more workable ideas.
Kessler stressed
repeatedly that seeking
outside management
assistance for farm
decision making is in no
way a sign of weakness
or inability. Rather, it is
a sign of a businesslike
approach to problem
solving.
Kessler’s recom
mendations begin with
examining goals, set
ting them high, but
attainable and realistic.
Goals should also be
personal, so that in
dividuals can actually
Special guest for the luncheon
program was Carolyn Leavens,
president of American Agri-
Women. Leavens and her husband,
Paul, are part of a four-generation
California farm with more than 800
acres planted in orchard crops.
(Turn to Page A3l)
relate to the wanted end
result. Of great im
portance, according to
Kessler, is that they be
put down in writing.
Writing down goals
makes them real.
Rewards need to be
considered. Visualize
the reward, he says.
That helps spur on the
work effort that will be
necessary to meet the
goal - and the ensuing
reward. Or, as Kessler
buttonholes the con
cept: “That which gets
rewarded, gets done.”
Obstacles must be
considered as well,
using the approach of
‘What can I do 9 " to
overcome or remove
problems standing in
the way of meeting the
goal.
A timetable is
necessary, some
realistic date or period
when the goal should be
met. Again, writing
down the timetable is
desirable. But, he sajs,
be realistic. Everything
doesn’t happen at once,
and expecting that it
will simplj puts too
much pressure on those
involved to get things
done
Finally, Kessler sajs
an individual must ask
how the effort is wor
thwhile.
If you want the
control, you have to take
the responsibility. Turn
your problems into
goals, .but be sure to get
the goals right."